The emergence of the casino industry in Goa dates back to 1992 when the then Congress government headed by current Ponda MLA, Ravi Naik, bizarrely altered a few words through an amendment to the Goa Public Gambling Act and transformed it from an anti-gambling law to a pro-gambling law to permit entry of casinos.
The changes in the law were initially done through the ordinance route and the government of the day did not have the moral courage to announce the entry of casinos to the media, said journalist Frederick Noronha.
Noronha, who was at the time a staff correspondent of an outsation newspaper said: “I recall very clearly how shocked we were to learn of this through the Delhi press.”
The amendment to the gambling law, meanwhile, opened the floodgates and in a matter of a couple of years, almost every five-star hotel in the State hosted slot-machine gaming on their properties. Less than a decade later, the concept of ‘off-shore casinos’ crept in and the first casino vessel - Caravela - promoted by Advani Hotels made the Mandovi river its home in 1997.
And, although “offshore” by legal definition meant the vessels would be out at sea, the administration bent backwards to tweak rules and regulations governing inland waters and allow the ‘offshore casinos’ to operate while anchored midstream in the Mandovi.
Over two decades later, the Mandovi river and the capital city it hugs, are grappling with the problem of one too many of the off-shore casinos. Six vessels in fact are moored midstream leaving the river’s crucial navigation channel choked, its waters allegedly polluted and the city residents incensed over the congestion they face virtually on a daily basis.
Gambling as a business enterprise in India are taboo by virtue of the directive principles of the Constitution and laws enacted both by the Centre as well as States are by nature preventive.
Goa was the first State in India to allow casino gambling under licence in five-star resorts since 1992. To date it is the only State to do so, and only recently came to face competition from Sikkim.
The law in Goa also permitted since 1997-98 the casinos to operate on offshore vessels, complete with table games and live gaming.
