PANAJI: Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant assured the House that government has been considering draft rules banning Goans on casinos in the state.
CM also said that the matter of shifting casinos out of River Mandovi is under consideration of the Government.
“Department has allowed the Offshore Casinos to operate in the River Mandovi till 31/03/2021 or till an alternate site is notified by the Government, whichever is earlier, subject to the condition that such license is in force during such period,’ said CM Sawant
The promise to ban Goans from entering casinos has been a long-standing one, former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had promised to do so back in 2012 and his successor Pramod Sawant reiterated the promise in August last year.
A gambling survey released late last year, however, found that casinos are not the preferred choice for Goans. Only 1.1% of respondents (all of whom were local residents) surveyed, disclosed that they visited casinos during the past one year, while 67.8% admitted to playing the lottery and 52.3% admitted to playing ‘matka’, a game of numbers drawn out from an earthen pot.