Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant in presence of Minister, Factories and Boilers Nilkanth Halarnkar inaugurated three days 1st Goa Occupational Safety and Health Expo and Summit 2025 organized by Inspectorate of Factories and Boilers at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, Bambolim today.
The aim of the summit is to provide a platform for disseminating vital knowledge and best practices in the field of occupational safety and health through comprehensive seminar and panel discussions and an expo to showcase the latest in the safety technologies, equipment and solutions by the exhibitors participating from India and to advocate for policy and regulatory improvements.
Speaking on the occasion Chief Minister Dr Sawant said, this is the first of its kind event organized in Goa focusing on safety, health and welfare across the industry.
This summit is aimed to promote awareness, knowledge and action towards the work place – safety goes beyond the factories and multiple sectors. The growth in industrial and road accidents is of more concern. Safety is essential as we care for the families of the people working in all sectors.
This expo is a big step in the right direction. This includes first aid training and everyday safety, knowledge to save lives. It is really a happy moment to see that the participation is from across our State and from Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Exhibition is useful for the industry people especially on safety aspects, he added.
Exhibitors have showcased the latest technology equipment’s and safety solutions. This event is the hub for learning, innovation and collaboration among the policy makers, professionals and industry people.
The Government is committed to the safety, healthy and work friendly industrial environment. Inspired by the vision of Prime Minister of Atmanirbhar Bharat Goa Government has started with the plan of Vikasit Goa 2037 which is already in action, he remarked.
CM informed that the Inspectorate of Factories and Boilers has once again launched the Boilers Attenders course aiming to create job opportunities for the Goan youth as Boiler Operators. It will also benefit the industry to open up new career paths.
In the safety training schools and colleges, the Government has introduced different programmes of industrial safety, electrical, fire prevention, mental wellbeing, disaster management and emergency preparedness.
Focus on creating safety awareness among the youth has also been laid. Skill on wheel programme has been started by the Government consisting of a mobile training unit with tools, technology and learning material. This unit will travel from Panjim to the rural places of the State and give hands-on training to the youths.
Approximately 2 crores provision has been made in the budget for the Skill on Wheel programme and definitely with this programme, skilling, reskilling and up-skilling of the youth will happen in every sector, he said.
CM urged Government bodies to introduce the job oriented and safety focus courses. This programme will build a safer and stronger State and empower the youth to become self-reliant.
He appealed to the youth to grab every opportunity which is available in the industrial field to provide better opportunities to build the future. He said the Goa Government is committed to make the Prime Minister’s dream of Vikasit Bharat 2047.
Minister, Nilkanth Halarnakar said, this event is a big step towards making workplaces safer, healthier and better for everyone. This will benefit not just the manufacturing sector but also construction, hospitality, mining, healthcare, retail, education and many other sectors. This is an opportunity to learn new things, meet experts and get useful knowledge. This is not just an event, it is a platform to learn, correct and work together for better safety and health, he added.
This summit, he said, offers the invaluable chance to gain the right knowledge, empowering the Goan youth to start their businesses or secure jobs in the industrial sector. The summit will contribute in empowerment growth, well trained jobs, ready workforce, reduce dependency on external hires and create more opportunities for local talent especially for students from technical institutions who are the future of industry. To build prosperous Goa we must attract more industries to the State. Creating jobs and tackling unemployment with the right knowledge and guidance, he said.