Invalid minister – by Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat apparently refused to react to the BJP’s demand that Home Minister Ravi Naik should resign, as his son’s name was linked to the police-drug-politician nexus case. The CM, it seems, did not discuss the matter with the Home Minister as the latter was unwell and in hospital. The Home Minister has been in indifferent health for a long time. As the Home Ministry is the second-most important portfolio, the politician holding it should be in sound health. A minister who falls sick too often should be allotted a less strenuous portfolio. So the Home Minister should resign, but on health grounds.

If you ever thought that Goa was one of the top selling tourist destinations in the world – think again! The State is always projected to be among the top ten destinations in the world but the statistics available with Herald show that Goa, famous for its pristine beaches and hospitality, is not even in the list of top 10 States in the country in terms of tourist arrivals. According to a India Travel India Online survey of 2009, India got around 55 lakh foreign tourists and Goa barely managed to get less than seven per cent (2.6 lakhs). In the list of foreign tourist arrivals Goa is ranked 12th in the country. Not only in foreign tourist arrivals, the State also lags behind even in attracting domestic tourists. The State is way behind ranked 15th in the number of foreign tourist’s arrivals.India Travel India Online top ten States in terms of number of domestic tourist visits (in millions) during 2009 were Andhra Pradesh (157.5), Uttar Pradesh (134.8), Tamil Nadu (115.8), Karnataka (32.7), Rajasthan (25.6), Maharashtra (23.7), Madhya Pradesh (23.1), Uttarakhand (21.9), West Bengal (20.5) and Gujarat (15.9). The top ten States in terms of number of foreign tourist arrivals during 2009 were Tamil Nadu (2.37), Maharashtra (2.0), Delhi (1.96), Uttar Pradesh (1.53), West Bengal (1.18), Rajasthan (1.07), Andhra Pradesh (0.80), Kerala (0.55), Bihar (0.42) and Himachal Pradesh (0.40).When these figures were pointed out to the Managing Director of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation Nikhil Desai he said the State needs to do much more to attract more tourists. “We always thought Goa was top tourist destination but the figures speak otherwise,” he said adding “There is a need for coherent strategy and aggressive promotion to bring in quality tourists to the State.”He further said that the State needs to conduct surveys in the key markets of western Europe and PIS States in order to analyse the awareness of brand Goa among the potential visitors. “Similarly, while holding on and consolidating in these traditional markets, we need to explore newer markets and create more awareness about Goa so that eventually we have more flow of these tourists,” he stated.

Director of Tourism Swapnil Naik says that Goa is solely dependent on promoting beaches. “Andhra and UP are on top due to Tirupati and Taj Mahal respectively,” he said.Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu are much bigger in size and have international airports. The people arriving there could be in transit and may be counted as tourists, he added. However, he said, “We need to develop hinterland tourism so we have more to offer to the tourists.” “We also do not have many religious places except for St Xavier’s church at Old Goa and few others,” he explained.

Ralph D’Souza, former president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) and now the spokesperson for the associations, says the number of foreign tourist arrivals in India is definitely increasing but they are not visiting Goa.

“Probably Goa does not have anything new to offer,” he said.Also, D’Souza added, “We need to have a focused promotion and see new emerging markets. We need to identify these new markets and work on them.”Considering the facts that our economy is driven by the tourism industry, which has taken a beating of late, one feels the government needs to take concrete steps to attract quality tourists.

A day before leaving for Delhi to meet Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, National Students Union of India (NSUI) Goa president Sunil Kawathankar was today interrogated by Crime Branch in connection with the police- drug peddler nexus.Kawathankar has launched a massive signature campaign in the state demanding an inquiry by a central agency into the nexus.He will be handing over the memorandum to All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi in Delhi tomorrow during the NSUI national executive committee meeting. Emerging from crime branch office, Kawathankar said that he was asked by the police to name the drug dealers in the state. "They summoned me to the police station and asked me to name drug dealers in Goa.""This is an attempt to derail signature campaign started by NSUI calling for proper probe in Goa’s drug trade," Kawathankar told reporters outside the Crime Branch office near here. "I told them that Deputy Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Salgaonkar (investigating the nexus) himself is a drug dealer and has dealings with drug dealer in Goa. Police should raid his house and drugs will be found there, he said. Kawathankar said that he has been told that he will be called again to the Crime Branch and will be interrogated by a senior level officer."This is unfair, because people who raise voice against drug lobby in Goa are being harassed by police. One of the reasons for this is that police themselves are involved in the drug dealings," the NSUI chief said