THE shortage of skilled labor becomes even more acute in the monsoons. Increasingly, we find that there are very few Goan plumbers or electricians or AC mechanics or mobile repairers, and of course, carpenters and masons and the traditional people who used to repair tiled roofs. The shortage extends to car and two-wheeler mechanics. The majority of those who work even in the authorized service centre of automobile dealers are migrants.
Similarly, the workers on the trawlers who feed the Goan appetite for fish are all migrants from Odisha and Karnataka. The problem with migrant workers is that most of them do not have roots in Goa. Even in the case of the second and third generation migrants, the children take the opportunity to study and do not continue the family tradition.
Most migrants do not integrate with Goan society. So many of them go back home, particularly during the monsoons. This is partly because their families back home have some agricultural land. The migrants go back to help till the fields and harvest a few crops during the monsoon months.

MONSOON SHORTAGE
THE shortage of labor becomes much worse in the monsoons, not only in trades like plumbing and other repairs, but even in the tourism industry. Not only in shacks but in the hospitality sector, an increasing number of laborers, such as waiters and even cooks, are migrants.
THIS dependence on migrants will kill the Goan economy. We are fast reaching a stage where migrants can hold the locals to ransom. When the fishing ban ends by end-June, the trawlers will not be able to go out to get fish because the laborers will not come back. Similarly, the shacks will not be able to open in August till the migrants come back. Construction activity largely comes to a halt because the migrant workers tend to take a break and return to their “mulk” (hometown).
As the number of new constructions grow, there is an increasing need for support services. Every new building requires security personnel. The security guards are increasingly from Odisha and Jharkhand. Every building requires electricians, plumbers, gardeners and of course, domestic servants. Unlike in the West where machines, including washing machines, dish dishwashers and vacuum cleaners have replaced human labor, in India and in Goa even households that have all the mod cons cannot survive without their domestic maids and drivers.
There has been a tradition in many well-to-do Goan families to have part-time cooks who come in twice a week to prepare a lot of dishes to be kept in the freezer and warmed up later. But this domestic help has now been replaced by the Swiggy and Zomato services. Ironically, all the delivery boys of the food chains, not to mention Amazon and other online commercial portals, are migrants.

EMERGING SCAMS
THERE is another risk in relying on migrants that has surfaced. We needed a plumber urgently because the handle of the water closet in the toilet had been damaged. A plumber from Odisha was recommended. The better half called Rajesh, a so-called plumber. Rajesh asked for a photograph or video of the damaged parts. The better half obliged. Rajesh then demanded advance payment to buy the parts necessary and promised to come by the evening day which was a Saturday. Rajesh never turned up, though over Rs600 was transferred to him via PhonePe and he wanted more to be transferred if there were other jobs.
So now there is the additional risk factor of being cheated by migrant workers. Apparently, the plumber who goes by the name of Rajesh had returned to Odisha and cheated several people in Panaji. So, all the money transfers via mobile have become another source of cheating. If the services guys are Goans, it is relatively easy to locate them. But what do you do about the migrants who want money to go back to their hometown?
I REALIZED how dependent Goa has become on migrants when I was bedridden in the Geriatric Ward of the Goa Medical College & Hospital. Since we do not have an extended family in Goa, we were forced to depend on paid caretakers daytime and nighttime. Over 99% of these hospital and home caretakers are migrants.
They have no training except for the experience they have gained. Working as caretakers is a very profitable business because the better ones charge up to Rs1,000 plus for a 12-hour shift. The agencies that they work for do not do any police verification. It has been my bitter experience that caretakers can disappear without any notice. A caretaker on whom I became dependent vanished overnight because there was a crisis in his family back in Tamil Nadu. Another caretaker disappeared because his parents needed him back in Odisha. I have never been able to understand why Goans are not willing to become caretakers, considering they can earn as much as Rs40,000 to Rs 50,000 per month.

MIGRANT-DEPENDENT GOA
MOST of us living in Goa have no choice but to depend on migrants. Since there are very few services owned and organized by Goans, we are at the mercy of freelance migrant electricians and plumbers, and mechanics of all sort, from two-wheeler to automobile mechanics to computer maintenance staff, people who can repair a gas stove and other petty but very crucial tasks.
Part of the problem is it’s a seller’s market. Given the acute shortage in service personnel, you have to pay whatever is demanded. Even then, you do not have any guarantee of even minimum quality of service. In my 40-plus years in Goa, I have come across very few Goan-owned and managed companies offering basic services.
For many years, a company called Well Plumb, managed by a Pinto at Campal, was the only one that offered reliable plumbing services. Similarly, there was an electric services company which was operated by a former staffer of the “OHeraldo” who had picked up a diploma in electric engineering. But Rajiv Aguair, who owned the company, has probably retired, with none of his children wanting to follow in his footsteps.
I find that increasingly all the housekeeping companies have been taken over by non-Goans. Tourist taxis may be owned by Goans, but the drivers are migrants. There is an urgent need to motivate Goans to take up jobs like plumbing and other services. One of the problems is a lack of security and steady income. This could be solved by organizing service co-operatives. This enabled those in need of services to find them easily. If there can be an app-based service for cabs, there is no reason why there cannot be an app-based service for electricians and plumbers, and motor mechanics.
And I keep wondering who should be called when an electric vehicle develops problems. Do you call the auto mechanic or the electrician? We invite those who provide any kind of service to register with us at goanobserver@gmail.com for a services directory. Only those who provide ID proof will be eligible for registration.