MAPUSA
Rebutting the allegations of the Fatorda MLA, Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte said that GEL was providing services not only to the tourism department but to every government department.
“GEL is a corporation under the government. It is providing websites, website updation and software services to all government departments. 27 States have already taken services online. We need to join the list of the States which offer their services online. The tourists and the people of Goa should have a good experience,” Khaunte said.
The Tourism Minister informed the House that Goa Tourism Board held its first meeting in 2021 where the empowered committees were formed and meetings started to take place.
“GTB was formed with the intention of planning, policy-making and strategising. The board decides how tourism should move. But post Covid, things have changed. Tourists want new and different experiences,” he said.
He said GEL was entrusted with the task to bring discipline and restore some sanity in the water sports activity.
“If we hand over the activity to private entities then allegations of black coats and white coats erupt. And if we give it to government agencies then they are called touts,” Khaunte said.
He said almost every state was providing online services except for nine states including Goa.
“We need to come into the system. When the High Court gave directions to follow a queue system, we had to introduce an implementing agency, and therefore, we allowed GEL to run it,” he said.
He further said that the department of tourism will run the counters for the water sports operators, and they won’t run their business.
