2875 new jobs created in last one year, says Govt

PANJIM: Notwithstanding the current employment bonanza of
the State government, the employment scenario in the private/industrial sector
remains a cause of concern for the government.

Despite various initiatives taken by the State government to
incentivise the industries that employ 80 per cent locals and so also the
Investment Promotion Board clearing various projects, there does not seem to be
any major jump in the number of jobs created in the State.

As per information and documents available with Herald, 671
new enterprises were established in the State from 1.1.2018 (as per the
information available on the Udyog Aadhaar Portal of Government of India).

Besides, seven new industries were established in the State
from 1.1.2018 till date, which were approved by Goa Investment Promotion and
Facilitation Board (Goa-IPB).

Totally  2875 jobs
were created in the last one year as per the government document.

In comparison, 274 new manufacturing industrial units set
up/expanded during the Financial Year 2017-2018 and new employment generated by
the manufacturing industries during the Financial Year 2017-2018 was 2726.

Information reveals that total employment in manufacturing
industries/ enterprises is 1,22,550 and the total in small, medium and large scale
industries is 1,08,254.

The total figure works out to 2,30,804, which is less than
18 per cent of the State’s population.

Government sources informed Herald that though the
government has unveiled the start-up policy and IT Policy, the number of takers
do not seem to be that encouraging.

“Even the approvals given by IPB for years now, have not yet
started for some unknown reasons,” sources revealed.

Stating that unemployment was one of the challenges before
the government, Parrikar in the Assembly had said the state would take up the
skill development initiatives, which will help in easing this problem to a
large extent.

“I can’t force industries to employ Goans because each
job warrants a set skill. If that skill is not available locally, then they
have to depend on the workforce from outside,” Parrikar said in the state
Assembly.

He said that the industrial policy, which was approved,
would provide benefit to the units employing 80 per cent of the total workforce
from Goa. They will benefit through affirmative action and positive
discrimination.