PANAJI: In a bid to soothe frayed nerves of the job seekers in the state and give them a temporary relief, chief minister Manohar Parrikar has proposed to implement unemployment dole and has made a provision of Rs 20 crore for it in the 2018-19 budget he presented on Thursday. The government plans financial assistance of around Rs 3,000 per month to each unemployed youth.This is the second time in six years that Parrikar, who is also the finance minister, has voiced his intent in the budget to provide financial assistance to the unemployed in the state.Data released by the state employment exchange shows that 1.2 lakh Goans are looking for jobs since July 2017. That is 7.8% of the state’s population.The Union ministry of labour and employment’s fifth annual employment-unemployment survey (2015-16) says that the unemployment rate in Goa stood at 9.6%A fortnight before the 2018-19 budget, minister for labour and employment Rohan Khaunte had hinted that the state government could introduce a financial assistance scheme for unemployed youth in the state.Parrikar, who has dedicated this budget to job creation and said it will be “a year of employment”, has increased the budget allocation for the department of employment by a massive 522% and has provided Rs 24.9 crore. Most of it will be utilised by the minimum employment assurance scheme, for which Parrikar has kept aside Rs 20 crore.Six years ago, BJP in its 2012 election manifesto had promised unemployment dole and Parrikar in his 2012-13 budget speech had promised to put in an employment generation model within nine months while also implementing the minimum employment assurance scheme. But that remained on paper.For the coming fiscal, while Parrikar has allocated Rs 20 crore for the minimum employment assurance scheme, in 2012-13 he had provided Rs 30 crore for it and said an assistance of Rs 3,000-4,500 per month would be given to unemployed youth.Officials say this time around things could be different since the government has already initiated a study on the unemployment scenario in the state. Department of labour and employment is going to use Aadhaar to verify potential employees and even track the employment status of those who register with the state employment exchange.The Aadhaar-linked data base will help the government identify if an applicant for a government job is already employed in the private sector. It will also help reduce abuse of the minimum employment assurance scheme and could ensure that genuine people benefit from the scheme.

Stay updated with all the Latest Goa headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.