Editor, Goemkarponn
AERIAL VIEW
While the State successfully hosted events, the government failed to create jobs for youth.
The Dr Pramod Sawant government did make an effort by introducing Apprenticeship proggramme where thousands of youth were given appointment letters – but sadly it has failed to impress anyone.
A good news at the fag end of the year has been that the Staff Selection Commission has given its first notification for recruitment in various department.
Hopefully, from now on the recruitment would be on basis of capabilities.
While Government job is one issue, what is hurting the Goan youth is that there do not seem to be much opportunities in the private sector either.
The government has approved several tourism and other industry projects, but that does not seem to be helping create employment opportunities.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
Well, Goa – known as the paradise on earth due to its hospitality and pristine beaches globally, became more famous for its capability to host events of international standard successfully.
This was proven by the successful hosting of right out of 15 G20 meetings in Goa.
In 2023, the coastal State successfuly hosted visitors of a different kind as G20 meetings and a meet of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto was among the foreign VVIPs who participated in the SCO meet, held in the South Goa district in May 2023.
Bhutto arrived in the state amid the heightened tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the killing of five soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.
The SCO meeting, however, went off well, and was followed by a series of G20 meetings which were attended by several foreign delegates.
Adding another feather to the cap was G20 member countries adopting the “Goa Roadmap” during the meeting of tourism ministers.
The successful hosting of 37th National Games added icing to the cake.
The Games, which were being postponed for years together, were finally hosted in October and November and were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Besides the State also hosted the World Beach Pro Tour 2023, held a little ahead of the National Games.
President Droupadi Murmu was in Goa in August. During her three-day visit, she addressed the convocation of Goa University.
Infrastructure….
The State saw inauguration of two big ticket projects – The Mopa airport that took the first flight at the very start of the year on January 5, 2023.
Today, Goa is one of the very few states in the State, which have more than one airport. Thankfully, while Mopa has taken off, the Dabolim airport continues to operate with full steam.
The second big ticket project was the Zuari bridge – the second leg of which was opened on December 24, 2023. The state-of-the-art bridge, connecting North and South Goa, has brought a huge respite to the commuters.
To make the inauguration more eventful, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari also laid foundation for revolving gallery atop the bridge, which will give a big boost to tourism.
Unemployment…
While the State successfully hosted events, the government failed to create jobs for youth.
The Dr Pramod Sawant government did make an effort by introducing Apprenticeship proggramme where thousands of youth were given appointment letters – but sadly it has failed to impress anyone.
A good news at the fag end of the year has been that the Staff Selection Commission has given its first notification for recruitment in various department.
Hopefully, from now on the recruitment would be on basis of capabilities.
While Government job is one issue, what is hurting the Goan youth is that there do not seem to be much opportunities in the private sector either.
The government has approved several tourism and other industry projects, but that does not seem to be helping create employment opportunities.
Core issues of Mhadei,
Mining remain unresolved
While BJP losing Karnataka elections was a blessing in disguise for Goa as it would give the State upper hand over the neighbouing State viz-a-viz Mhadei issue, the Goa Government does not seem to have taken adavantage of the same.
The case is in the Supreme Court and has not come up for hearing for a long time now.
On the other hand, Karnataka has already diverted the water to Mhadei basin.
Mining
Almost two years now for this new Dr Pramod Sawant government, Goa is still awaiting the resumption of the mining operations.
Interestingly, the Chief Minister continues to make promises on mining resumption, he did so during monsoon session of the Goa legislative assembly.
He made a categorical statement in the House that the iron ore mining operations would restart by November.
Moreover, Sawant also told the House that nine blocks of iron ore have already been auctioned by the government and in turn collected Rs 45 crore by way of this auction. The government completed the first phase of the auction of mining blocks in December 2022, with four companies winning bids for the extraction of iron ore from different mineral-rich stretches in the state.
It was further mentioned that the process of issuing related environment clearances by the state government would be expedited.
In spite of all these assurances, one is not too sure if this new deadline for commencement of mining activities in Goa would be honoured.
Politics
The political situation in the state remained stable during the year.
With BJP enjoying brute majority in the assembly, the Opposition could not do much either.
Of Course, the although the Opposition MLAs put up a brave front saying they were united, in reality it is exactly the oppositte.
To make matters worse for Opposition, the Revolutionary Goans Party has already announced its candidates for Lok Sabha polls.
Among other noteworthy developments was PWD minister Nilesh Cabral getting replaced by Aleixo Sequeira, another BJP MLA.
Sequeira’s induction was part of fulfillment of the assurances given by the ruling party to the group of eight Congress MLAs who joined it last year.
In another development BJP State president Sadanand Shet Tanavade was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha.
Tourism…
In the tourism sector, the government sought to promote “Goa Beyond Beaches”.
It launched the home stay and caravan policies to promote hinterland tourism. The policies are getting the final touches after suggestions were received from the public.
However, there has been no concrete steps taken to increase the number of footfalls in Goa.
The number of tourists in December were dwindling and a BJP MLA Michael Lobo says it was due to harassment of tourists by dance bars and the police.
To make matters worse for tourism dependents, the beach shacks in Goa started openeing only at the end of year.
Overall, they said it was one of the worst season for Goa.
