Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant has announced that local Goans will be banned from entering and playing in casinos from 1February, 2020 onwards.
The chief minister further announced that the commercial tax commissioner has been designated as gaming commissioner under section 13C of the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act as amended in 2012 by later chief minister manohar Parrikar.
Sawant further announced that the newly designated gaming commissioner will be given the right to enter any casino in the state at any time and ask for identity proofs of people entering offshore and onshore casinos in the state.
Gaming commissioner will oversee and regulate casinos in the state and ban locals from accessing casinos was passed by the Goa legislative assembly in 2012, but a formal notification to implement the same has not been issued till date.
The coastal state is home to six offshore and a dozen onshore casinos that witness heavy footfall of tourists and locals alike.
“I had assured on the floor of the House during the last Assembly session (August 2019) that Goans would be banned from entering casinos. We are going to implement the assurance from 1 February,” the chief minister said.
The rules required for the strict implementation of the ban would be framed later, he added.
“We are going step by step,” Sawant said.