Panaji, Sep 18 (IANS): In an apparent jibe at Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Goa Forward Party President and MLA Vijai Sardesai on Sunday said that as Goa (13.7 per cent) crosses Bihar (12.8 per cent) in unemployment rate and the CM is hard at work to collect more MLAs so that he has a job.

Recently eight Congress MLAs have merged into BJP.

Posting the 'unemployment rate' figures, wherein India is at 7.00 per cent and Bihar at 12.8 as on September 17, Sardesai questioned about the increasing rate of unemployment in Goa, which is at 13.7 per cent.

"As #Goa crosses #Bihar in unemployment, and continues at almost double the national average, @DrPramodPSawant is hard at work to collect more MLAs so that he has a job. How long will he hide behind 'atmanirbhar' and 'swayanpurna' before the youth start taking to the streets?," Sardesai tweeted.

Earlier, Sardesai had raised the issue of providing jobs to Goans at Mopa airport and had demanded that maximum jobs should be given to youth of the state.

"Mopa airport is the flagship project of BJP. Some ministers have stated that Mopa airport will be an engine of growth, and Goans will not have to leave the state in search of jobs after Mopa is commissioned. But so far they have given only 8 per cent jobs to Goans," Sardesai had said.

"I had moved a bill, which is being studied by the law department, that Goan's should get 80 per cent jobs in the private sector. In this flagship project of the BJP government only 8 per cent jobs are provided to Goans. We are demanding 80 per cent and they are giving 8 per cent," he had said.

As per records 1,16,379 unemployed persons have registered themselves with the Employment Exchange.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on August 4 had said that even for unemployment rate, the government is held responsible, and had sought support from teachers for skilling students.

"If we do the survey, during the COVID lockdown period, people had started to migrate from one state to another. In Goa's hospitality sector, a maximum of 80 per cent employees are outsiders and from where (they are from) Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and rest other states come here and work. However, here people say that there are no jobs," Sawant had said.