Buoyed by the hefty Rs 300-crore financial package announced by the Centre to celebrate 60th Liberation Day anniversary, the State government sees optimism in getting a similar deal for tourism. On Wednesday Chief Minister Pramod Sawant informed that his government has written to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for a special package to boost Goa's tourism. In pandemic times, any aid from the Centre would be most welcome and could give relief to distressed sectors. But has Goa argued its case well? Or, was it poor timing?
The Centre may not be alarmed if Goa speaks of the loss of tourism revenue this time, because that was the trend across all States during the pandemic phase. But here's the twist. We just heard the CM and the tourism minister raising the pitch on how successful the State was on the tourism front in the recently concluded Assembly session. The Chief Minister maintained that around 40-45 lakh tourists visited the State during the festive phase of December- January, much in contrast to the figure of 10 lakh tourists provided to the House by the Tourism Minister. The contrasting styles with which the government is approaching tourism is baffling, to say the least. On one side we are pleading for financial help, on the other hand, we are celebrating the tourism numbers.
That's not all. In December 2020 Goa bagged the India Today award as the best performing small state in tourism, economy and infrastructure. The State had also won the national tourism award for 2019 as the Best State for adventure tourism. An ecstatic Ajgaonkar had said it was a testament to the fact that Goa is on its track of tourism development.
On the flip side, the government has now decided to open up the Carnival parade in the Panaji and Margao in the hope of cashing on tourism. Indications are that the traditional float parades will be held on February 13 and 14 in the two cities after strictly enforcing standard operating procedures. It only goes to show to what extent the State administration can go to mop up tourism revenue.
The very fact that the State is opening for Carnival festivities, overlooking the safety concerns of locals, reflects a sense of desperation. Restricting parades to two venues would mean that there will be crowds, both locals and tourists, making the environment more vulnerable. Going by past experiences, it is impossible to enforce discipline when the crowd is swelling beyond the control of enforcement personnel. The crowded beaches during the weekends reflected a complete failure of authorities to rein in Covid discipline. And by no figment of imagination can Carnival revelries be brought under control.
Call it divine intervention, or for the extreme caution exercised by locals, Goa managed to tide over a fearful phase only to face another. At a time when Goa is beginning to breathe easy with the vaccination drive rolling out, the opening up of Carnival festivities could mark the beginning of another disaster.
