Team Herald
PANJIM: On a plea of Goa State Industries Association (GSIA) to ‘rationalise’ the electricity bills, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant has marked the letter to the Chief Engineer of Electrical Department for consideration.
GSIA president Damodar Kochkar, along with Executive Secretary JB Pinto met the Chief Minister informally on Monday and presented a letter with demands for the revival of industry following the lockdown. Copies of the letters were also shared with Industries Minister Vishwajit Rane.
Speaking to Herald, Kochkar said, “We have to work together, both industry and the government, and only then we will be able to come out of these crises. The government too has to be proactive and look into the difficulties of the industries in these difficult times or else industries will face a major brunt and will jeopardise its existence.”
Discussion also took place on sharing of salary of employees and GSIA requested the government’s help in this regard as industry is in bad shape due to lockdown and lack of business. The CM is understood to have initiated a process to form a committee to look into this matter but industry is wary that it will take time and by the time the relief comes micro and small units will close down under financial pressure as employers of these units are facing a cash crunch. GSIA suggested that the Labour Welfare fund be used for this.
GSIA also requested the Chief Minister to get their dues cleared from the government. Many GSIA members have supplied material to the government and their payments are pending. The Chief Minister assured them that the dues will be cleared once he receives the details from the GSIA. The association will also be sending a list to the government on this soon.
The government, on a proactive mode, is working out a scheme along with the HRD Ministry on how to put more workforce from Goa on the job, instead of being dependent on migrant labourers. This discussion has been happening for quite some time and has now gained speed. The major issue is with poor transportation and the government is contemplating on improving the transport system between the industry and remote areas of the State from where labourers would like to come to work. GSIA suggested that a pilot project be done from Verna and Kudaim.
