Panaji (IANS): Goa, India's smallest state, has a lot of things going for it but its people lack imagination to seize the challenges around them, says a top official.

"There is a great opportunity for the state. Goa has everything going for it. It is well located. It has a good brand image. It is able to run institutions. But the state also has inertia. There is an imagination deficit, says Goa Knowledge Commission chairperson Peter Ronald de Souza.

"If an opportunity is not subjectively perceived, it's not an opportunity. With our advantages, we could have converted Goa into a knowledge destination."

Souza, currently co-director of the Lokniti programme at New Delhi's Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), taught at Goa University's political science department for a decade-and-half.

Saying knowledge workers would become key drivers of the global economy, Souza argued that Goa needed to "move up the knowledge chain" and send out more skilled workers instead of poorly trained ones.

Goa, like states such as Kerala, has been a long-time exporter of human capital, with its migrant workers reaching far and wide for generations now.

"Going by unofficial figures of the finance department, Goa's economy is growing by 14 percent," he said.

De Souza was also critical of vested interests in the educational system.

He called for an audit of educational investment, diversification of the university, better incentives for teachers, and building alumni institutions to support local institutions.

De Souza suggested that schools could better use the available sports infrastructure in their vicinity, rather than trying to bring new grounds.

"Goa has the best spread of schools in India. But these are used for half a day. Maybe we can use schools as educational hubs offering services," he said.

De Souza also called on Goans living abroad to "pay your debt, not just lament the state of Goa, and be free riders".