A pressure group is calling for a complete ban on offshore and onshore gambling in Goa.
The former Portuguese colony on India’s west coast already has a casino cruise ship operating from the state and indicated last year that more ship gaming licences might be issued. A number of five-star hotels open to foreigners-only also have a small number of gaming machines on the premises.
But a non-governmental organisation called Aam Aurat Admi Against Gambling (AAAAG) is campaigning not only against any further liberalisation of the industry but also for a rolling back of existing rules.
Sabina Martins, a spokeswoman for the group, said: “Gambling is illegal as per the Goa Gambling (Prevention) Act and it should remain so. We demand a total ban on casinos, whether onshore or offshore.”
Ms Martins condemned what she characterised as creeping gaming liberalisation contained in a plan to allow some mid-range hotels to be upgraded to a five-star rating.
The group said it had met with the presidents of all the political parties in Goa to press for their support.
In a sign of the seemingly contradictory nature of policy making in Goa regarding gaming, Ms Martins added: “Goa is the only state in the country that has legalised casino gambling despite people objecting to the state being promoted as a land of vices in the name of tourism.”
Such emotive language is par for the course in Indian politics and it’s not clear how representative Ms Martins’ group is among the general public. It does though suggest that democratic Goa, in common with Taiwan, is far from reaching the kind of political consensus on gaming that has been achieved in corporate-focused Macau.
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