It is better late than never. Goa has lagged behind in the IT sector by at least a decade and a half. However, the government has now taken this mantle to set things right and launched the Start-up Policy in September last year followed by the schemes on April 28 this year.
The existing IT policy will also be getting a makeover very soon. In fact, the draft has been finalised and it could be launched with the return of Chief Minister Parrikar as he had spent hours in fine tuning, both the IT and the Start-up Policy. The launch of the Electronics Policy is also on the cards. The cart has started to roll and the data for preparing the report card for the 2019 general elections is being collected.
The promise is that the schemes and the policies which revolve around the ecosystem of the start-ups, will help Goa in reality to become the future hub of start-ups in India. Also, efforts are being made to host a global start-up event in Goa every year. Union Minister Suresh Prabhu has categorically said that he has put the Invest India team on this job and they are working on it with Goa government. The belief is that Goa will be the next hub and destination for innovative global ideas. To ensure this, the State government is already in talks with the Telangana government and if all goes well, it may bear fruit in times to come.
However, with the Start-up Policy and its schemes announced, some of the stakeholders are raising the issue whether the policy has more leanings towards information technology or whether it should also give the same leverage to those engaged in the social sector. Questions are also being raised whether Goa is on the right track as far as the Start-up Policy is concerned. Jobs in the IT sector are being cut and there have recently been many layoffs in the leading blue-chip IT companies of India.
It is also time to re-visit the definition of “start-up”. Whether it only includes Information Technology or it also includes the social sector which uses IT to market their product. Is it mandatory for the start-up to be technology, IT or ITES only?
It is being alleged by those not necessarily IT enabled start-ups, that the members of the Start-up council involved and responsible in the policy making process were mostly technology players of the industry. The healthcare sector with respect to providing novel medicines, drugs as well as services like culture connect, had little say over formulating these policies. For Goa, the pharmaceutical industry is an equally important sector which produces nearly ten per cent of the entire medicines produced in India.
While Goa feels the pinch of closure of mines and following which there is a fear of job layoffs as it happened in 2012-13, it is important for the State government to ensure that the youth in the State do not face a dearth of jobs. In any case the State government is not in a position to offer or create new jobs. The route for creation of jobs can only happen in tourism, IT, start up and healthcare sector and for this the government needs to encourage these sectors which have the potential to generate jobs for Goans.
The irony is Goa has innumerable institutions churning out hotel and hospitality professionals. These youth have no choice but to migrate to greener pastures for lack of enough opportunities in Goa. It is therefore very imperative for the government to incentivise the service sector too as there is no way that only manufacturing or IT can provide adequate employment to Goan youth.
