the goan I network
PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s statement that no Goan will be allowed inside casinos from February 1 has left casino operators confused. They are confused because they don’t know how they will determine if someone is a Goan or not.
A casino operator, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Suppose a Goan origin person is settled in Mumbai and he has got all his government i-cards there. If he wants to come to my casino, should I treat him as a Goan (based on his origin) or from Maharashtra (based on his i-cards)?”
Similarly, there are people living in Goa, but they are from outside. They may be having some i-cards issued to them in Goa. Will they be treated as Goans or non-Goans? The casino operators are worried because they don’t know how they will make these decisions based on the documents.
Casino operators also said if Indians from other states of the country are allowed in the casinos, why should Goans not be allowed? There are countries like Singapore and Malaysia, which allow only foreign tourists to enter casinos, but ban their own people from doing so.
Savio Messias, president, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), said, “It is a good move on the part of the government to not allow Goans in the casinos. There are people who gamble a lot and that can be destructive. Such a rule will prevent that from happening.”
Messias continued,“However, it remains to be seen how government will implement it. There may be Goans who are regular in casinos and they will be stopped. But, there could be other cases too. If a Goan origin person settled in the US comes back to Goa and goes to a casino. Whether such a person will be allowed in casinos or not remains to be seen.”
