Panaji, Oct 15 (IANS): Underlining the importance of signing up for private employment and not pining for government jobs, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant cited his own example, saying his first job fetched him a salary of just Rs 4,000, of which Rs 3,000 were spent on a two-wheeler commute every month.

"After completing my BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery), I was in a confused state of mind. I wondered whether to start practice or look for a job, after completing my apprentice (training) and return to Goa," Sawant,47, said on Thursday at the launch of a model career centre, jointly started by the Goa government, in association with the Goa chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industries.

"I started my first job at an Ayurvedic Medical College at a salary of Rs 4,000. I would spend Rs 3,000 on my bike ride to travel from Kothambi to Shiroda. After nine months, I realised that it was not viable. So I started my own clinic in my own village in Pali panchayat. As I was working in my clinic, I got a job opportunity of a government job as an Ayurvedic physician," the Chief Minister said.

He later gave up his government job to join politics full-time with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Sawant is a doctor of alternative medicine and obtained his graduation degree at the Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery degree from the Ganga Education Society's Ayurvedic Medical College in Kolhapur.

The Model Career Centre, Sawant said, would help the youth find a suited vocation in the private sector. Sawant also urged youth not to hanker after government jobs and added that sigining up for employment in the private sector, would help gain hands on experience early on.