Team Herald
PANJIM: On March 19, at 1.48 am, a minute after the national anthem was played at the Raj Bhavan, Dr Pramod Sawant took oath as chief minister of Goa. This occurred two days after the demise of former chief minister Manohar Parrikar. Many had written him (Sawant)off at that time, saying he would not be able to fit into the former defence minister’s shoes.
A two-time MLA, who started his political career as a karyakarta and steadily rose in rank and profile, he has proved his mettle within two months of taking charge. He spearheaded the election campaign in the just-concluded by-polls and Lok Sabha elections wherein he led his party a to 4-2 victory.
He made an appearance at every rally from Pernem to Canacona for the Lok Sabha polls and gave equal time to the by-polls in Shiroda, Mandrem, Mapusa and Panjim. This not only gave BJP the victories it got, but also ensured that the alliance government becomes more stable.
The BJP number before the by-polls was 14 and with the support of Goa Forward Party (3) and Independents (3) was in government. On the other hand, Congress also had 14 MLAs, and had the support of one NCP MLA and could have got support from MGP’s Ramakrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar. The 3-1 victory in by polls mean BJP turned stronger with 17 to it name.
“My government has become stronger,” Sawant told Herald. Asked whether he had any doubts about the alliance partners in case he failed to get the numbers in the bypolls, Sawant shot back, “You should ask this to alliance partners, not me.”
Major tasks ahead
With by-polls over and all alliance partners now firmly in the saddle, Sawant will have to turn to the task of governance and meet the expectations of the people.
Employment and revenue generation are some of the major tasks he has at hand. It is pertinent to recall that Sawant took charge when the Model Code of Conduct was already in force and could not do much. His litmus tests starts now.
Sawant told Herald he will try his best to meet the expectations. “I don’t know if I will be able to fill in the shoes of Manohar Parrikar, he was a very tall leader. It is a very big responsibility that the party has given me. I will try my best to fulfill it. I am what I am today because of him,” Sawant said.
Employment generation
The biggest challenge today for the new CM is employment. As per records, there are over 1.2 lakh unemployed youth in Goa, and the mining ban has added to the number.
The unemployment has been leading to a brain drain, as a large number of youth are beginning to seek employment elsewhere and some are even giving up their nationality in their quest for jobs abroad.
However, the CM says he is aware of the matter and in the coming days tough measures would be taken. “Even though youth in this State are facing unemployment, in the next three years, this government will be a human development-oriented government. Human development is our priority. This is going to be a youth-centric government,” Sawant said.
He stated further that Parrikar had assured to create 50,000 jobs in Goa. “We will fulfill this dream in the coming three years, we are committed to creating these jobs through various projects,” Sawant stated pointing to projects like the Mopa international airport.
Government contracts
While employment is one issue, activists and youth are of the opinion that government contracts from PWD, WRD, GSIDC or other departments have to be awarded to Goans as this would also help solve the issue of unemployment to some extent. Activists say 90 per cent of the contracts are awarded to non-Goans who are very influential.
The BJP Youth wing says they have taken up the matter with the chief minister and he has assured to look into it. “We have taken up the issue with him and we are sure he will keep the promise,” BJP Yuva Morcha secretary Gajanan Tilve said.
