Team Herald
PANJIM: Tourism Minister Manohar (Babu) Azgaonkar has proposed reviving the defunct Tourism Squads as he is on a mission to crackdown on illegal activities along the coast.
The squad that comprises tourism officials and Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) personnel will also be tasked with sharing information on drug peddling and prostitution rackets to Goa police for action.
“The Tourism Squads will be more effective now. The team will have to ensure the beaches are cleared of beggars, lamanis and hawkers as they are known for troubling tourists. If hawkers and lamanis carry out business within legal parameters and maintain the culture of the State, nobody will stop them; else we will act tough,” Azgaonkar told reporters after a joint meeting with officials of tourism department and Goa Police.
The squads will have the additional duty of keeping tabs on criminal activities like drug peddling. The minister has warned of action against incompetent officials.
The minister also proposed to amend the rule so as to increase the fine imposed on illegal vendors and auction their seized wares. “We will have to change the notification so that the penalty imposed on the illegal vendors is huge. As on date, they are let off by paying a small fine amount. The penalty should not only be increased but their seized products should be auctioned,” he stated.
Similarly, Tourism Department is also contemplating issuing ID-cards to beach shack employee, to prevent the lamanis/hawkers from impersonating as shack staff during raid.
. “During a police raid, the lamanis/hawkers enter the shacks and portray themselves as their staff. Once ID-cards are introduced, we will be able to differentiate between staffers and non-staffers,” the minister added.
as he also sought cooperation from all MLAs.
North SP Kartik Kashyap, who was present at the meeting, spoke of forming special squads to curb the menace on the beaches. The officer sought infrastructure for the personnel on duty at tourist locations.
With Azgaonkar charging connivance of police in the drug trade, Kashyap said they would take strict action against ‘black sheep in the department’.
