THE Government of Goa has decided to take on the crime against foreign tourists. The Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat’s promise to try such crimes on day-to-day basis comes with government seeking cooperation of the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court in this regard.

We have to go beyond the words of firmness and the usual rhetoric about making Goa safe for tourists, foreign or domestic. In fact within forty-eight hours of the death of the Australian tourist, John Kelly after a fight in a restaurant at Calangute, the Home Minister, Mr Ravi Naik too had issued a stern warning. But all past warnings and utterances have proved to be merely futile. The commitment of Mr Kamat is different only in the sense that he had promised for day-to-day trial, following the Rajasthan model. But it has its own travails. For a day-to-day trial it is imperative that the Goa police should be prompt and agile. Goa would not have acquired this sorry image if its police had been quite alert, proactive and taken pains to investigate the crimes and put the criminals and rapists on trial.     
If the statistics with the Foreigners’ Branch are to be believed, at least 27 foreign nationals have died in Goa since the beginning of the year 2008. Of these, eleven were UK nationals. The British Commission claimed that nearly four died of unnatural causes. The others were from Sudan, Germany, Australia, Russia, Japan and Sweden. Though the government claims that the Goa police has been prompt to investigate the cases, the fact remains that nearly fifty per cent of the cases are yet to be solved. There is no denying the fact that it is the laxity of the police that has primarily given a bad name to Goa. The police may argue that it was not possible for them to keep track of all tourists. But how do they explain the delay in investigating the cases? The promptness of the police reflects the genuine concern of the government. Unfortunately this element is missing. It is most unfortunate that the Goa police has developed the habit of blaming tourists for death. This certainly does not give a good name to the Goa police and is against the basic ethics of police functioning.
The government must introduce the Rajasthan model. It will inspire a sense of security among the tourists. But what is needed most is to make the police accountable. The functioning of Goa police lacks transparency and accountability. Nothing could illustrate it in a more comprehensive manner than its handling of the case of Scarlett Keeling.  If the police have ignored the safety of the foreign tourists, the politicians also contributed to tarnishing of the image of Goa by making undeserving comments. We should not try to seek refuse behind populism and pretensions. Banning the bikini would not remove the stigma of Goa being dangerous for women. It is a cosmetic exercise. It is not a crime to accept the failures. Instead it is a bigger crime not to rectify it. It is a known fact that drugs and crime have peaceful co-existence in Goa. The international community is aware of the fact that Goa is the transit point for drugs. If Goa is getting a bad name, it is the responsibility of Goa to fight it. The government should enact a specific law to ensure the safety and security of the tourists but more than that it should make its intentions clear to the officials of Goa police: Act or perish. For the sake of the image of Goa the government has to adopt a no-nonsense approach.