PANAJI: Despite prevalence of better living standards, Goa is facing an acute shortage of workers. This view was put forth at an interactive open house meet attended by the Labour Secretary, Mr S Kumaraswamy and representatives of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Also issues such as compensation for contract workers, non availability of labour and skilled workers; and unclaimed Provident Fund came out during the discussions.
Goa’s Labour Secretary, Mr S Kumaraswamy said migrant and contract issues have become sensitive and needs fine-tuning. Roughly, there are five lakh workers in the state, out of which over 70 per cent are migrants, and yet Goa is facing a huge shortage.
He said the acute shortage of workers could be due to poor living conditions such as sanitation and lack of civic amenities. It is the duty of the industry and government to provide workers with proper living conditions. Others at the meet opined, it is also the cause for slums emerging.
The Labour Commissioner, Ms Fatima Rodrigues said the 25 labour legislations needs to be amended. These laws enacted since 1923 to 1976 are still in force. Efforts are continuing to improve a healthy working place.
Goa’s accident rate is the lowest in India; this is due to a healthy and safety courses being conducted. Other courses for supervisors and directors are in place and an AIF course for doctors too, said Mr Paranajpe of Factories and Boilers.
“We are aiming for zero litigation,” said newly appointed ESI regional director, Mr R S Rao. In a distance of 25 km away from a government health centre, ESI is tying up with private hospitals and dispensaries to take care of the ESI card holder. This is to improve ESIC services, he said. Mr AK Singh, Provident Fund Commissioner assured that all unclaimed deposits will be resolved soon.
GCCI vice chairman, Mr Manguirish Pai Raikar said that the meeting was to bridge the gap among employers, employees and government.
In line with the Mission Skills Development, a Prime Minster’s initiative, a skill gap analysis is underway to find out which sectors needs more skilled manpower, said Mr Raikar. Once this sector is identified, a training workshop will be in place to train people.
The government, GCCI and CII are working on the analysis. The likely segments are electrical and auto mechanics, plumbing among others, he said. Dropouts will be lured for the courses sponsored by the government.
The Centre which has set up six skill development centers will soon include Goa. A fund of ` 7 crore has been earmarked, Mr Raikar said. The inventory of over 30 questions was put forth by Mr Binayak Datta, GCCI member, was hotly answered.