Goa’s unemployment above nat’l avg: GFP

Panaji: Citing data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), GFP said that unemployment in Goa remains well above the national average. The party also said that job fairs cannot be a replacement for policies that can promote job creation.
GFP president Vijai Sardesai demanded that the state frame laws that make it mandatory for companies operating in Goa to recruit Goans.
“There was a mega job fair in Goa, which was a PR event with banners across the state. Despite doing all this, we are the eighth highest unemployment state in the country,” said Sardesai. “I want to tell the chief minister that he stands exposed. Secondly, PR events, banners and photo shoots cannot substitute policy making. Bring in good policies that give preference for Goans.”
Unemployment in Goa for the month of November stood at 13.6%, well above the national average of 8%. Haryana has the highest unemployment at 30.6% followed by Rajasthan at 24.5%.
In November, the NITI Aayog had also red flagged Goa’s unemployment figures but chief minister Pramod Sawant had said that the unemployment figures cited by the NITI Aayog were inaccurate. “CMIE, an economic think tank, has released the unemployment figures for November. And from this one can see that Goa has the eighth highest unemployment in the country. Figures cannot lie,” he said.