Goa’s job market is in crisis, and the numbers speak for themselves. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation recently released a report through the National Sample Survey Office, revealing that Goa’s unemployment rate has skyrocketed to 8.7% for the 2023-2024 period—more than double the national average of 4.5%. This startling figure has ignited a fierce political debate, with the opposition lambasting the Pramod Sawant-led government for its economic mismanagement and broken promises to Goa’s youth.
Since the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government took office in 2014, unemployment has become a critical issue not just in Goa but across India. While election campaigns are filled with grand promises of job creation, these commitments often dissolve into empty rhetoric once the votes are cast. Goa is no exception. When official data, like the recent Periodic Labour Force Survey, highlights these failures, ruling governments typically respond with more vague assurances, deflecting responsibility and offering new promises that rarely see the light of day.
Non-Goan Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant who has faced widespread criticism for his governance and administrative failings, recently pledged to create 2 lakh jobs over the next two years. However, many view this as yet another “jumla” aimed at countering the grim statistics from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, as well as deflecting attention from corruption allegations surrounding massive land conversions.
But beneath these lofty promises lies a darker question: Will Goans even be able to afford these jobs? In Goa’s current political landscape, merit often takes a backseat to money and connections. There is a growing sentiment that government jobs in the state come with a hefty price tag, with merit and reservations becoming irrelevant in the face of corruption.
Another non-Goan minister in Goa’s cabinet, Vishwajit Rane demands that 22,000 jobs to be created in the next two years. Given Rane’s mercenary mindset, he sent a subtle
threat to his own government with his dictat, “or else we will have to think differently.
With slight deviation, Vishwajit is known to fill the majority of the vacant posts in his ministries with his voters. We have staff coming to work at South Goa District Hospital at Fatorda from his and his wife’s constituencies Valpoi and Poriem respectively, when jobs should have been provided to constituents of Fatorda, Margao, Nuvem and Benaulim.
Infact, all the government hospitals and sub-centres are filled with individuals from his and his wife’s constituencies.
Wednesday 2 October 2024
Goa’s Unemployment Crisis: Empty Promises but Full Pockets -- By Nisser Dias
It has become an open secret that applying for jobs in any government department is a futile exercise—unless one is willing to “butter” the application heavily with cash. Be it Congress, BJP or alliance governments, ministers and supporting MLAs get their share of benefits. However in recent times Sawant has changed the equation by sharing the spoils with all MLAs endorsing 1932 Hindi feature film by J.J. Madan “Alibaba aur chalis chor.”
This pattern of corruption runs deep. The sale of government jobs has become an ingrained practice, with police sub-inspector positions allegedly selling for Rs. 40 lakhs, junior RTO officer’s post for Rs. 40 lakhs, and police constables post for Rs. 25 lakhs.
Opposition leader Yuri Alemao, has condemned these practices, although he himself comes from a political family with his father Joaquim Alemao and uncle Churchill Alemao has been part of Goa’s government machinery for decades. The truth is, this corruption has festered for years, but under Sawant and Rane, it appears to have reached new heights.
Recent court interventions have further exposed the rot in the system. On September 20, 2024, the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court had to quash an appointment made by the Sawant government to the Goa Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA). The government had overridden a selection committee’s recommendation of retired District Judge Vincent D’Silva and instead appointed retired District Judge Cholu Gauns, with no justification. This blatant disregard for established procedures underscores the level of political manipulation that has become the norm.
The bottom line is this: in Goa, the ruling government under the ‘ghatti’ chief minister of Goa Pramod Sawant and his ministers have not just failed to deliver on job creation—they have commodified it. Promises of job creation are being leveraged as a smokescreen for a deeper, more disturbing reality where cash, not qualifications, determines one’s future. This job crisis is not just an economic issue; it is a moral and ethical one, revealing the extent of corruption that threatens to suffocate the hopes and dreams of Goa’s youth.
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