With the recent decision of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, in its 50th meeting on the 11th of June, 2023 deciding to levy a uniform 28 per cent tax on full face value for online gaming, casinos and horse-racing, the move by the Union government ought to be seen as a step in the direction of reclaiming the cultural integrity of Goa that was otherwise being lost to the hedonistic propensities of the irresponsible tourism industry which is invariably guilty of propagating a very bleak inhibitory response of the Goan customs and traditions upon the societal controls that get frequently breached by the punters who consider Goa to be a profligate destination.
Goa finds itself positioned as a transitory destination that can be seen as a gateway to the pleasures of Europe inclusive of the gambling culture while it battles to preserve the remnants of its cultural integrity that the ancestors had so fiercely struggled to propagate through the ideals of family, socialism, the rule of law and the fear of religious discontentment.
All these concepts which could be understood as the invoking impetuses towards grace and generosity in the Goan community then began to find itself in a constant tug of war between the reverse-colonialism influences of the Indian culture and its repressive values as the vice of gambling was introduced in the State in order to promote tourism through the lens of the attractive odds that a casino promises to its punters.
But this step of relaxing the legislative controls by a seemingly helpless State government at the time of notifying the amendments to the states Public Gambling Policy carried with a cost that was so polarising upon Goa’s steadfast cultural identity, that today the reverberations of cultural dilution and moral decay can be palpated in every offering that the Casino’s in Goa advertise sans inhibitory reflex.
While it is undeniable that the Casino Industry carries with it the stamp of luxury consumption, the more obscurant side that isn’t represented in the open are the exploitative tendencies of the industry that need to be viewed through the spyglass of presumption in re-designating evocative female dancers as performing artists while the entire capital city of the State gets plastered with colourful banners of scantily clad women posing sensually in the invitation print advertisements being floated by the globally infamous casino industry.
Contrastingly, Goa also finds itself embittered in another concern that threatens the very achievement of the welfare state.
Having come across an entire generation of Goan youth who left in search of the last green pasture in the United Kingdom between the 23rd of June, 2016 until the 31st of October, 2019, when Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty would put into effect an exit of Great Britain from the European Union and the Portuguese Passport Holders would cease to have uninhibited access to the UK by virtue of the Brexit taking effect.
This mass migration of Goans to the UK prior to Brexit meant a dearth of welfare provisions being available to the oldest institution in Goa i.e. the institution of the joint family.
In illustrative spirit, the Senior Citizens of a State which experiences mass migration of the median aged population are bound to face neglect in the face of being confronted with the higher quantum of recompense that the younger population in the median average strata of migrants would earn in the host country.
Consequently, the mass migration means that the Goan society would be bound to face a retrograde in developing its superior moral values and community contribution towards the cultural fabric prevalent in the state.
In a scenario where most of the Portuguese passport holders can be observed to be engaged in menial and service oriented job descriptions in the western colonial states with the understanding that their labourious contributions would earn them a wage that is paid out in a superior currency, they don’t seem to realise that their earnings are always proportional to the standard of living envisaged in the host country and this means that they continue to co-exist in the same cadre prescribed by the guilds and unions prevalent in the host country.
Relatedly, even in Goa the earning capacity continues to be calculated in relative proportion to the standard of living and thanks to the notification of the 7th Pay Commission, the disposable incomes are on the increase despite the exponential inflation experienced by the surrounding Indian economy.
How can the returns then be compared by the returnees when all that they have to demonstrate at the superannuation of their service career is a well-built house on a non-agricultural village plot and a very rudimentary social awareness of the developments that have advanced in the Goan cultural fabric.
The amalgamation of the returning migrants always accompanies with it the drawbacks of reverse-culture shock, but the most threatening aspect in the present manifests in the opportunism which the rest of the Indian population finds in making Goa their second home.
There is no doubt that cultural integration is an inescapable reality, but at what cost can Goa afford to acquiesce its integrity in favour of mainstream ideals?
Hence, with the imposition of tax controls on Gambling being declared by the Union Government, there appears to be some hope for Goa in repossessing the cultural identity which it is otherwise set to forego.
