The Central government has pointed out the unemployment issue in Goa, yet the state’s Chief Minister Pramod Sawant denies it, according to Congress. AICC Media Incharge for Goa Harshad Sharma criticized the BJP government for their unkept promises concerning job opportunities for the youth.

Inexplicably, the Chief Minister contests the existence of unemployment in the state. Sharma pointed out the hardships faced by the youth due to lack of jobs, arguing that the government has failed to create sufficient employment.

Sharma gave a chronology of reports indicating Goa’s unemployment rate. In November 2022, NITI Ayog reported that Goa’s unemployment rate was at 10.5 percent, the third-highest in India. Despite this, Sawant maintained in September 2023 that there was no unemployment in the state, nor did he accept NITI Ayog’s findings. Sharma estimates the number of unemployed youth in Goa to be over 1.10 lakh.

Further, the CMIE reported in the same month that Goa’s unemployment rate was 13.7 percent, almost twice as high as the national average of 7 percent. October 2023 data released by the Statistics Ministry placed Goa as the second-highest state in terms of unemployment, contradicting Sawant’s claims.

In November 2023, the RBI stated that Goa topped the list in rural unemployment. Sharma emphasized that these reports aren’t Congress generated but are from the central government’s agencies. He challenged Sawant to clarify if the central government was misreporting the statistics.

Finally, Sharma conveyed that corruption in BJP was so rampant that even their party leaders were accusing their ministers.