Goa 2022 polls: Arvind Kejriwal promises allowance for unemployed, 80% quota in jobs for locals

Panaji: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said if voted to power in Goa in the 2022 polls, his party will ensure that 80 percent of jobs, including in the private sector, will be reserved for local people. He also assured a monthly remuneration of Rs 5,000 to families dependent on the mining and tourism industries till these sectors are normalised. Speaking to reporters in Mapusa town, Kejriwal further said that at least one unemployed person from each family in Goa would be given a government job and jobless youths will get a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 till they find jobs. Assembly elections are due in Goa, currently ruled by the BJP, in February next year. This is the second visit of Kejriwal to Goa in the last two months. In his earlier visit in July, the Delhi chief minister had assured free electricity up to 300 units per month to people in Goa if his party forms the government after polls. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Kejriwal said, “80 percent of jobs, including in the private sector, will be reserved for Goan youths. We will pass a law making it mandatory for private industries to employ 80 percent of workers from local people.” Kejriwal also tried to woo the people dependent on the mining and tourism sectors, the major recruiters in Goa. While mining came to a standstill after the Supreme Court ban, the COVID-19 induced lockdown has adversely affected the tourism industry. “Families dependent on the mining and tourism industries will get a monthly remuneration of Rs 5,000 till these sectors are resumed,” he said. In another promise, Kejriwal said a Skills University will be set up in Goa on the lines of Delhi where youth would be skilled and made employment-ready. He said if the AAP comes to power only the deserving people will get jobs in the state government only on merit. “The current practice of recruiting people in government through favours from MLAs or influential politicians will be discarded. The entire system of job recruitment in the government sector would be made transparent and accountable, he added. Referring to the doorstep delivery of services introduced by the Pramod Sawant government, Kejriwal said a similar initiative was implemented by the Delhi government. As per our scheme, government officers go to the doorstep of people with the required facilities. People don’t have to move out of their homes, he said. He claimed the Sawant government has been copying the Delhi government’s initiatives. Why choose duplicate when you have original, he quipped. In the 2017 Goa Assembly polls, the AAP had drawn a blank. The Congress had then won the highest 17 seats in the 40-member House in Goa restricting the BJP to 13. Surprising the Congress, the saffron party allied with regional parties and came to power under the leadership of senior leader Manohar Parrikar, now deceased.