Dear Goa, what does being special status mean to you? Being treated uniquely under the Constitution of India or being converted into a unique experiment of multiple divisions and multiple vested interests that turn this beautiful confluence of breathtaking landscapes, proud people and progressive thinking into an Orwellian experiment? What your Voice broke yesterday about the arrival of new casino towns is yet another attempt to further carve out another set of divisions within Goa and we didn’t know about it.
Check this. Goa Government wants to (starting with the Greenfield Airport turned Indian Las Vegas at Mopa) set up Casino towns. So there will be a town in remote Mopa where non-Goan investors will set up many casinos which may or may not have locals working in it and shall be frequented by tourists. These will be independent republics of affluence and greed within Goa first in Mopa and then every MLA worth his salt would like to have one in his own constituency and shall even demarcate land and resources towards it. In time ready yourself for not one but many casino cities across Goa and soon you might even end up being residents of United Casino City States of Goa.
There is something sinister about Goa’s governance. Every big ticket project in the name of development and supposedly growth involves two components (a) Land acquisition by the Government for a particular purpose that ends up being used for all other purposes but the primary one and (b) All such projects end up being islands of isolation that are disconnected from the communities around them. First, it was the 23-odd industrial estates of Goa which were supposed to bring Goa at par with the rest of the country. With underutilisation of total area demarcated for usage and misutilisation of many plots for unscheduled purpose in these estates, the primary purpose was never fulfilled. The Special Economic Zones of yore (10 of them) where special industries were supposed to come up ended up being mini-townships and niche real estate space. Then the Government had this highfalutin plans of having a Micro Industrial Zone for each of the village in Goa (a whopping 180+ of them!) to bring in grassroots development. From a growth engineer and facilitator, Goa Government has been working hard as a real estate developer addressing only to private interests especially from its political influents from outside the State.
There is something more sinister more divisive playing out in Goa’s governance. The setting up of Casino Towns is the first step towards it. Goa does not need casino money. Three of its cities Panjim, Margao and Vasco have the highest per capita deposit in the top ten cities of the country. Deposits made by Non-Resident Goans with all commercial banks in Goa is a whopping Rs 14,547 crore. Its total bank deposits despite the mining ban are upwards of Rs 67000 crores. So who is the Casino City addressing to? A casino magnate went on record a few days back virtually rubbishing mining and production sectors and stating that casino and tourism were running Goa. He also goes on to add Casinos add about 4-5% of their contribution to Goa. So why should it be accorded such special status, being isolated islands of affluence disconnected from rest of Goa?
While one shudders to think what Goa of the future would be like where each of these areas of influence – casino towns, mega-housing projects, MIZs may one day start having their own flag march reminiscent of Bonderam, what Goans need to seriously do is draw the attention of RBI, ED, DRI, IT and other watchdogs of India’s financial health to these new bastions of large-scale money mongering. There definitely is a buck in it which prompts a Government to defy bad health to move the envelope to move this idea. Goa needs a new SVM, VGG or GBA to block this menace.
