Starting February 1, adults in Goa, India were banned from entering local casinos. According to the India Times, the new law was announced last month by Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. Sawant told reporters the Commissioner of Goods and Services Tax, who is also the gaming commissioner, will implement the ban.
A large number of Goans and several political parties, including the Congress, had been seeking a ban on the casinos in the state, alleging that the establishments are not in keeping with local cultural values and cause financial harm to families. The coastal state is home to six offshore and a dozen onshore casinos.
“I had assured on the floor of the House during the last Assembly session in 2019 that Goans would be banned from entering casinos. We are going to implement the assurance from February 1,” Sawant said, adding that rules for implementation would be framed later. “We are going step by step,” he said.
The offshore casinos, which operate on cruise ships on the Mandovi River, have long been a point of contention between locals and lawmakers; residents say they disrupt local fisheries, and have asked for years that they be relocated. Leaders of several government administrations have pledged to move the boats, but have not found a place to send them.
