Thevery controversial and high-handed move by the cash- strapped Goa Government towaive the casinos from having to pay a whopping Rs 277 crore is outrageous tosay the least. This contentious attempt by a debt-ridden government which hasbeen borrowing to the hilt is suspect and rightly raises many eyebrows.
Eversince the lockdown almost all businesses have and are still suffering enormouslosses so this preferential treatment only for the casinos is questionable. Thecasino trade is running very unregulated. The appointment of that GamingCommissioner for the casinos was an utter eyewash. As there are no rules framedhe is powerless. And the promised casino policy has yet not seen the light ofday. It is no secret that the casinos are an outlet for black money. Thegovernment should have proved its bonafide by mandatorily making everytransaction at all casino cashless.
Whileas the Leader of the Opposition Manohar Parrikar had vociferously brandedcasinos as a “social evil” and had called them "dens of vice". Whilespearheading that agitation against casinos, Manohar Parrikar had vowed to makesure that all casinos were thrown out of Goa if the BJP came to power. But in adramatic U-turn in March 2012 after coming to power, the BJP has gone all outto promote, shield and increase the number of casinos. And last year theGovernment has officially declared that those “dens of vice" and that the“social evil” is now an integral and vital part of the tourism trade in theState.
Goaneeds to be freed from this social evil. Our State has today sadly become thecountry’s gambling hub with the allied vices of prostitution and the narcoticstrade also flourishing by the day while the crime rate is on a steep rise.
