PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant today expressed concern over the growing dominance of migrants in Goa’s traditional occupations, stating that the coastal state was being turned into “their own Dubai.”
Claiming that migrants have increasingly taken over skilled trades and traditional businesses, Sawant urged Goan youth to reclaim sectors such as plumbing, electrical work, tailoring and beauty services by embracing entrepreneurship and self-employment opportunities.
Speaking at the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) Next event in Sanquelim today, organised by the Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce, Sawant said Goa’s youth must step forward and utilise government-backed schemes and financial support to become job creators instead of depending only on salaried employment.
“If you search for a plumbing contractor or an electrical contractor in Goa today, you will struggle to find local people. These sectors are now being dominated by people coming from outside the state,” Sawant said, adding that traditional occupations once run by Goans were slowly slipping away.
Addressing students and beneficiaries of PMEGP, Sawant said entrepreneurship begins with a simple thought and the willingness to start something independently. “The first step is the thought process and curiosity to do business. Once that comes, success follows,” he said.
The Chief Minister highlighted the success stories of several local entrepreneurs who benefited from government-backed schemes.
He cited the example of Suresh Patil, who runs an agarbatti manufacturing unit and earns around Rs 30,000 per month while employing two workers.
Another entrepreneur, Ratnadeep Sawant, left his job and started a sports T-shirt manufacturing and tailoring business with a Rs 2 lakh Mudra loan to purchase his first machine. He later expanded under the PMEGP scheme and now owns machinery worth over Rs 4 crore, earns nearly Rs 1.5 lakh per month and employs 35 women. His products are currently exported to seven countries, the CM said.
Sawant also referred to a dry fruits entrepreneur who packages and markets branded products, earning around Rs 1.5 lakh monthly, and another businessman who set up a processing unit with a Rs 40 lakh loan and now generates a similar income.
Sharing another example, the CM said a local worker invested Rs 1.5 lakh in sourcing and packaging organic mangoes and managed to earn profits of nearly Rs 3 lakh within one and a half months.
Contrasting entrepreneurship with salaried employment, Sawant said regular jobs often come with income limitations. “In a job, your salary may stop at Rs 50,000, but in business, your profits can reach Rs 5 lakh,” he remarked.
He expressed hope that some of the students attending the awareness programme would become successful entrepreneurs in the future. “After three years, someone from this audience should come to me and say they started a successful business because they attended this programme,” he said.
