Goa should get back to work now

The number of COVID cases is under the 100 mark. And the rate of recoveries is far higher than the rate of infections. Without compromising on important precautions and restrictions that must be taken to prevent another infection from spreading, businesses in Goa need to open up and start functioning. But errors of judgement and mistakes of the past when Goan borders were kept open and those without tests were flooding into Goa’s beaches, nightclubs and casinos cannot be repeated.
Goa needs to be back on its feet. Its economy is choked and both business and the middle-class salaried class is suffering
But time has passed since then. And while there is a need to be cautious and follow all sops there is an equal need to get Goa to function and the wheels of industry, especially connected to tourism, should move.
The State and the economy have not collapsed totally. There is still hope. It is only the government that needs to stop the fall and pull Goa up. It owes this much to its people.
The show must go on
The government must first learn from its past mistakes and accept that these mistakes forced such a long closure of economic activity. But it should know that keeping Goan businesses and economy strangled and choked will lead to untold suffering. With restricted timings and the always extending curfew periods, all of these businesses are gasping to survive – restaurants, taxis, curio shops, clubs.
Restaurants should be allowed to remain open till past midnight with an entry cut off at 10.30pm. So those who enter by 10.30pm can get a full 90 minutes to two hours. People coming on a holiday need to get at least that.
No one has calculated the spillover effect of business shutdowns
The spillover effect has not even been counted. The supply of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, the cold chain business, are all dependent on fully functioning hotels, weddings and events. One understands that restrictions will mean it cannot be back to the old times but the spillover impact of tourism getting choked is that many of Goa’s traditional occupations will also get choked. The fishermen supply their catch to eateries, restaurants and hotels. Horticulture and agriculture get economic returns from tourism in ways that are not always visible. And even though most of it comes from other States, Goan retailers, shopkeepers do businesses and give employment through these activities.
If small businesses are supported along with traditional occupations every village can become a tourism hub and locals can start earning from rural village activities, homestays and interesting agro-based tourism activities.
Goa simply cannot afford another bad season. It’s a make or break
Restaurants, clubs, the taxi and pilot business, casinos and hotels will cumulatively go out of business unless the right steps are taken to start them, by implementing strict restrictions and gradually easing restrictions. People, should get back to work, allow people to return to their routine work lives and be honest with your restrictions and implement them.
Before the second wave, Goa had major footfalls and most of them went to the casinos
Here, restrictions at every stage were not taken with the seriousness that they should have and this did lead to cases. But if that was an error along with that of keeping Goa open without rests and checks, then keeping businesses like casinos in a non-functional state for pandemic reasons when other sectors are keeping up, cannot be justified too. But this comes with the rider of no compromise on these restrictions and phase-wise opening-up
– The number of visitors/players in casinos should be 50% of what the capacity is right now.
– The cut-off timing for entry into the casinos should be 10.30pm after which people can leave but cannot go in. Those who enter before the cut off period can stay as long as they want provided they fulfil conditions for entry.
– All casino guests must be fully vaccinated or have a negative RTPCR test conducted not more than 72 hours prior to the casino entry. These documents should be checked very strictly and the carrying of any manipulated or fake documents should be treated as a crime
– Masks must be on at all times and all social distancing parameter must be followed
Laws should be equal to all
Once tourism-related activities are freed up, care must also be taken that the same laws should be implanted fairly on small Goan businesses as well as fancy restaurants run by outsiders. One has noticed that even if there is a slight deviation from SOPS, the police treat Goan establishments as soft targets while high-end ones run by others are not. Smaller businesses cannot be the target while the big ones which Goans cannot always afford, be given lenient treatment.
Yes, mistakes were made in the past. But by not getting over them and moving forward, you are not just affecting tourists, but Goa’s main earning, tourism. Ask any middle-class family that lives off this trade, ask young men and women who work in this sector, including Goans and they are all literally praying to get back to work without once saying they will compromise on safety and won’t follow SOPs.
For businesses, there are salaries to be paid, fees for licences, bills for utilities and EMIs for loans and then the cost of just keeping their business running. The time to keep them shut or kept open in this way is over. Goa needs to move.
One is not against pandemic precautions. Yes, we should have been more careful during the second wave and before that. But now we need to be open. So Goa does not close down for good.
There is still a chance to revive Goa. That SOS call needs to be taken.