Another chapter to the raging debates over the Goa Casinos in the River Mandovi was started when Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the house yesterday that the government was formulating rules under which the fee charged will be determined by the size of the casino vessel. This was in reply to the ongoing controversy in the house about the government letting Casino Deltin Royale, the largest casino vessel in River Mandovi to operate under the same license that the parent company held for a ship six times smaller.
Ever since this ship has sailed in the waters there has been a lot of debate in the Goa Assembly with the opposition raising questions about why the government has let the bigger vessel operate under the same license and fee as the earlier smaller casino ship held. Parrikar however said that the government had raised the fee of this casino ship to Rs. 6.5 crore per annum.
In an earlier debate a week ago Parrikar had asserted that the Goa casino ships will be removed from the River Mandovi and their licenses will not be renewed. He had also added that this will not mean that the Goa casinos will be shut down, they will barely be moved to another location.
The Goa Casinos continue to be in the news for all the wrong reasons but still continue to ply despite debates in the house and resistance from the opposition. It waits to be seen what will happen when some of the licenses of the operating companies expire next year.