Thaindian News

Panaji, March 15 (IANS) To “save Goans from being lured by the gambling menace”, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will seek an amendment to a current law to bar locals from entering the numerous casinos dotting Goa.

The amendment to the Goa Public Gambling Act (GPGA) during the budget session of the Goa assembly, which begins Wednesday, will also ban advertisements promoting casinos, Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar said Tuesday.

Announcing this at a press conference, Parrikar said the move was to “save Goans from being lured by the gambling menace”.

“It is an amendment bill to the Goa Public Gambling Act, and will stipulate that all residents of Goa will not be allowed to enter the area of gambling,” Parrikar said.

“If a tourist comes to the state, he spends three to four days here and he goes back. His return ticket too is booked. He can gamble all he wants in that period. But Goans have to live here and they cannot be allowed to gamble away all their earnings,” he said.

The Goa Public Gambling Act of 1976 was established to prevent all gambling, but it has been amended twice over the years and now legislates casino gambling in the state. By way of an amendment in 1992, slot machines were allowed in five-star hotels. Then in 1996, the law was amended a second time to allow table games to be played on licensed casino cruise vessels.

Parrikar also spoke of provisions in the amendment bill seeking to disallow advertisements promoting asinos.

“If cigarettes and alcohol are not allowed to be advertised, why should casinos be allowed to advertise?” he asked.

Goa has seven offshore casinos, apart from more than a dozen onshore casinos located in various five-star hotels in the state.