Goa government to invest in cluster development plans to generate employment

“Clusters such as Paddy Processing, Goan multi fruits processing, Coconut and Coir, Spice and Herbal, food processing through self-help group, pottery, sugarcane jaggery, Khola chillies, Vegetables were identified to get developed in order to generate employment,” said a statement from CMO.

This is also parallel to the state’s own initiative where the “village model” of job opportunities is being identified with the help of local panchayats.

On Thursday at another event to launch a model career centre, a platform to help youth with counselling and for industries to look for “right candidates”, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant admitted to “high employment rate” in the state. “There are around one lakh job seekers who have registered themselves with the State Employment Exchange,” admitted Sawant.

With the mining industry shut, and with the tourism industry hugely bringing seasonal jobs, the government is now looking to evolve new sectors to work. The Cluster schemes and the model centre together — look to fill the gap in the state’s job market.

CII Chairperson in Goa — Blaise Costabir says, that the industry hopes to benefit from the model career centre as it has worked in other states. The idea is to prepare the candidate for the position available,” he says. “It baffles us that there are jobs in Goa but no applicants who want to look for this position. The general mood is still to look for a government job. These centres will counsel, give a platform to provide skills and look for more job opportunities.”

While the centre has been announced — it will take a few weeks before it’s handed to CII, and for any of the activity to begin. Goa was the first state to open industry and it still has many set-ups not functioning with many employees having got infected with Covid.