Goa Cong slams CM for 'invest in state' call to defence company

Panaji, March 30: Goa Congress on Thursday,March 31 condemned Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar's statement welcoming defence equipment manufacturing units in the state, arguing that it would cause severe pollution and stress the existing infrastructure.

"It is to be noted that defence equipment manufacturing, if it is a heavy industry, such as Heavy Vehicles Factory Avadi in Chennai, will be a red category industry that will cause severe pollution and will burden the existing infrastructure," Congress Goa spokesman Sunil Kawathankar told reporters today.

During the inauguration of Defexpo, Parsekar had appealed to the defence sector companies to invest in Goa.

Kawathankar said such industries are power guzzling units and today when the existing industries itself are struggling for power, CM's statement raises serious concerns.

"Moreover, such heavy industry will attract workforce from outside Goa, burdening the already overstressed state with migrant population as we have seen that most of the mega industries have migrant workforce and not Goans," he said.

"Government has no plans to ensure that jobs are given to Goans in the existing industrial setups. The investments invited through Investment Promotion Board, too, will employ non-Goans from neighboring states just like the casinos where Goans merely hold 10-15 per cent jobs as compared to the workforce from other states," the spokesman said.

"In such circumstances, why should Goa and Goans face the burden of such industries which will not even create employment for the local youths?," he asked. Kawathankar alleged that the state government has failed to create 50,000 jobs annually, which meant 2,50,000 jobs in the last four years. "Hence, the government should at least devise a mechanism to ensure Goans get jobs in the existing establishments," he said.

PTI