PANAJI
Goa may be faring better than the national average on a number of indicators, but has fared poorly when it comes to unemployment figures.
This has been revealed when Union Labour and Employment Minister Rameshwar Teli in a written reply on August 4 to a question from MP Luizinho Faleiro in the Rajya Sabha stated that the unemployment rate across all age groups in Goa is double to the national average.
The unemployment rate of Goa is 10.5 while the national rate is 4.2 per cent.
Teli shared data on employment and unemployment collected through the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted in 2020-21 by National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MOSPU).
Goa’s unemployment rate across age-specific groups was 15-29 years (25.8), 15-59 years (11.1) and 15 years and above (10.5), while the national rate was 15-29 years (12.9), 15-59 years (4.6) and 15 years and above (4.2).
CENTRAL INITIATIVES
Responding to a query on steps taken by Centre/State Governments to tackle the problem of unemployment in Goa, the union minister said under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), collateral free loans upto Rs 10 lakh, are extended to micro/small business enterprises and to individuals to enable them to setup or expand their business activities. A total of 2,79,275 loans were sanctioned under the scheme in Goa up to July 1.
He informed that the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi Scheme) facilitates collateral free working capital loan to street vendors to restart their businesses, which were adversely impacted during the Covid-19 pandemic. As on July 20, 2022, 1,232 loans amounting to 1.74 Crore have been disbursed under the scheme in the State.
The union minister said the Centre is encouraging various projects involving substantial investment and public expenditure on schemes like Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Deen Dayal Antodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) etc for employment generation.
The estimated number of employment generated in Goa under PMEGP since 2020-21 to June 30 is 1,296, person days generated under MGNREGS in Goa since 2020-21 to July 13 is 2.2 lakh and number of skill trained candidates placed under DAY-NULM in Goa since 2020-21 to June 30 is 1317.
Besides the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is implementing the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) for skill-based training of the youth across the country. As on June 30, 4,087 candidates have been trained under Short Term Training (STT) and 5,874 candidates have been trained under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in the State.
The Union Labour and Employment Minister Rameshwar Teli stated that the State government has initiated various moves to resolve the unemployment problem in the State.
