Employers from outside Goa should give locals a chance before getting staff from elsewhere
The state government has announced that private companies operating in Goa will now be required to advertise job vacancies within the state. Failure to comply will result in fines for the employers as per a decision taken by the cabinet to amend the Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959. Fines will vary depending on the size of the company and the frequency of non-compliance.
This was a much-needed provision in the interest of the local youth, especially considering that the unemployment rate in the state is high. “The companies will have to advertise in local media as well as inform the local Employment Exchange,” Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said after chairing the Cabinet meeting. He needs to be appreciated for this decision. It is not always easy to take such decisions as the pressure from the industrial lobby is huge. The pressure is more on a national political party than a regional one in such matters. Sawant said this is his government’s “commitment to ensuring employment for Goans.” He said that, until now, employment data from private and government sectors was not shared with the Goa Employment Exchange. This decision could have been taken long ago; however, it is never too late.
At one time, even national parties used to raise eyebrows over demands by local parties or activists that companies operating in Goa should advertise their vacancies in the state before advertising outside the state. But over the last five or six years, the unemployment scenario across the country has changed. Bigger states are feeling the pinch as employers from outside their state, instead of advertising in the state where they have industries, get staff from other states. For this reason, there’s a strong demand for reservation of jobs for locals in Telangana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and some other states too. Some have called for 75 per cent job reservation for locals in the private sector. If big states are feeling the pinch, why would small states like Goa not feel it, especially when job creation to match with the human resources availability is poor? The Goa government has done well by starting with the internship scheme. It will give the youth the much-needed skills to get absorbed in the industry.
Employers from outside the state say that they don’t get the required manpower in Goa. With the government stressing compulsory internships, hopefully employers will try to give preference to local manpower.
Last year, the Goa Forward Party, followed by the other opposition parties, had put the government on the mat after some private pharma companies issued advertisements for job vacancies outside Goa. The Chief Minister had later directed the firms to withdraw them. Even now, after the bill is passed in the assembly, the government will have to keep a close watch on the vacancies available in the private sector. They will have to advertise in the state irrespective of whether they get the manpower or not. They cannot operate their units with a complete negative image of the local manpower. If our boys and girls can do well outside Goa and abroad, why will they not deliver with the same spirit if the salaries and other service conditions are good here?
