The high-handedness displayed by the taxi union on Wednesday at the Mormugao port where around a hundred cruise passengers who were scheduled to board three buses of an excursion agent were forced to return to the ship, marks yet another embarrassing high point in our tourism sector. The incident which made national headlines gets Goa not only a bad name in tourism, but also exposes the state of helplessness of the government in dealing with the taxi issue.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has directed the police to take swift action against the taxi operators and said, “such dadagiri and goondagiri will not be tolerated in the future.” Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte apologised for the inconvenience caused to the American tourists and appealed to the taxi owners to stay away from cruise tourists, and Congress-turned-BJP Mormugao MLA Sankalp Amonkar preferred to walk the middle path taking responsibility on one side and blaming the incident on miscommunication from tour operators on the other.
The local taxis have often been described as “villains” running roughshod on the tourism turf. Herein is a case where the line of control has been breached once again, and yet again we hear the same language from those in power. “Will not be tolerated in future” has been the operative line for nearly a decade, and still tourism continues to move on wheels of uncertainty.
Who has failed here? If dadagiri and goondagiri is the approach of a few in the taxi business, then it is the responsibility of those in the government to take appropriate measures, not merely hold out threats. Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho has shown occasional bravado and used some tough language, but initiatives have not been taken to their logical conclusion. It’s been all smoke. The vexed taxi issue keeps hanging season after season, and yet Goa is projected as the tourism capital of India.
How is the government tolerating what it calls “goondagiri” knowing well for a fact that it is directly linked to tourism? And how is a “sorry” from the tourism minister going to console the cruise tourists? These tourists have picked Goa as their destination and spent money, not for such chaos, uncertainty and the so-called miscommunication. If there is intimidation from any quarters, it is for the government, including the transport minister and the tourism minister to resolve it.
Apparently, there are differences within the government itself on the taxi issue, and they are showing. Godinho says that local taxis will be out of business and will not be allowed at the Mopa airport. Sawant says that priority will be given to local taxi operators at the new airport. Amonkar refutes allegations against taxi operators and calls the Wednesday incident a miscommunication from the tour operator. The pulls and pressures on taxis are showing.
A seamless transport system is a prerequisite for any tourist destination. The visitor should have the freedom to decide how, when, and where one would travel. They can’t be made to pay a price for our internal failures, not one bit. If there is no system in place, then there is no point in apologising because these embarrassments will keep repeating. If a defiant taxi lobby is catastrophic for Goa tourism, a system helplessly watching is even worse.
