Parrikar promises to wipe out unemployment with new policy

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said in a video message on Independence Day today that the state will have no youth unemployment after a new policy is rolled out.

The proposed employment policy will offer incentives to industries for hiring local people, said Parrikar, who is in the US for follow-up treatment for a pancreatic ailment.

The policy will be soon announced, he said.

"This year, we have planned a new action plan for generating employment for our local youth involving affirmative action which will include providing incentives and subsidies to the industries which give priority to employ the locals," he said.

"With this, I am hopeful that in the coming one or two years, there will be no unemployed youth in Goa," he said.

The employment policy will generate much-needed enthusiasm among the youth, Parrikar added.

He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union government for helping in the state's development and sanctioning mega-infrastructure projects worth Rs 10,000-20,000 crore.

"With Mandovi and Zuari bridges,national highway expansion, Mopa airport and other facilities, the state is scaling high...While Mandovi (project) will be completed by December-end, other projects are set to be completed within next two years," he said.

The upcoming greenfield international airport at Mopa will reduce the congestion at Dabolim airport, he said.

The chief minister is expected to return to the state later this week.