PANJIM: Two months ago, Advocate General Devidas Pangam made a statement in the High Court of Bombay at Goa that the law banning Goans from visiting onshore and offshore casinos is to prevent them from its ‘vices.’ Ironically, the government has still not devised any mechanism and rules to determine if Goans are visiting them. No progress is made in finalizing the Gaming Rules.
To add to the woes, union minister G Kishen Reddy last Saturday said there is no reason why Goa needs to be formally branded by the Centre as the casino capital because this branding has already been given to the State by the people of the country. His statement evoked sharp response from the Opposition and the general public forcing BJP to clarify he was misquoted.
The State, in particular Panjim has suffered owing to the existence of the casinos, all of which are recording huge flow of visitors on a day-to-day basis. There have been instances of Goans visiting these casinos for gambling and ruining their lives as well as that of their families.
In one such case, a woman government employee has complained of domestic violence citing her husband is coercing her to sign a document for sale of their apartment. “The husband is a regular gambler to the casinos resulting in bankruptcy and violence. He has been forcing his wife to sign a document so that he could sell the apartment jointly owned by them, to use the money to pay off his debts,” women activist Sabina Martins said as she narrated one of several vices of casinos.
Her NGO Bailancho Saad is currently handling another case wherein a mother of two had to separate from her husband owing to his addiction of casino gambling. The woman, who has her son in school, alleged that her husband did not allow her to buy milk for their infant. “He deprived the family of all the basic necessities including milk and nutritious food to their children. He assaulted her on being questioned, she then separated from her husband,” Martins said.
Herald has also learnt that young teens are dropping out of schools as they have fallen prey to lucrative job offers by these casinos. Starting salary of Rs 8,000-12,000 has led to worries in many families who want their children to pursue academics.
“We have dignity of labour but talking about overall perspective, this is not the culture of Goa. These casino managements did not bother to take care of their staff during the pandemic period,” said one of them.
Martins alleged that politicians across the party lines have only been misleading the people by making false promises to shift the vessels. “Politicians have a share because they are neither shutting it down nor debating with the anti-casino activists. There is no acceptance to casinos in Goa. We may be tolerant but our patience will soon run out,” she said.
Another victim of casinos said a person had even attempted suicide after he went bankrupt due to gambling.
In a latest incident, a Karnataka man who won Rs 50 lakh through casino gambling in Goa was kidnapped by his own friend on way to their native place. The victim was reportedly traced and the accused arrested by the counterparts police in Karnataka.
