SHWETA KAMAT
PANJIM: Tackling unemployment and improving employability of youth is the major focus of the Goa government’s policy for youth, which is expected to be ready by November end. ‘State Youth Policy for Goa’, will also have a challenging task of diverting the young minds from vices such as drugs, alcohol, smoking, crime and gambling.
The policy that would be kept open for public suggestions in December has been drafted by Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs. The policy will attempt to deal with problems of urban, coastal and rural youth, besides educated and uneducated, employed and unemployed.
One of the most crucial emphases of the policy is to attract youth towards traditional occupations such as farming, dairy farming, fishing, toddy-tapping, etc.
Speaking to Herald, Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Ramesh Tawadkar said that most of the problems faced by youth today are not restricted to any one ethnic or religious group, but affect young people generally.
‘Youth today are affected by several issues right from education to employment or career. The latest problems include identity crisis, lack of self-confidence, confusion, negative feelings, etc. This policy will discuss about the various issues related to younger generation and help in the upliftment and provide necessary training in the fields of their choice’.
The minister said that youth coming from different areas like coastal areas, villages, orphanages, jails, educated and uneducated and economic backward classes, high standard of living, have different problems and the same have been taken into account while framing the upcoming youth policy.
“The policy is in the final stages and would be out by November end,” he said.
Youth Development Fund, Goa State Youth Development Corporation and Youth Training and Development Centre at State and at each taluka within 365 days of implementation, have been created within the policy.
Director of Sports and Youth Affairs VM Prabhudessai said that ‘the policy lays emphasis on upliftment and training of youth and to identify youth with talent in various fields’ ~ educational to cultural and then train them to compete at national and international level,” he explained.
Prabhudessai said that government believes that youth will play a major role in shaping the contours of the country and the state as well, and the policy has been drafted with this aim.
