Minister for Industries Mauvin Godinho made a late-evening feel-good announcement on Tuesday in the Legislative Assembly by announcing that the State government would bring in a new industrial policy that is aimed at creating 30,000 job opportunities and an investment of Rs 20,000 crore in the next five years. Godinho added that job-oriented industries will be promoted and incentives will be given to those industries that employ Goans.
Is this the government’s magical recipe for job creation, if yes, how does the minister justify it given the background that this formula has failed miserably in the past because Goa hasn’t been a haven for industries? If we may recall, ambitious and headline-grabbing job promises that have been made over the last decade via the Investment Promotion Board route have miserably failed. The government must explain its failure on the thousands of jobs it announced while approving projects. It has only made a mockery of the employment generation as Goans continue to grapple with unemployment, an issue that is steadily threatening to tear apart the identity of the State.
How does one reconcile with the figure of 30,000 jobs and an investment of Rs 20,000 crore? The thrust of Godinho’s idea is to come out with a policy that will incentivise industries that employ Goans. Firstly, this idea, which has been contemplated in the past, has been a failure with industries because local manpower did not match the skill set required for the vacancies. It is with this in mind that the government has to focus on skill development that matches the requirement of industries. There has to be a systematic integration otherwise the proposals will be meaningless. The incentives offered by the government alone cannot guarantee jobs to locals.
If the government is keen on creating job opportunities in the private sector, it has to think about bringing about laws along the lines of the ones implemented in States like Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. The Haryana government notified the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020 to provide 75 per cent jobs for locals. Madhya Pradesh government made it mandatory to give 70 per cent jobs to locals, and Maharashtra has a law in place to provide incentives to those units that employ 70 per cent of locals. Karnataka government’s industrial policy 2020 spells out a minimum of 70 per cent for Kannada people. Andhra was the first state to implement such legislation in July 2019.
Goa has to consider legislation on these lines and while encouraging private sector enterprises to set shop in State, it has to make a concerted effort to also win the confidence of industries. Employment is the single biggest issue that Goans have been grappling with for over two decades. All the government has done so far is pay lip service to the vexed employment issue with ministers indulging in job scams and frequently calling off notified government vacancies. It’s high time that the government stops playing with the sentiments of the thousands of jobless youth in the State and devises practical and realistic ways to resolve the crisis.
