PANAJI
Legislators, especially from the Opposition side, questioned the "ineffective role" of the government in ensuring jobs for locals in the private sector, arguing that all the benefits given to industry such as land and other sops were proving futile in terms of benefits for Goans.
Leader of the Opposition, Yuri Alemao, led the charge during the discussion on the demands for grants for the Labour and Employment Department, arguing that nothing was being done by the government despite the issue of industry making no efforts to hire locals being flagged so many times in the past.
"If there are no jobs for locals in these industries, then why should we give up our land?" Alemao asked and accused the Labour and Employment Department of failing in its duty to ensure locals get employment in these industries.
Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate, who also holds the Labour and Employment portfolio, however, interrupted Alemao saying that a proposal has been moved to the Chief Minister by his department to make the Labour Commissioner a member of the Investment Promotion Board (IPB) so that the Labour Department knows in advance which industry is setting up shop here and necessary steps can accordingly be taken to ensure they employ locals.
Earlier, participating in the discussion, several other MLAs from the Opposition benches, including Venzy Viegas, Carlos Alvares Ferreira and Viresh Borkar, besides some ruling party legislators, also flagged the same issue, saying the government was playing an ineffective role in making sure that maximum jobs in the private sector industry go to Goans.
Discussing the demands for grants for the Revenue Department, several legislators expressed disappointment and some 'hanky-panky' in the internal processes involved in mutation proceedings, demanding better efficiency and promptness in services.
Opposition legislators, including Viegas and Alvares Ferreira pointed out that there were wide-ranging differences in the delivery time of mutation services, which point to widespread corruption in the system. Both Viegas and Alvares Ferreira said that there are cases where mutation applications are decided in quick time, sometimes even in a day or two, but in most cases the processes drag on for weeks, months, and even years.
Disaster management
The government also came under fire from MLAs over its handling of disaster management and demanded urgent measures to be better prepared to handle emergencies.
Alemao was vociferous in his criticism of the government, saying that the Disaster Management Authority had itself become a disaster, and demanded that the government update the State Disaster Management Plan with a dedicated force which would be responsive in quick time when disasters like the stampede during the Lairaidevi temple incident occur.
