‘My new mantra for Goa is value based education’

Luizinho Faleiro, the Minister of Industries talks on the state of industrial affairs in Goa

Which are the new industries do you see emerging as major players in Goa in the future?

Goa has seen tremendous economic growth since liberation, travelling from an Agrarian economy in the 60s to tourism in the 80s and industrialisation thereafter. In fact, Goa has attracted large industrial investment in the last decade on account of our Government’s package of incentives, especially in the fields of pharmaceuticals and electronics. Now, the State Government is trying to promote pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, information technology and other industries.

The literacy rate in Goa is amongst the highest in India. We possess one of the best human resource development indicators in education and one of the best health indicators in the country as well. For these reasons, we feel that industries like biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, IT and electronics are ideally suited to Goa.

Industries look for quick clearances. Does a single window system exist in Goa?

The government is working on setting up industrial projects like the pharma park, the biotechnology park, a food processing park, an apparels park, an IT park and an IT habitat. Special economic zones have been framed by the State Government. Our industrial policy is already launched and the biotechnology policy is on the anvil. I am certain that industrialists and entrepreneurs will find these initiatives of our government extremely attractive and prompt them to set up industries in Goa.

A high powered co-ordination committee for medium and large scale industries has been set up to facilitate speedy clearances through a centralised single window system. Small scale industries can now receive clearances within 24 hours as a matter of right, and not as a matter of favour.

The success stories of people who have set up industries in Goa and their willingness to expand their operations here are an eloquent testimony of the Goa Government’s good governance and its success in creating an atmosphere conducive to attracting new investment to the State.

You are also the Education Minister of Goa. Is Goa producing enough graduates to suffice the industrial needs of the state?

It is a fact that there has been a mismatch in the orientation of our education vis-à-vis industrial growth, resulting in a 35 to 40 percent migrant population settling our state. In our enthusiasm to promote economic growth, we have promoted various industries which have not created employment and goes side by side with our trained requisite manpower. We need to have industries which provide the necessary skills required to harness the employment potential created through economic growth.

What have you done to rectify this problem?

Now that the Goa Government has appointed a knowledge commission, I am very keen to make Goa a knowledge driven economy, a knowledge driven society and a knowledge driven destination. We are going to develop knowledge parks for this purpose.

I firmly believe that education and industrial growth cannot be separated, as one compliments the other. My new mantra for Goa is ‘value based, need based and quality based education’. In this regard, many schemes are being launched to improve the quality of education in the state.

We have got our vision documents; we have prepared our mission statements and are now implementing the role factor to achieve this within a record time. With this in mind, the Government of Goa has identified the requirements of our manpower, its strengths and weaknesses in keeping with the people’s culture and ethos and available manpower skills.