The current BJP government has decided to shock one and all. A shock and awe policy? He says, “Red industries are going to come to Goa because they provide jobs,” and then without missing a heartbeat he says, “but the jobs cannot be kept for Goans.” So for whom are we creating jobs?
The Goa State Pollution Control Board categorises industry into three main types, red, orange and green. The green being relatively non-polluting and very welcome in Goa, eg the IT industry. Orange can be allowed with certain safeguards and red is a no-no. Industries involved with alcohol or electroplating etc, they are so categorised because they either pollute the downstream water or generate effluents which can cause environmental damage. A red industry is also automatically an industry where Goans are loath to work due to hazardous working conditions.
The Investment Promotion Board (IPB) was set up to attract investment and make it easier to start hotels and industries in Goa. The IPB was put in place to replace the High Powered Clearance Committee (HPCC) which unfortunately cleared projects only to be stuck at the next level, say power availability or land allotment. The IPB had a mandate to bulldoze any and every objection, bypass any state law that hindered the setting up of any hotel or industry. The idea being that in this way projects would be implemented faster and so Goa would become attractive to the investor. This would allow the IPB to meet its stated objectives, Rs 25000 crores investment and 50000 jobs.
The IPB has done well in attracting investment, even though questionable from the sustainable point of view. Applications received have been cleared in double quick time, and they could never have got clearance any other way. Hotels in eco-sensitive zones or a booze industry in an orchard are all part and parcel of this new found urge to make investment in Goa attractive. Collateral damage is acceptable. The land issue has been handled by IPB well, they just ordered the TCP to convert any and every land where a project was proposed. It still remains to be seen how the IPB generates power and water for these industries or hotels given the fact that there are units in Verna Industrial Estate still waiting for power and water for years. But that is not the concern of the IPB as till date we have not heard of any decisions to improve the power or water scenario.
Then there is the small detail of thrust area. While the tourism industry and therefore hotels are part of the thrust area, it is a clear red category. Goa IDC does not allow any booze company to start and the ones existing cannot expand, so setting up or expanding a booze company in an industrial estate is banned. Yet a red category, non-thrust industry was allowed in an orchard zone. The logic as our beloved CM explained is that red category generates jobs. He is right. One of the mandates of the IPB is job creation, does the IPB not specify for whom? You take Goan land, you convert it against Goan law and you still say you cannot ask for a job for the local. Atleast ask, then let the company say they cannot provide jobs. Could this not have been done when agreeing to convert or when using locals as an excuse to set up project?
Unfortunately, jobs in itself cannot be a criteria, else we would be pushing prostitution, matka and drugs, as all these forms of enterprise have tremendous employment potential. So, the jobs created have to be within the legal framework, out here the semblance of legality has been given by asking TCP to convert the land. What about the type of work? How many from Sanguem who lost their jobs due to the mining ban will be given jobs, given that it is the official excuse for setting up this industry there.
It appears the government is hell bent on testing the patience of Goans, given the penchant to create vote banks which ensure survival. Steel units are another red category industry and banned by a cabinet decision. Despite this and the IPB rejecting their proposal, a cabinet decision was taken in Dec 15 (kept confidential as there is no news in media) allowing Mohit Ispat and Western Ingots to move from 5000 odd sqm in Kundaim to 50,000 sqm in Navelim. Also, while around 22 units are waiting for power, these units have been sanctioned 10MW of power and it is assumed water is not an issue. Add to the fact that under the Chairmanship of Manohar Parrikar, GIDC had taken a decision to repossess the land in Navelim allotted to these units because it was unutilized for years. It is very evident that Goans do not work in steel units. If there is an IPB why was it overruled by the Cabinet? In both cases the head of the decision making bodies, IPB and Cabinet, was the CM himself.
So, are we cherry picking? When it suits the government they use the IPB and if the IPB objects, bulldoze the proposal using the cabinet. So we agree that investment must come in at any cost and forget that the idea of generating investment is employment for Goans. The two are complimentary and not mutually exclusively.
Blaise Costabir is an alumnus of the Asian Institute of Management and a first generation entrepreneur
