Chief Minister Pramod Sawant reiterated that the unemployment figures cited by Niti Aayog on Goa’s unemployment are wrong and explained on the floor of the House that many employed youth who have been employed have not cancelled their registration with the Employment Exchange thereby showing an unrealistic figure of jobseekers. Sawant may not be wrong in disputing the Niti Aayog rating, but on employment, he is not right either.
Niti Aayog, while citing data from 2020-21, reported that Goa’s unemployment rate is 10.5 per cent, the third highest across Indian states. Earlier, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy reported Goa’s unemployment rate to be 13.7 per cent, much higher than the national average. These figures are certainly away from reality, whichever way one sees them.
If the Labour Ministry is going take data from an obsolete Employment Exchange as a barometer for unemployment, then the State is always going to get it wrong because as much as they have not updated data, there is also no entry of the thousands who have not shown any interest in registering themselves with the registry. There is no track of students who have exited the learning system and looking for a working career.
Gone are the days when students registered with the exchange in the hope of getting a government job. We live in an era where merely registering oneself is not enough to get a job. Employment works on a different mechanism in today's world with political influences and money power forming crucial components, sometimes overriding merit.
Now, this is interesting. According to data furnished in the Assembly, around 1,59,676 are registered for jobs with the Employment Exchange, against which the CM said that inquiries revealed that 54,142 have already been employed in the private sector while 18,264 were pursuing further studies. The CM said that after further scrutiny the unemployment figure will drop to 30-35,000. If that's true, why is the government giving assurances?
If we recall, Sawant gave assurances on jobs as much as his predecessor Manohar Parrikar did. Promises of 20,000 jobs in two years are luring. If we may recall, 24,668 applied for 147 jobs at the South Goa district Collectorate, vacancies that were first notified in 2019, stalled later and reopened in 2023. Data furnished by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office reveals that 25,939 individuals surrendered Indian passports in Goa between 2014 and 2024. There are clear indications that the demand for jobs is overwhelming which co-relates to joblessness.
The Labour Minister Atanasio alias Babush Monserrate, last week, rejected the Opposition demand for an 80 per cent job reservation for Goans, stating that the law does not provide for such quotas and cited how such moves were shot down by courts in other States. The question is whether the minister has data on private-sector employment, let aside the count of jobless. Since 2022, the minister has been assuring the updation of data by engaging industries.
The positivity on employment is hollow and stands in contrast with the ground reality. Amending laws and enhancing penalties on private entities seeking ‘outside’ labour may backfire and put locals on a collision course. A more practical way would be to engage industries by incentivising them for local employment.
Instead of living in denial, it’s time the Chief Minister and Labour Minister embrace the reality, get the data right, open up channels with the private players and genuinely take steps towards resolving the growing unemployment Goa is facing today. Let's stop talking numbers for now.
