3-year licence period of shacks may not change in new policy

Panaji: The new beach shack policy is likely to be released next month. While the policy may see some changes to allow the tourism department to effortlessly check for violations, the validity period of the beach shack licence of three years may not be changed.
“We will keep the licence validity unchanged as any alteration may give rise to trouble though some stakeholders want it extended to five years,” a source said, adding that finer aspects of the proposed beach shack policy are yet to be finalised.
For the past decade, beach shack licences were valid for three years, while previously, they were issued annually as every year a new policy was released, without any change in the conditions.
A three-year policy saved the tourism department the task of allotting shacks every year before the season started.
“A meeting with the representatives of beach shack operators will take place in the coming days, as the policy needs to be readied and released before the tourism season starts,” the source said.
He said they do want many changes to be introduced but the tourism department will have to do it tactfully. “However, we are certain of introducing strict conditions in the policy to weed out the illegalities associated with beach shacks.”
The biggest anomaly that’s been talked about is subletting of shacks. All previous policies held subletting as illegal, the department failed to find the guilty and penalise even as on certain beach stretches subletting was rampant.
A few months ago, tourism minister Rohan Khaunte had alleged that 30% of the shacks were sublet to “Dilliwalas”.
Shack Owners Welfare Society (SOWS) president Cruz Cardozo said that if anyone is found subletting, the society will lodge a formal complaint.
A tourism official said it was not that they didn’t want a crackdown, but their hands were tied for want of evidence. “Over the past few years, subletting has become rampant. Many locals apply for shacks only to sublet them if they win the lottery,” he said.
Successful allottees are selected through the draw of lots and only locals are eligible to apply for beach shacks. The condition — part of all previous beach shack policies — that only unemployed applicants are eligible to apply for beach shack or deck beds, needs to go.
“The condition is ridiculous. It is an open secret that most shack operators own more than one business. They run guesthouses, water sports activities, give cars and bikes on rent and so on, “ the tourism official said.