Goa cracks down on pharma companies for planning recruitment drives outside the state

The minister said that before advertising such recruitment drives, it must first be “checked whether the workforce is available in Goa or not”. He also said that the Labour department should be informed of the plan. “The companies should send their requirements to the employment exchange first, and then the employment exchange can sponsor some candidates and companies can decide on recruitment. This has not been done,” he said.

“This is not about giving preference [to Goans]. That is a separate issue. We are not telling companies to take people [from Goa], but we are telling them to follow the rules. As per the provisions of the law, only a fine of Rs 500 is imposed for violations. We will amend the law now and impose severe penalties,” Monserrate said.

Sources said the government would seek information from all the companies on recruitment-related issues, including the dates of advertisement, interviews and notification to employment exchange, on a quarterly basis.

The minister’s remarks come in the backdrop of Opposition parties accusing the BJP government of failing to safeguard the rights of Goans and “outsourcing jobs to outsiders”.

After the furore on social media, the Chief Minister’s Office last week had shared letters of two pharmaceutical companies – Indoco Remedies Limited and Encube Ethicals Pvt Ltd – addressed to Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, saying they had decided to cancel their recruitment drives.

Encube Ethicals Pvt Ltd said that due to “personal intervention” of the Chief Minister, the company decided to cancel walk-in interviews scheduled on May 26 in Pune. Indoco Remedies Limited said it had cancelled walk-in interviews scheduled at Boisar, Mumbai, on May 24 due to “unavoidable circumstances” and “personal interventions” of the Chief Minister.

The CMO also shared a letter from Cipla Ltd, in which the company said it had cancelled its recruitment drive scheduled on May 26 for its sites including in Goa due to “business exigencies”. In its letter, the company said, “There have been constant efforts to infuse local talent mainly from Goa-based campuses so that we support in the employment generation and upgrading skills of local youth.”

The Indian Express did not receive responses to emails sent to the companies seeking further information.

Goa Forward Party leader Vijai Sardesai said the advertisements were a deliberate attempt at discrimination against Goans.

In a letter to the chief secretary, Sardesai said, “If Goans do not benefit from industries in Goa, why have them here in the first place? It is unacceptable that a company, which benefits from operating in Goa, chooses to hold interviews outside the state, effectively shutting the door on local candidates.”

Sardesai, who had earlier moved a Private Members’ Bill for reservation of jobs in the private sector for local residents, again demanded “80 percent job reservation for Goans in the private sector”.

Manoj Parab, leader of the Revolutionary Goans Party – a party that has often invoked emotional issues like ‘son of the soil’, and ‘insider-outsider’ binaries – said, “The BJP government has sold jobs to migrants.”