Panaji, Jan 12 (IANS): Congress on Friday said that the Central government agencies have exposed Goa government over unemployment in the state but the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is not willing to accept the reality and is trying to hoodwink people only to garner votes.

AICC Media Incharge for Goa Harshad Sharma during a presser at Congress office and slammed BJP government for their repeated false promises over providing employment to youths.

Harshad Sharma said that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is not ready to accept that unemployment exists in the state. “How will you get a solution or to address this issue, when he is not ready to accept it. Youth are suffering due to unemployment. This insensitive government has failed to create jobs,” Sharma said.

In an apparent jibe at Home Minister Amit Shah, Sharma said that he (Shah) always talks about the chronology of events. “I would like to give him (Shah) a sequence of how Goa is reeling under unemployment.

“In November 2022, NITI Ayog said that Goa's unemployment rate stood at 10.5 per cent, the third highest in the country. Then in September 2023, Sawant said that there is no unemployment in the state. He is not also accepting the report of NITI Ayog. At least 1.10 lakh youth are unemployed,” he said.

Sharma said that in the same month, the CMIE stated that Goa's unemployment rate stood at 13.7 per cent, when the national average was at 7 per cent.

“Then in October 2023, the Statistics Ministry revealed that Goa was second highest in unemployment. This exposed the lies of Sawant. In November 2023, RBI issued a statement that Goa is on top position in rural unemployment. These reports are not prepared by Congress but prepared by the agencies of the central government. Are they telling lies, Sawant should come clean about it and tell everyone if the central government is spreading lies,” Sharma said.

He said that the corruption in BJP is such that, party leaders are levelling allegations against their ministers.