Panaji: To make Goa into an information technology hub, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said the government envisages to set up two IT parks in the state in the next three to five years.
After the flag hoisting ceremony at the Old Secretariat here to mark the 69th Independence Day, Parsekar said the move is likely to generate adequate jobs in the sector in the next couple of years.
“There are 2,000 professionals in IT sector who scout for jobs annually. Lack of job opportunities force them to cross the border, while many try for government jobs then. We are planning (to set up) two IT parks in Goa. I am hopeful that in next three to five years, youths will be employed,” he said.
On the mining front, Goa’s robust industry that was hit after a ban by Supreme Court in 2012, Parsekar appealed to the mining players to resume operations by October.
The ban was lifted by the apex court in April last year.
On the development of the state that attained liberation from the Portuguese rule in 1961, Parsekar said despite missing the three five-year plans, Goa has taken over many other Indian states in terms of development.
“All the (former) chief ministers have contributed towards the development. At this moment, we have to remember our first chief minister late Dayanand Bandodkar. After liberation, we had to depend on other states to get teachers, engineers and workers. But the situation has changed now. We should credit this change to late Bandodkar,” he said.
Parsekar commenting on the ongoing investigations in the Louis Berger bribery case, said the probe into the scam is completely free from political biases.
“There is allegation that it (scam) is political vendetta. But let me clarify that there is no political revenge being taken through this case,” he said.
PTI