It took some harassed and very upset housewives of Calangute to once again bring back the focus on adverse societal impact of casinos in Goa. Contrary to the myth being propagated by the high earning and spending casino operators that this money spinning circus carnival is for the rich, by the rich and of the rich, who come in from the metros with money bags waiting for them (no one carries any money, it’s all arranged), the “disease” has hit very ordinary folk, such as the husbands of these harassed women who met Calangute MLA Michael Lobo and shared their horror stories. (see report on page 7)
Their spouses – all small time businessmen who run eateries, shacks and grocery stores – have usurped their wives gold jewellery and pledged it to banks against which they have taken loans to gamble. After losing heavily, their family jewels kept as security will now be seized by the banks to pay off the loans taken against them.
These stories are spreading like a rash. There are taxi drivers who used to own four taxis. Bit by the gambling bug, at least one of them has sold off two and gambled away the proceeds, in a manner reminiscent of the Mahabharata, when the Pandavas had nothing left to pledge but their wife Draupadi, in the bitter and long game of dice against the Kauravas. This too was finally done, though in the end the Kauravs did not succeed.
Michael Lobo hurriedly summoned a press conference and demanded that the promise of his own Chief Minister in the assembly, that Goans will be barred from entering casinos should be implemented. This was a promise made by Manohar Parikar in the initial stages of his term, when the smell of victory was fresh and so were the weight of his promises. But a lot of dice has rolled on the Mandovi and crores of rupees have been made but fortunes and futures of those who cannot afford to have been affected. The demand for keeping Goans out is justified but there needs to be clarity on how a Goan will be identified. Will it include anyone who is either a domicile for 15 years or if born in a Goan family which has been domicile for more than 15 years? Will Goans born outside Goa and visiting the state as any other visitor be allowed? But it’s a start. Nepal and Macau are two places where this rule is in place but one must understand both are separate “countries” while Goa is just a state within the union of India. However, the demand to ban Goans from casinos is justified but it needs to be done with clarity and thought.
However, this is not the universe of the problem. This is just one part. None of the ills associated with casinos would have prevailed, if the Goa government did not gamble with the trust imposed on them by the people of Goa. The Parrikar government, after openly declaring the casinos would have to move out to the Arabian Sea and that the government did not need “bad money” is playing out a farce of trying to push casinos out of Mandovi waters. Current Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has openly said that he needs to befriend casinos since they bring in revenue.
What a contrast this to what Mr Parrikar had said as Chief Minister. He had declared that the income from casinos would be kept in a separate account and utilized only on homes for the aged and those suffering from Alzheimer’s, etc and said, “We don’t want to use that money to buy computers for students. We don’t need that money in the budget.”
Earlier, while in the Opposition, Manohar Parrikar had branded casinos as a “social evil” and called them “dens of vice’.
Addressing a group of BJP protestors in front of Casino Caravela, as opposition leader he had said “Yeh toh sirf jhaki hain, sarkar ko aur casino waloh ko batana chahate hain ki Goa ke log casino nahin allow karne walle hain… Casinos aur age chalane ki koshish ki… hum age bhi jaa sakte hain,” Parrikar boomed. (This is just a glimpse, we wish to tell the govt and casino owners, that the people of Goa will not allow casinos. If they try and run casinos in the future, we will go further…(to block them).
This entire narrative has turned out to be a big hoax. And while many in Goa want the casinos to go out, there are still ordinary folk who are destroying their families by losing it all, to this money eating juggernaut.
