Investment board unable to ensure jobs for locals: Cong

Panaji: Refuting the BJP-led government’s claim that investment projects create jobs for locals, Congress on Thursday said that the government’s own data shows that just 55 Goans were employed by such firms.
As per data released by industries minister Mauvin Godinho in the legislative assembly on July 21 last year, 228 investment proposals were cleared between 2014 and 2022 but only 76 projects have been completed.
“In the annexure, Godinho has clearly stated that the actual employment number is 8,073 as against 41,627 of the proposed employment, out of which only 55 are Goans,” said state Congress president Amit Patkar .
Patkar sai that chief minister Pramod Sawant’s announcements about job creation and investment are nothing but a “series of many jumlas” to mislead people.
“The BJP government spent Rs 3.1 crore on the mega job fair where almost 21,000 youth registered but only 576 got jobs. The BJP government is selling jobs in Goa,” said Congress functionary Viriato Fernandes.
Congress also said that till January, the government was collecting data on the number of Goans and non-Goans employed by private industries that were given in-principle approval by the Goa Investment Promotion Board, but suddenly stopped collecting the data as mentioned in an LAQ in March. “What changed between January and March for the government to stop collecting data,” said Patkar.