Goa Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai on Friday came down heavily on domestic tourists as he called them “scum of the earth” and alleged that “North Indians” are trying to create Haryana in Goa.
The state minister was speaking at the Goa BizFest in Bambolim when he contradicted CM Manohar Parrikar’s vision of one crore tourists in Goa. He urged the government to target foreign and upper-class Indian tourists. The fest was organised at a resort near Panaji.
The Minister added that it was difficult for a state that was “superior” to the rest of India vis-a-vis most social indices to control “irresponsible tourists” coming from other states.
“Your Chief Minister is pushing to increase tourists coming into Goa. Today, we receive tourists who are almost six times the state’s population. Those tourists are not the top-end tourists. They are also the scum of the earth,” Sardesai said.
“Are they responsible? Are they conscious? They are not. If You compare Goans to the rest of India, we are very high in per capita income, social and political consciousness, health parameters, and many other parameters. So, we are much superior than people who are coming in. Those people — how will you control?” he added.
Goa, a beach and nightlife tourism destination, attracts more than six million tourists every year as against its population of nearly 1.6 million.
Sardesai also made scathing comments about tourists from north India, “who were trying to convert Goa into a Haryana”.
“We are dependent on north Indians and this is what they do. They are not bothered about Goa. They will like to recreate a Haryana in Goa,” Sardesai said.
He further said that the state will have to “bring in laws which will tax you (tourists), fine you and compel you to follow the law.”
(With IANS inputs)