Panaji: Governor Satya Pal Malik on Friday said that the tourism in the state will only come back to its usual once the pandemic is over.
The Governor, in his message on the eve of Independence Day, appealed the people to work to ensure that the state become self reliant in agriculture sector.
“Tourism is considered the backbone of Goa’s economy. The state attracts a large number of domestic and foreign travellers. But the Covid-19 pandemic has deeply impacted Goa’s tourism sector,” he said.
“Every effort is being made by the State Government to revive this sector, however, the fact is that it will only come back to its usual once the pandemic is gone,” the Governor said.
Malik said that it is time that people across the state have to begin to fall back on more traditional occupations such as agriculture and fishing in a bid to tide over the fall in their incomes and the state economy.
“Agriculture was the main occupation of Goa in earlier days. With growth of Tourism, Mining, Industries, Manufacturing and service sectors, it gradually came in the state of neglect,” he said.
“The COVID-19 crisis has made us realize that there is a dire need of revival of agricultural sector in Goa,” the Governor said. “Goa is capable of becoming self sufficient in Agricultural production and the Government should remove all the bottlenecks in resurrecting the sector,” he said.
In his message, Governor paid tributes to the COVID-19 warriors.
“Evern year, Independence Day is celebrated with grandeur, gaiety, fervor and enthusiasm. This year also, Independence Day will be celebrated in a manner befitting the occasion, where it will be dedicated to Corona fighters/warriors, including doctors, paramedic staff, policemen, nurses and other healthcare workers,” he said.
Governor said that the country has now entered the unlock phase, however, guidelines of Covid-19 issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Home Affairs and State Government have to be abided by in toto. “I applaud the Government of India and the State Government for effectively handling the pandemic,” he added.
