PANJIM: While whether the State needs two airports – Mopa and Dabolim – is still being debated, the statement of Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu on reservation of all jobs for Goans, appears to be mere rhetoric.
During his recent visit to the State Prabhu said that “each and every job at the Mopa Airport will be for Goans.” The statement came close on the heels of a protests by local farmers as well as local MLA and Tourism Minister Manohar (Babu) Azgaonkar, who had even stopped work on the project for a day demanding jobs for locals.
However, documents available with Herald reveal that there is no obligation on the part of the project proponent – GMR Goa International Airport Ltd – to give jobs only to Goans.
While the government says that “Under Article 5 Obligations of the Concessionaire” of Concession Agreement a provision has been made for providing jobs for locals, clause 5.9 on obligations relating to employment of people of Goa and displaced family, seems to say something else.
“The Concessionaire agrees and undertakes to: Give preference to bona fide Goans for all the jobs in the airport; and (b) Advertise all the job vacancies in the airport in at least 3 (three) dailies having wide circulation in Goa,” it says.
Further it reads, “Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this agreement, the concessionaire shall give employment to 1 (one) person from each displaced family in accordance with applicable law.”
That is it, as the agreement is further diluted when the government gives them free hand to appoint anyone else in case of not getting suitable candidates.
“For the avoidance of doubt, in the event enough applications are not received from the displaced families or bona fide Goans, the concessionaire shall not be restricted from hiring any other person. As mentioned at (b) above, all the job vacancies in the airport have to be advertised by the concessionaire and in the event enough applications are not received from the displaced families or bona fide Goans, the concessionaire shall not be restricted from hiring any other person,” says the agreement.
Considering the above clauses one feels there are not enough strong clauses for appointment of locals or displaced families as the concessionaire is free to appoint anybody else if he does not get suitable candidate.
Prabhu, who was in Goa to review the progress of the work on the airport, also said that by 2025, around 30 million tourists would be coming to Goa because of this airport.
“Tourists coming in would mean creation of many jobs in the State. Mopa airport has the potential to be an international aviation hub in south India because the entire west coast of India is serviced from here,” Prabhu had said.
“More international flights will mean more profits, more income, more tourists and more employment. It is a win-win situation,” he had claimed.
He had said that 234 acres of land allotted for commercial exploitation around the airport should be developed into an entertainment zone. The first phase of the airport is expected to be completed by 2020.
According to the Union Civil Aviation Ministry Goa will have the second biggest airport in the country, with an annual capacity to handle 30 million passengers with the development of a new airport in Mopa, by 2020.
