Gambling with Goa
The signal that the government will allow offshore casino licences to be transferred comes as no surprise given that all the moves made by this government post the 2012 Assembly election have favoured the big league of casino players. Any serious public issue that seems to agitate politicians when out of power, can just as easily become a tool for profit when they are in power. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar showed his hand on the mining issue when he criticized the Shah Commission Report as being exaggerated. He does so now on the casinos, which for the BJP, now in power, is no longer an issue to moralise over.
It is well known that the casinos are money spinners and few would doubt that political parties across the board have benefitted from them. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections it is anybody’s guess why the government would want to go back on assurances it gave voters before the previous election. Among them was the commitment that no offshore casinos would be allowed to stay inside the Mandovi. Given the current moves, it seems doubtful that the chief minister is sincere about phasing out casinos by the end of his term, as he said he would. Recently it came to light that one of India’s big aviation players who’s already in trouble with the RBI was keen to acquire the offshore licence of another casino vessel that has been rusting in the waters of the Mandovi for years. The government was compelled to reject their application for transfer of licence, because by the chief minister’s admission, the current rules did not permit it. But the government is in the process of redrafting these rules and the transfers will thus be easily effected. Though only four offshore casinos are currently in operation, that figure could soon go up to six. “The government has already made it clear that it will not allow more than six offshore casinos in the state,” the chief minister told the media. But there is little clarity on whether these will be allowed to indefinitely clog the Mandovi, or if they will indeed be relocated and where.
Were one to do a serious survey, one would find perhaps that the public in Goa is not against the casinos per se. What regular people are tired of is the deliberate lack of transparency and how this becomes an easy route for politicians to collect funds whether it is for an election or otherwise. The casinos have been around in Goa for over a decade. But till today no government has bothered to set up a Gaming Commission. Obviously the lack of regulations and monitoring allows not only the big players to set their own rules and violate the few that exist, but it also makes it easier to deprive the exchequer of funds that should accrue to the state. The Commercial Taxes offices has admitted to the media how difficult it is to keep tabs on the casinos, given their manpower constraints. According to official figures the floating casinos attract some 3.5 lakh gamers a year. That figure could be actually much higher. But without checks and monitoring will we ever know?
The government said recently that a gaming commissioner would be appointed by the month end, and by March 1 Goans would no longer be permitted to enter casinos. While the move might be well intended, its actual implementation is likely to prove difficult, requiring casino goers to carry IDs with proof of residence.
Were one to do a serious survey, one would find perhaps that the public in Goa is not against the casinos per se. What regular people are tired of is the deliberate lack of transparency and how this becomes an easy route for politicians to collect funds whether it is for an election or otherwise
