Govt plans employment study amid joblessness concerns

Panaji: Goa govt is commissioning a state-level employment study to generate a ground-level picture of jobs, self-employment, livelihoods, and enterprise activity across all districts and talukas of the state, amid concerns that existing national datasets do not adequately capture the extent of unemployment in Goa’s economy.The move comes against the backdrop of the latest periodic labour force survey released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation, which pegged Goa’s unemployment rate at 8.3%, the highest in India and well above the national average of 3.1%.Citing the Centre’s data, the opposition has said that the unemployment figures are a clear indictment of chief minister Pramod Sawant’s inability to generate jobs.

State govt hopes that the employment survey can “correct” the employment measurement gaps in Goa.The directorate of planning, statistics & evaluation has said that national datasets, including the PLFS, provide limited insight into Goa’s tourism-driven, seasonal, informal and self-employed economy, resulting in what it describes as a “misinterpretation” of Goa’s “labour market realities”. The proposed study aims to generate Goa-specific evidence to inform policy and planning at the state, district, and taluka levels.

The department plans to appoint a private agency that will be asked to conduct a large-scale primary employment and enterprise survey covering all districts, including the newly formed Kushavati district, with taluka-level representation ensured through a statistically-robust sampling design.According to the department’s plans, data collection will be digital, with GPS and quality controls, and will cover a 12-month livelihood reference period.

The survey will integrate household, individual, and enterprise-level data.The study must be completed within three months of the award of the contract, with a possible three-week extension available on written request, department officials said. Deliverables include a final employment report, district- and taluka-level employment profiles, policy briefs and a presentation for the chief minister’s office.