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In comments likely to raise the hackles of many, Goa Town and Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai said on Friday, 9 February, that a majority of the domestic tourists visiting Goa are the "scum of the earth" and north Indian tourists want to create a Haryana in Goa.
Speaking at the Goa Biz Fest organised at a resort near Panaji, the minister said 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.
"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?" the minister 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”.
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