Damodar Kochkar, President of Goa State Industries Association, has commented that the Government has kept industry at the bottom of its priority list and instead of providing financial assistance; the Government is putting more hurdles by introducing legislative amendments during these difficult times.
Goa State Industries Association President Damodar Kochkar attacked the lukewarm attitude of the State Government and has accused the Chief Minister of forgetting his promise.
Damodar Kochkar stated that he wasn’t surprised to see Goa slip down to the 24th rank in the recent ‘Ease of Doing Business’ (EoDB) rankings and much as the Chief Minister had reacted to their concerns and announced that he would fix a meeting with the stakeholders once he was out of isolation, in order to address the issue; he has forgotten about it like all other political assurances.
Kochkar further added that the CM did call him mid-September but there was no further action from his end. “It looks like industry is also at the bottom of his priority list.” In the latest EoDB ranking Goa slipped from 19 to 24 in the all India list.
“It is becoming extremely difficult for Goan MSMEs to make ends meet. We are struggling to pay salaries, bank premiums and interests. We were expecting this government to support us during these difficult times. Now forget about giving any financial assistance; on the contrary the government is bent on to make our life more miserable. It looks like all our shouts are falling on deaf ears” Damodar Kochkar – President, Goa State Industries Assoc.
The GSIA president went on to add that the industry is currently struggling to survive in this pandemic, as the market is down, there is shortage of manpower and raw materials, payments are not coming in time, employees are getting infected by COVID; and there is loss of working man hours.
“It is becoming extremely difficult for Goan MSMEs to make ends meet. We are struggling to pay salaries, bank premiums and interests. We were expecting this government to support us during these difficult times. Now forget about giving any financial assistance; on the contrary, the Government is bent on to make our life more miserable. It looks like all our shouts are falling on deaf ears,” Kochkar said.
Last year during the launch of Vibrant Goa, the Chief Minister had announced that anyone who wants to start a business in Goa will get all required permissions and approvals immediately and they can start businesses within a month. He had also spoken about sharpening powers of the Investment Promotion Board (IPB) to make it more effective and deliver what it was supposed to do, but this has turned out to be one more hurdle.
Kochkar is infuriated over inaction from the government, and said “The Chief Minister also had announced other support in various other forums like reducing of raw water supply rates, improving of e-governance, infrastructural improvements etc. None of the above has happened so far and on the contrary this government is adding more hurdles like bringing out amendments to Industrial Dispute Act, Factories & Boilers Act, which is absolutely not necessary in these times.”
“I really fail to understand what this government is really up to. Already mining and tourism industries have come to standstill. Do they want to chase away manufacturing industries also?” Kochkar asked in exasperation.
GIDC Chairman Glenn Ticlo addresses media; says, “need freedom for improvement; interference from Department has made it difficult for me to work”
The Goa Industrial Corporation Development (GIDC) Chairman, Glenn Ticlo, recently called for a press conference to address various issues mainly on account of reports doing rounds in the media wherein GSIA President Damodar Kochkar who is also a GIDC board member levelled corruption allegations against GIDC.
Ticlo expressed his shock and surprised as he went on to elaborate on allegations made wherein he mentioned that GIDC was accused of fixing prices for allotment of plots. Ticlo further said, “I do not know what corruption Kochkar is speaking of and him being an active member and President of GSIA, if he feels that there are issues like these present then he must raise them with the Board which can then be discussed and deliberated upon at the Board meetings.”
Ticlo further spoke of issuing a show cause notice to Kochkar to justify his allegation against GIDC as this was an unacceptable act. He said, “There must be some truth in the statements you make. I would like to ask Kochkar, what corruption he is talking about. If any corrupt acts exist, it is he who must ensure that there is no corruption as Kochkar himself is one of the members of the screening committee responsible for allotment of plots.” He clarified that in order to allot plots; there is a point system to which anyone can object strongly.
Ticlo also stated that if Kochkar is not fit, he must not be a member of the GIDC. He further said, “I am wondering whether Kochkar is against the GIDC Board, the GIDC Chairman, and Chief Minister or against the Government itself.”
“After Parrikar, our dynamic current CM and Industry Minister stepped in. However, I need my own freedom to work to bring improvement. There is too much interference from the Industries Department which is making it difficult for me to work” Glenn Ticlo – GIDC Chairman / MLA, Aldona
Speaking of what steps Ticlo had taken to enhance transparency in GIDC, he said that he has already started looking into everything wherever anything wrong is happening and GIDC has launched online services, however, very few units are coming forward to utilise these services.
In this regard, Ticlo also said that he was not getting any support from the Government and it was becoming tougher and tougher for him to operate smoothly. Ticlo also went on to say that he never received any support after the former Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar fell ill. He said, “After Parrikar, our dynamic current Chief Minister and Industry Minister stepped in. However, I need my own freedom to work to bring improvement. There is too much interference from the Industries Department which is making it difficult for me to work”
