ONE YEAR OF APPRENTICESHIP AND ASSURANCES OF GOVERNMENT ABSORPTION, BUT WHAT ABOUT GOAN YOUTH WHO HAVE SERVED THE GOVERNMENT ON CONTRACT FOR 10–15 YEARS? BJP GOVERNMENT MUST ANSWER!
- The announcement made yesterday, Sunday, 8th November 2026, in churches across Nuvem Constituency, reportedly at the instance of the sitting MLA of Nuvem, informing parishioners that youngsters who have successfully completed one year of apprenticeship under the Goa Chief Minister’s Apprenticeship Scheme should submit their names at the MLA’s office, with the assurance that they will be absorbed into Government employment, raises serious questions about the Government’s employment policy, its priorities and its treatment of thousands of Goan youngsters who have been serving various Government departments on contractual and temporary appointments for the last 10 to 15 years. The use of church announcements to communicate such an employment-related assurance, particularly when the next Goa Legislative Assembly elections are approaching, makes it all the more important for the Government to clarify whether this is an officially approved statewide employment decision or an announcement being conveyed through individual constituencies. At a time when hundreds of existing contractual employees continue to await a resolution of their employment status despite years of service, the timing, manner and substance of this announcement deserve serious public scrutiny and an immediate explanation from the Chief Minister and the Government of Goa.
- I would like to make it absolutely clear that I am not opposed to providing employment opportunities, training or career prospects to fresh Goan youngsters. On the contrary, every deserving Goan youth must be given a fair opportunity to secure employment and build a respectable future in our State. However, the Government cannot introduce or promote new employment initiatives while conveniently overlooking the legitimate grievances of hundreds of Goan youngsters who have already been working in Government establishments on contractual, temporary and other non-regular appointments for 10 to 15 years. These employees have not merely undergone apprenticeship training; they have actually discharged Government duties, served public institutions, gained valuable departmental experience and contributed to the functioning of the administration for a substantial part of their working lives.
- The most distressing situation exists in departments such as the Health Department, where Goan youngsters have been working for years in hospitals, health centres and other Government establishments on contractual and temporary arrangements. Many of them have repeatedly approached their respective department heads and concerned authorities, submitting requests and representations seeking regularisation or a fair resolution of their employment status. They have continued working with the genuine expectation that their long years of dedicated service would eventually be recognised by the Government and that they would receive employment security after having devoted the most productive years of their lives to public service. Unfortunately, despite completing 10 years, 12 years and even 15 years of service in certain cases, many continue to remain contractual employees, without any definite assurance about their future.
- The Government must understand the personal, financial and professional consequences of keeping these employees in such prolonged uncertainty. Many of these youngsters have spent a considerable portion of their careers working in the same Government departments, believing that their continued service and experience would eventually lead to regular employment. During these years, they have placed their professional ambitions and alternative career opportunities on hold, as they continued to depend on the expectation that the Government would one day consider their services favourably. Some are now at an age where obtaining alternative employment becomes increasingly difficult, particularly after having spent 10 to 15 years in contractual service. They too have families to support, children to educate, financial commitments to fulfil and responsibilities towards their ageing parents. Who will take responsibility for the uncertainty and lost career opportunities they have endured while continuing to serve the Government?
- Against this background, the announcement concerning the absorption of apprentices after completion of one year of training naturally raises a fundamental question of fairness and equal treatment. If the Government is prepared to provide a pathway towards absorption into Government employment to those completing one year of apprenticeship, what consideration has it given to the hundreds of existing contractual employees who have already rendered 10 to 15 years of actual service? Is one year of apprenticeship going to receive greater consideration than a decade or more of continuous departmental service? Does the Government have any explanation for this apparent disparity? The Government must clarify how it proposes to address the position of existing contractual employees before creating further expectations among fresh applicants regarding absorption into Government employment.
- I also wish to draw attention to the distinction between the published provisions of the Chief Minister’s Apprenticeship Scheme and the assurance reportedly being conveyed through the Nuvem MLA’s announcement. The scheme refers to apprenticeship training, monthly stipend assistance and recognition of apprenticeship experience for certain Group C Government posts wherever applicable under the relevant recruitment rules. However, the announcement that apprentices completing one year will be absorbed into Government employment is a separate and significant assurance which requires an official explanation. If the MLA is communicating such an assurance on behalf of the Government, the Chief Minister must clarify whether a Cabinet decision, Government notification, sanctioned recruitment policy or any other officially approved mechanism exists to facilitate such absorption. Youngsters must not be left under the impression that completion of one year of apprenticeship automatically entitles them to Government employment unless the Government has formally established such a provision.
- Government employment is a public responsibility and cannot be projected as a personal favour extended through the office of an individual MLA. If the Government has genuinely formulated a policy to absorb apprentices after completion of their training, the entire framework must be placed in the public domain. The Government must disclose the number of sanctioned vacancies available, the departments in which such vacancies exist, the eligibility requirements, the selection procedure, the applicable reservation provisions, the financial implications and the legal basis governing such appointments. It must also clarify whether the same opportunity and assurance will be available to every eligible Goan apprentice irrespective of constituency, political affiliation or whether the individual has approached an MLA’s office. The collection of names through individual MLA offices must not create an impression that access to Government employment depends upon political recommendations rather than a transparent and uniform administrative process.
- The timing of the Nuvem MLA’s announcement is also a matter of public interest. With the next Goa Legislative Assembly elections approaching, the electorate is entitled to question whether similar announcements will now be made by MLAs in other constituencies, encouraging apprentices and unemployed youngsters to submit their names to individual MLA offices with expectations of Government absorption. If this exercise is to be extended across Goa, the Chief Minister must clarify whether it forms part of an officially approved statewide employment programme or whether it is an initiative being communicated separately through individual legislators. The people of Goa must be able to distinguish between an established Government policy supported by official orders and political announcements that may create expectations without any clearly disclosed implementation framework. It is particularly important that employment opportunities and assurances are not used in a manner that creates constituency-wise political expectations at a time when the electorate is preparing to assess the Government’s performance.
- I therefore call upon the Chief Minister and the concerned Ministers to first address the long-pending grievances of contractual employees across Government departments, particularly those who have completed more than 10 years of service in the Health Department and other essential public establishments. The Government should undertake a comprehensive department-wise assessment of these employees, recording their length of service, educational qualifications, nature of duties, continuity of engagement and existing employment conditions. Based on this assessment, the Government must formulate a fair, transparent and legally sustainable policy to address their legitimate concerns, including regularisation wherever permissible under the applicable constitutional principles, recruitment rules and judicial directions. Their years of service, experience and contribution must receive due consideration, and they must not continue to be kept in uncertainty indefinitely while fresh employment announcements are being made.
- I further demand that the Chief Minister publicly clarify whether completion of one year of apprenticeship under the Chief Minister’s Apprenticeship Scheme will actually lead to absorption into Government employment, as reportedly communicated by the Nuvem MLA. If such a decision has been approved, the Government should immediately publish the relevant order and explain its implementation. If no such approved decision exists, the MLA and the Government must clarify the exact nature of the announcement so that young people are not misled into believing that one year of apprenticeship guarantees a Government job. Equally, the Government must explain what concrete employment security it proposes to provide to those contractual employees who have already dedicated 10 to 15 years of their lives to Government service.
- The BJP Government must realise that the future of Goan youth cannot be managed through announcements, assurances and publicity exercises alone. Youngsters are looking for meaningful employment, financial independence, professional dignity and a secure future in their own State. Those who have already served the Government for a decade or more deserve to have their grievances heard with seriousness and urgency. Fresh apprentices deserve clarity about the actual employment prospects after their training. Both categories of Goan youth deserve fairness, transparency and equal treatment under the law. The Government cannot create expectations for one section of the youth while leaving another section, which has already served it for several years, waiting endlessly for a decision.
- I firmly believe that the people of Goa are entitled to examine the Government’s actual employment record rather than judge its performance merely by announcements made as elections approach. The forthcoming Assembly elections make it all the more important for the Government to demonstrate transparency and accountability in matters concerning public employment. If similar announcements are made in other constituencies, the Government must ensure that they are backed by a uniform, officially sanctioned and transparent policy, and not merely by constituency level assurances. The electorate must be given complete information about the employment opportunities actually created, the number of contractual employees whose grievances have been resolved and the measures taken to provide employment security to Goan youngsters who have served Government institutions for years.
- My appeal to the Chief Minister is to stop overlooking the plight of those Goan youngsters who have already sacrificed 10 to 15 years of their working lives in the service of the Government. Before extending assurances of absorption to those completing one year of apprenticeship, the Government must answer what it intends to do for its existing contractual workforce. Their dedication, experience and years of service cannot be forgotten or treated as insignificant. Employment is not a political favour; it is a matter of livelihood, dignity, fairness and public accountability. The Government owes these employees a clear answer, a transparent policy and a time-bound resolution of their legitimate grievances.
GOAN YOUTH DESERVE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY, NOT YEARS OF UNCERTAINTY AND REPEATED ASSURANCES.
FRANCISCO XAVIER PACHECO @ MICKKY PACHECO
Former Tourism Minister, Government of Goa
Former MLA – Benaulim and Nuvem Constituencies