the goan I network
PANAJI
A false start by a land-based casino licenced by the Goa government as recently as February this year has left some 30-odd trained staff in the lurch -- jobless and with a faint hope, if any -- of securing placements elsewhere in the industry.
Many of them had quit comfortable jobs in other Goa-based casinos to join MKM Grand Gaming and Entertainment in November last.
The company was slated to commence operations at Candolim’s Novotel Goa Shrem Resort which was on lease under the brand name ‘Casino Gold’. The plans never took off despite they securing the licence from the Goa government in February.
The company deposited Rs 61 lakh on February 27 this year for the licence which is valid for five years till 2023, government sources confirmed.
The 30 staff, highly experienced in casino positions such as Pit Managers, dealer inspectors, cage supervisors and guest relations, reported to work at the restaurant of the nearby Sea Shore Resort owned by one of the gaming company’s directors. The arrangement was made as the interiors and setup work was in progress at the Novotel Resort.
However, the operations never took off and suddenly in March this year, the staff was bluntly told at a joint meeting with the management to look out for alternate jobs.Trimurti Kharpe, one of the three directors, conveyed to the staff the decision to discontinue their services but promised to pay 60 per-cent of their backlog wages.They had only been paid for the two months of November and December 2017.
With no sign of their money although some of them have been partly paid and the management not contactable, the aggrieved, laid-off casino workers have now knocked the doors of the State government’s labour department. They have formally written to the Assistant Labour Commissioner’s office at Mapusa earlier this month but chances of their efforts meeting success are dim with their employers not even registered with the labour department.
Collectively, the amount owed to them is around Rs 39 lakh.
Attempts to contact Kharpe proved futile but Home Department sources with direct knowledge of the matter and who dealt with the licencing file said, the company ran into some trouble with disagreements between the three directors over raising working capital.
Besides Kharpe and Delhi-based Abhay Sarin, the company has other directors too.
Sarin recently even issued a “public notice” revealing the disagreements among the directors over admitting new partners.
Coincidentally, ownership of the Novotel Goa Shrem resorts has also changed hands earlier this year.
What has raised eyebrows though is the fact that the casino licence was issued to M/s MKM Grand Gaming & Entertainment during the period that the State administration had plunged into chaos after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar took ill. The controversial subject of casino licences and related matters are directly dealt with by Parrikar, who also holds the home portfolio.
