This one of the most sensational revelation made by the Heraldo reported by Suraj Mandrekar in the news article published in their newspaper edition of 16th May 2016. Based on that disclosure he quoted that, in the year 2012 the earlier Goa CM and present Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar had told in the Goa Legislative assembly that he does not need the revenue from Casinos to run his government in Goa. It is the ‘Bad Money’ and will be used for the poor and needy people. But four years after that statement there is no sign of the ‘bad money’ where is Rs. 571 Cr ‘bad money’ is gone? Read the complete report here.
[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”] This is the most shocking revelation made the Heraldo Newspaper in their today’s edition. According to the reporter, former chief minister Manohar Parrikar had promised to keep the income of casinos separately calling it ‘bad money’ and the same will be used towards the uplifting of old age homes in Goa and for those suffering from the Alzheimer’s disease but four years later there is no sign of the ‘bad money’ which according to the sources have ballooned up to 571 crore.
In 2012, BJP government was in power and chief minister was Manohar Parrikar. He told while addressing in the Goa assembly that his government does need the revenue from Casinos for Goa’s development work. He also stated that the ‘bad’ money of Casinos will be kept separately for the utilization on the homes for the aged and those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. “We don’t want to use that money to buy computers for students. We don’t need that money in the budget.” He had stated. According to the reports Parrikar had branded the Casinos as ‘Social Evil’ and called the casinos as ‘Dens of Vice’.
Although Parrikar assured to open a separate account for the casino money but till date neither has a separate account for casino money been created nor has the money reached homes for the aged, claimed the sources.
According to the report published by Heraldo ‘Every year since 2012, offshore casinos and the dozen-odd land-based casinos contributed over Rs 100 crore to the Goa government treasury. The total collection, as per documents with Herald, reveals that the government has earned approximately Rs 571.16 cr.’ The newspaper also claimed that ‘The BJP government, which spoke ill of the casinos when in the Opposition, immediately reduced the entry fee from Rs 2000 in 2011 to just Rs 500, to help the casino business. In 2011, the entry was Rs 2000 in offshore casinos and Rs 500 on shore. Both were kept at Rs 500 in 2012. In 2014, the amount was marginally increased to Rs 700 and now in 2016 it been increased to Rs 1000.’
This story does not end here, even the present Chief Minster called the Casinos as ‘Mess’ created by Congress government. He also termed it as ‘Taking care of someone else’s child’ “Someone had said I was compelled to marry a pregnant woman. What to do. So, naturally, I am forced to take care of her children,” Parsekar remarked while replying to a query as to why the government was not shifting offshore casinos vessels from Mandovi river.
Parsekar also feels that the casinos are the good investors (it does not matter if they generate the ‘bad money’ at the end of the day) and that his government does not want to debar the investors from the state. “We can’t discard the investors because some other government had invited them… We go around attracting investors and if we disturb the old investors that will send a wrong signal,” he said.
Regardless of which minister says what, the fact remains same that casinos are generating a huge amount of revenue for the state. Whether money spent for the development of the old age home or on new projects the money will be finally used for the state. But whether the money is really being used is the concern at the moment. According to you, what do you feel? Where is the 571 crore? Please leave your comments on this issue.
Source: Various sources
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