The Travel and Tourism Association of Goa met the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant seeking relief and proposed a slew of sops, including waiver of taxes and fees. There is also a proposal on image building with several online and social media campaigns which include outreach to international visitors. In a related issue, in early June, Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar called for opening up the tourism sector with restricted entry only to visitors who have been administered both the vaccine doses.
The tourism pitch that is being raised by the TTAG could ease a lot of pain inflicted on the stakeholders, but the Covid agony is far from over and tourism is not the only sector that has been affected. Whether the State is in a position to forgo taxes and fees and bear the impact on the treasury is a question that the government has to answer. Goa is facing a financial crisis. The State’s refusal to lower GST rates on Covid-related medicines in the recent council meeting says it all. Tourism, the main revenue churner is hit, but so are other sectors.
Lives and livelihoods of lakhs of people have been affected, including the local vendors and traders. For ordinary citizens, there are day-to-day struggles for even sourcing daily food. People continue to fall prey to Covid, and their families are waiting in the hope of some government relief. Shop owners, local traders and vendors have all gone through financial pain. The Domestic Workers Union in Goa has sought registration of domestic workers, maids, cooks, cleaners and others so that they are eligible for compensation due to 'loss of livelihoods' on account of the pandemic. Every sector needs help.
From the State's perspective, Sawant would have to take a well-calculated call on sops and take a holistic view of the situation. The TTAG has made their case, fair enough. The government will have to assess the Covid impact on each sector with an audit if justice is to be done to all. Also prioritizing sops and compensation for those families who lost lives would be crucial as Goa moves ahead.
On the flip side, the focus right now should be on overcoming the second wave. We cannot take our eyes off the ball, more especially when Covid is still snatching lives, and the feared third wave is believed to be on the horizon. Goa is still losing 10-15 lives daily due to Covid, and that continues to be a worry. The curfew has been rendered meaningless with the hustle and bustle returning.
It is here that Goa has to be wary of past mistakes. The World Health Organization in its recent report had attributed the Covid surge in India to the complacency shown in opening up much before the first wave could end. This holds so much true for Goa because we refused to enforce restrictions on borders and enforce norms when there were hotspots in the neighbourhood.
Tourism can wait. We need to show tenacity, fortitude and patience in tackling the virus instead of rushing with the reopening.
