The lopsided thinking among many politicians, planners and even people is that only infrastructure and projects create ‘development’. As soon as the State Budget is passed or Central financial allocations are made, governments in general instinctively think of what infrastructure development or projects are to be undertaken. When the government talks about development and progress, it cites Mopa airport, Atal Setu and Zuari cable-stayed bridges, South Goa District Hospital, the new widened National Pernem-Polem highway, the Ayush Hospital, etc, as visible signs of its accomplishments.
When the Centre either conceptualises for instance the Smart City Mission, it thinks of smart roads, smart lighting, AI CCTV cameras, roads, drains, sewerage network, smart transportation, etc. There is no mention of how local employment will be generated through these projects, whether local contractors can be hired or livelihoods of the poor can be improved.
Even when a state government talks of growth, it talks about how much investment is expected to come into Goa, how many industries will come in and how the economy will grow. While constructing infrastructure and development projects are essential for a state’s progress, however, there is no progress unless the infrastructure development, investments and projects do not benefit the locals by way of creating job opportunities.
At current prices, Goa’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) was Rs 914.17 billion. Goa’s per capita income is perhaps highest in the country and was pegged at around Rs 472,070 in 2022. Goa’s literacy rate is 88.70. Despite the State’s so-called good development parameters and awards for best performances on many parameters, the joblessness rate is 13.7%, which is twice the national average and the sixth highest in the country. In November 2022, Niti Aayog put the unemployment figure in Goa at 1.1 lakh. The BJP promised creation of 10,000 new jobs. How many of these jobs have been created by the BJP-led government?
Therefore, there is need for the governmentto take up creation of direct and indirect employment opportunities on a priority basis. The reasons are many and are tied up with economic development and growth. There cannot be growth without employment.
Many tend to think that Goa only lives in its capital city and four major towns or taluka capitals. Though Goa has high per capita income which is pumped up by NRI remunerations, mining and tourism, large sections of people especially rural folks are leading difficult lives since they have no jobs or livelihoods due to various reasons, including the crushing inflation. It is a myth that there are no poor people in Goa. Therefore, there is a pressing need for the government to create employment opportunities especially in rural Goa, to target poverty reduction by providing individuals with a source of income.
To make people employable there is need to orient education to employment, and appropriate enskilling of the younger generation in collaboration with industry. There also has to be re-skilling for the older generation of workforce to be part of the new and emerging enterprises. Government and private sector should also do inservice training so that employees learn new skills and improve existing ones, thus making them more valuable contributors to the economy in the long run.
Jobs should create sustainable livelihoods. People should be given long-term, stable jobs to provide individuals and their families with sustainable livelihoods, so that they can plan for the future, have a sense of financial security, and invest in their education and health. In the present scenario in Goa, almost all private jobs are contractual, where employees are not given benefits and can be dismissed at short notice, creating insecurity.
Jobs create economic multiplier effect. If people are employed,they can use their disposable income on consumer goods which boosts economic growth.
Once Goa’s 13.7% joblessness comes down, the government will have to spend less money on Laadli Laxmi Scheme, Griha Aadhar Scheme, Dayanand Social Security Scheme, etc, and redirect those funds towards other developmental activities.
If the government creates more job opportunities, the income tax base will increase, thus increasing government revenue. People with jobs can have improved standard of living and afford better housing, education and health care.
The dominant orientation of the government should be job creation. Every project which the government approves for Goa, the first question to the entrepreneurs should be how many jobs will that project or industry create and how many jobs out of the 10,000 promised jobs will be created.
Mega projects do not feed stomachs, jobs do!