The follow up of the demonetisation drive stops at the doorstep of the police force. To ensure that the objectives of demonetisation are accomplished, police forces across the nation, including Goa, have been told to assess their efforts to encourage citizens to switch to cashless transactions.
Police forces were entrusted with the job of educating people on cashless transactions. Officers in charge of police stations are required to list out the action taken to reach out and educate shopkeepers, traders and all those concerned in their jurisdiction. For Goa, which initially showed promise of becoming the first State to go cashless by December 2016, all has not gone well and casinos remained a major stumbling block. When the issue came up at the recent assembly session Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had promised on the floor of the House that the issue will be examined as per the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976, and rules framed thereunder.
Cashless was the new mantra after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the biggest-ever demonetisation exercise on November 8, 2016 pulling out Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from use. While the common man struggled, it was business as usual for casinos where there were literally no curbs on the money being exchanged. A stray observation is that casinos had declared a few days of holiday to its staff in view of demonetisation, since hard cash was hard to come by. This only reflects the volume of money that is involved.
It would be interesting to know what steps have been taken to curb the flow of black money in casinos. Casinos are known to be major black money sources and are often linked to terrorist funding and anti-social activities. If at all the police need to educate someone, it should be those in the casino industry.
The government also has to spell out the initiatives it has taken to wipe out the black money from casinos, if at all they have taken any. Questions need to be raised. Authorities perennially have been developing cold feet when it comes to casinos; they now need to look for answers.
Just like in other States, Goa police would be in a tearing hurry to prepare this report on the status of the cashless drive. There might be success stories to narrate, but the real test would be handling the casino industry. It's time the government rethinks its strategies. Casinos may be a huge revenue churner for the State, but you can't have such exceptions when you seek to bring everyone under the ambit of the cashless drive, including the vegetable vendor and the tea stall owner.
Police forces were entrusted with the job of educating people on cashless transactions. Officers in charge of police stations are required to list out the action taken to reach out and educate shopkeepers, traders and all those concerned in their jurisdiction. For Goa, which initially showed promise of becoming the first State to go cashless by December 2016, all has not gone well and casinos remained a major stumbling block. When the issue came up at the recent assembly session Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had promised on the floor of the House that the issue will be examined as per the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act, 1976, and rules framed thereunder.
Cashless was the new mantra after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the biggest-ever demonetisation exercise on November 8, 2016 pulling out Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from use. While the common man struggled, it was business as usual for casinos where there were literally no curbs on the money being exchanged. A stray observation is that casinos had declared a few days of holiday to its staff in view of demonetisation, since hard cash was hard to come by. This only reflects the volume of money that is involved.
It would be interesting to know what steps have been taken to curb the flow of black money in casinos. Casinos are known to be major black money sources and are often linked to terrorist funding and anti-social activities. If at all the police need to educate someone, it should be those in the casino industry.
The government also has to spell out the initiatives it has taken to wipe out the black money from casinos, if at all they have taken any. Questions need to be raised. Authorities perennially have been developing cold feet when it comes to casinos; they now need to look for answers.
Just like in other States, Goa police would be in a tearing hurry to prepare this report on the status of the cashless drive. There might be success stories to narrate, but the real test would be handling the casino industry. It's time the government rethinks its strategies. Casinos may be a huge revenue churner for the State, but you can't have such exceptions when you seek to bring everyone under the ambit of the cashless drive, including the vegetable vendor and the tea stall owner.
