Will crack down on foreigner violating visa norms: Goa minister

The Goa government will form two rapid action police teams to crack down on foreigners working in violation of visa norms, Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar said on Tuesday.

"The (state) government has proposed to constitute two rapid action police teams having police control room vehicles to check illegal touting and functioning of foreigners as tour and travel agents/guides/operators/interpreters/translators in violation of visa norms," Parulekar told the Goa assembly here.

He was replying to a question by Congress legislator Mauvin Godinho.

Parulekar said that 14 foreign nationals visiting India on tourist visas, mostly Russians and Ukrainians, have so far been fined for illegally working as guides.

"The tourism department also imposes penalties on illegal touting and other malpractices by the foreign nationals," the minister said.

Foreigners seeking jobs and running businesses while on tourist visas is a recurring problem for Goa, which attracts more than three million tourists annually.