Goa to cut borrowing, push reforms: CM

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant shares a light moment with Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai beside a huddle of ruling party MLAs, during the Monsoon Session of the Assembly, on Wednesday.

PANAJI
In a significant move towards fiscal consolidation, the State government has announced its intent to gradually reduce reliance on market borrowings in the current and upcoming financial years.

The decision is intended to lower the State’s debt-to-GDP ratio and ensure long-term financial sustainability. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday told the House that during the last financial year, despite a Rs 4,100 crore borrowing limit, the State borrowed only Rs 1,050 crore from the market.

“We don’t want to burden the next State government, which will also be ours. Our borrowing is well under control,” Sawant said, while replying to the general discussion on the Budget. He said that of the total borrowings, Rs 440.58 crore was particularly for capital investment.

Highlighting Goa’s financial health, Sawant said the State’s fiscal deficit had significantly reduced from 2.5 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2018-19 to 1.2 per cent in 2022-23. “We have achieved revenue surplus during three of the last five years, with the highest surplus recorded in 2022-23,” he added.

On employment, Sawant announced that around 2,500 government jobs will be advertised soon, with transparency ensured through the Goa Staff Selection Commission (GSSC). He said the government was also expanding private sector opportunities through a transparent recruitment mechanism.

“Students are now getting experience certificates under the apprenticeship scheme. With GSSC in place, there is no manipulation. We are serious about recruitment reforms... a one-year work experience certificate will now be mandatory for Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) and Lower Division Clerk (LDC) posts in the government sector,” he added.

Insisting that Goa needs to change its approach to competitive exam preparation, he strongly supported early competitive tests to prepare Goan students for the toughest central exams.

"Most IAS officers are from Bihar because students there start preparing from Class VIII. If our students start early, they can crack the GPSC and even UPSC, besides other central-level competitive exams. Competitive tests must be introduced early,” he said.

On tourism, Sawant said there had been no decline in footfall, a claim which was strongly opposed by the opposition MLAs led by Goa Forward MLA Vijai Sardesai, who cited remarks by Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho and BJP MLA Michael Lobo acknowledging a drop in arrivals. “Check with your own MLAs,” Sardesai told the CM.

Sawant, however, admitted that there is a rise in airfare during weekends, which is also pushing hotel tariffs up. “I will place a request before the GST Council to consider lowering hotel taxes, as proposed by the stakeholders,” he added.

Sawant also took aim at infrastructure consultant RITES Ltd, alleging manipulation in the assessment of defective road works. He announced that the engineering consultant has been dropped from further projects of the Goa government.

“The State government has dropped RITES from future projects... contractors failing to meet road work standards were issued show cause notices, and one contractor was blacklisted,” he said as he replied to LoP Alemao’s question on the government’s hesitancy to blacklist non-performing contractors.

During the discussion, the LoP also questioned the delay in resuming iron ore mining despite over a dozen mineral blocks being auctioned. “There has been a Rs 15,000 crore loss since 2012 due to the closure of mining. Dump auctions are stuck due to technical issues. There is no clarity and the economy in the mining belt has collapsed,” Alemao said.

He also raised concerns over haphazard real estate development and the lack of a carrying capacity study. “We need to assess the sustainability of our land resources,” he said.

On social issues, Alemao said minorities were not feeling safe in Goa and India, stating that Goan Catholics are mocked as Portuguese nationals, Indian Muslims are branded as Pakistan loyalists, and Indian Catholics as Rome loyalists.

Regarding the Sanjivani Sugar Factory, the CM assured that a tender to establish an ethanol plant will be issued within a month, while also admitting that the past two tenders did not get the required response. “The ethanol plant will come; we have told the farmers to grow sugarcane, and we will purchase it,” Sawant said.

Giving a boost to the women workforce in the private sector using public transport, he announced a 50 per cent ticket concession, with the Labour and Transport departments working on the proposal.