The ‘House’ Always Wins
Why Goa's 'Housie' ban is justified, a marina in the making, the Bambolim 'revolution' and more in this week's edition!
Welcome to yet another edition of Gerard’s Gazette, a weekly newsletter, in which I attempt to break down the events of the week gone by, offer a bit of context, as well as a dose of news behind the news.
If this is your first time here, thank you for signing up and Happy Easter!
It’s been quite a week here in Goa, and while for Christians it marked the most solemn period of the calendar – Holy Week, which commemorates the suffering and death of Jesus – ahead of His resurrection on Easter (celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring Equinox) -- the week in Goa has, frankly, been quite bloody. Three murders (Raia, Bambolim and at Nagargao, Sattari the motive of the latter is yet unclear though three people including his father and brother have been arrested so far); a molestation of a minor belonging to a scheduled caste community, which was registered only after an uproar and a protest in front of the Pernem police station; an uncle who sexually assaulted his two nieces; a one-and-a-half-year-old girl mauled to death by stray dogs at Ponda; and, of course, road accidents – three of which claimed five lives (two at Padi Canacona, two at Mollem and one at Haravalem. And two were killed in train accidents, something that’s not common in Goa.
To top it all, Goa Police said they seized 4.3 kg of cocaine, believed to have been sourced from Thailand – the biggest haul so far, in terms of value, breaking a record they set just last month when they seized hydroponic weed, which they said was worth ₹11 crore.
That besides, there are two things that I really want to talk about but one of the two — illegal constructions— will have to wait till next week since it deserves a piece of its own.
The one that I will address this week is the ban on ‘Housie’.
The ‘House’ Always Wins
As you probably are aware, in early April the South Goa Collector issued an order asking the district authorities and the police to order officials to “monitor their respective jurisdictions closely for any information, reports or complaints pertaining to housie” and to “conduct prompt and effective action, including inspections, raids and seizures as necessary, wherever such unlawful gambling operations are suspected or reported.”
This, according to the collector, was done because the authorities have noticed illegal gambling activities, “including but not limited to Housie” were being freely organised in the state.
“As per provisions of the Goa Public Gambling Act, 1976, such activities are cognisable and punishable offences. The Act prohibits the operation and maintenance of common gaming houses, as well as gambling in public or private places without lawful authority or license,” the South Goa collector’s order said.
Well, what exactly prompted the order?
There were a series of ‘events’ in particular that prompted the Housie ban order. Across March, the month prior to the ban, social media and street signs were rife with banners advertising music events where the main attraction appeared to be the ‘housie’ game that would be played during the events. At one event in particular, a total prize of Rs 14 lakh was up for grabs, with the ‘full house’ winner securing a prize of Rs 8 lakh.
To participate in the game, one had to buy three tickets worth Rs 1,000 each and then hope for the best.
Events similar to this were being held all over south Goa from Verna to Sanguem with cash prizes going up to Rs 30 lakh. In fact, even before the Collector issued her order and began a crackdown, the events had caught the attention of the local police, who began cracking down and issuing warnings to organisers.
If you are a Goan Catholic who takes part in community or parish events, chances are you’ve played Housie, not once or twice, but multiple times in a year, especially at events surrounding the parish feast. At the fair (known locally as feira or quermesse), you would likely have taken things further and played wheel of fortune or some other game of chance. It is a similar story at temple fairs and zatras; there are other forms of gambling that take place.
Housie, also called Bingo or Tambola, is a game of chance in which players mark out numbers on a coupon as they are called out, and whoever is the first to achieve a predetermined pattern (a line or first five numbers) or all the numbers on the coupon (full house) is considered a winner. The game is also played as a party game and at community events where sometimes tickets are handed out for free, while at others there’s a nominal charge as a fundraiser, and the earnings are then spent on the cause for which the funds were raised.
At one end of the spectrum is the game played as a party and community game, and at the other end of the spectrum is that in which tickets are sold for thousands and prizes worth lakhs are up for grabs.
Somewhere in the middle is a line where the game shifts from being a form of harmless entertainment to full-fledged gambling.
Understandably, the Goa Football Association and several organisations, families and individuals are up in arms against the ban and have vociferously contested it, even hitting out at the GFA president Caetano Fernandes for referring to certain families as a ‘mafia’.
There can be no doubt that allowing Housie to continue unchecked is not an option. In its latest commercialised avatar, it is nothing but gambling, even if the organisers (who stood to make a lot of money) fiercely contest that definition.
The question that then arises is…
Where do you draw the line?
It might seem like there are no easy answers, but actually there are. For starters, do away with cash prizes. For an event that is primarily being held as a fundraiser or community entertainment, there should be no cash prizes, or if there are, there should be a limit to the prize on offer, above which the authorities should be free to crack down on.
That said, is there merit to the claim that Housie is being unfairly targeted? Those who espouse this cause have claimed that there isn’t a similar crackdown on matka or casinos. But frankly, such arguments are actually counterproductive only to buttress the argument that Housie is indeed gambling and if left unchecked would only serve to allow people – especially those vulnerable to addictions – to gamble their future away.
But do you know what has reached gambling proportions but has yet failed to earn a crackdown from the authorities? The Ganesh lottery! Over the years, what was a harmless sarvajanik (community) Ganesh lottery, played across the state, in Quepem (and later Sanguem) metamorphosed into something that looks and feels quite like gambling. In tandem with the mining boom of the 2000s, the Quepem Sarvajanik Mandal began offering high-end luxury cars (and flats) as top prizes for the lottery draw. Tens of thousands of tickets are sold, and there’s even a secondary and a black market for the tickets, with people of all hues and ages queuing through the night to buy tickets.
According to a survey of gambling conducted by Sangath a few years ago, 45% of Goan men are current gamblers, lotteries are included as a form of gambling (which they are, especially when there’s a lucrative prize on offer). Yet, lotteries too are a popular form of fundraising for churches, schools and other charitable causes. The state government runs its own Provedoria lottery too (to help social welfare initiatives), a practice that dates back to the Portuguese days.
Somehow, the Quepem (and Sanguem) lotteries haven't earned the state administration’s ire. Something to think about for sure.
Is Penha da França getting a(nother) marina?
Early last week, news broke that the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) had granted its approval for the setting up of an ₹8-crore private jetty that could host up to 16, 30-metre-long yachts and several other craft – or, in other words, a marina -- at Malim in Penha da França (also known as Brittona) along the northern bank of the River Mandovi.
The panchayat was up in arms, saying they know nothing of it. The local MLA lamented that he was kept in the dark, and the Captain of Ports department too said that permission for the jetty would not be valid without state government approval.
For a while it seemed that things would die down. It was then that a group of traditional fishermen living in villages along the northern bank of the River Mandovi decided to approach the National Green Tribunal seeking to put a stop to the growing number of private jetties along the river catering to boating and yachting activities.
Goa may have (for now) avoided a mega marina – the one that was being set up by Kargwal Constructions – but if the developments – small and big – along the River Mandovi are to be looked at carefully, the state already has a fair few ‘jetties’ catering to high-end boats – mainly for tourist hire.
In almost the same breath, we received the news that a team from the Kochi water metro was down in Goa to explore a similar metro for Goa. I’m not sure Goa has the population density to support such a project. After all, how many people travel between Aldona and Panjim every day, and of that, how many would prefer taking the boat?
Even the Chorao to Panjim direct ferry that was started a few years ago had to be discontinued.
What’s happening in Bambolim?
San André MLA and the lone member of the Revolutionary Goans Party, RGP, has been busy this week. Specifically, he has trained his guns on two projects in his constituency, both falling in Bambolim.
The first is the one that’s easier to explain, so let’s get that out of the way.
The Grand Hyatt Hotel at Bambolim decided it would do away with the traditional stone wall that separated its property from Bambolim beach and replace it with a concrete wall. Work on the wall was well underway when the delegation led by local MLA Viresh Borkar visited the spot, and thanks to the hue and cry, work has now been stopped by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority.
This is, of course, not the first time a beach-facing hotel has tried to build a concrete wall right on the beach and surely won’t be the last. Do they not teach CRZ regulations in engineering class, or do these people think they will go ahead anyway?
Not to be outdone, the tourism department has now issued a notice to the hotel, which is operated by one Riverside Resort and Holiday Home Pvt Ltd, under the Goa Tourist Places Protection and Maintenance Act on grounds that the construction of the 300m concrete wall and debris dumping is “adversely affecting the tourism potential of the beach”.
The activists weren’t too amused with the tourism department’s notice, claiming that the department’s notice was an underhanded attempt to allow the hotel to remove the debris (and evidence) of its wall-building attempts before the CRZ authority could conclude its examination. I’m not one to prejudge such moves unless there’s a compelling piece of information to do so, so let’s leave it at that.
The second project in Bambolim is a ₹250 crore 8-floor hotel project at Bambolim being built by Worldwide Resorts and Entertainment Pvt Ltd. Before you read further, I suggest you watch these two (1, 2) videos(in Konkani) by Swapnesh Sherlekar which I have based the following explainer on.
So, what’s special about this company and their project?
Have you heard of Golden Globe Hotels, the same guys who paid ₹50 crore to revive an old casino licence and later tried to rush a casino vessel “MV Lucky 7” during the monsoon months of 2017 into the River Mandovi only to have it run aground at Miramar beach?
Yeah, those guys. Since then Lucky 7 underwent a refurbishment and has been operating in the River Mandovi as Big Daddy Casino, the sixth and final offshore casino, and the company has also gone on to run and operate Casino Strike at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Bambolim.
But what exactly is the problem with a company building an eight-storey hotel at a coastal village in Goa for which they seemingly have the permission?
Well, for one, considering the size of the hotel, they need an environmental clearance from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), which they do not currently have, despite construction being well underway.
What they do have is a recommendation from the State Environment Assessment Authority (SEAC), which recommended that they be given an environmental clearance, which they did despite noting that, among other things, they were involved in hill cutting, had punctured the groundwater aquifer, and began excavation work all without permission.
To add to that, the hotel project got an FAR of 200 when the FAR for that locality is 80 and also a height enhancement of 25.5 metres (when the rest of the construction in the locality has a height restriction of 11.5 metres), both of which were approved by a special committee of the Town and Country Planning Department whose member Paresh Gaitonde also serves as an RCC consultant for the project in question.
Heard of something called conflict of interest? They certainly haven’t.
A grief helpline
And finally, I’d like to end on a positive note.
Sangath, an NGO working towards providing mental health and support, is launching a peer support group for parents who have lost a child -- irrespective if it was an unborn child or even a fully grown man or woman -- to help those who carry this unimaginable grief find a safe, compassionate space for parents to find connection, understanding, and solidarity.
If you or someone you know might find comfort in shared experiences and support, please reach out to Miriam at https://wa.me/qr/ZWQGQBMJPKLAA1
That’s all I have for you this week. Make sure you comment or write in, should you have something, anything to say.
I would also invite you to contribute via sending in your views, especially on a subject you know something about, and I will be happy to include it as part of the newsletter.
You are also welcome to write in with leads and tip-offs or anything that you think might be interesting enough to include here.
As always, please share and help spread the word.
Until next week, then. Tchau!
Housie or Tambola is almost a global 'game'. And there are many countries who have put restrictions on the quantum of Prize, to discourage the gambling of the game.
Instead of putting a restriction on the Prize amount, a blanket ban is quixotic and extremely foolish.