File photo: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar
Goa is mooting a law to regulate the massage parlours in the state and empower senior police officers to conduct searches at spas, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the assembly today.
Mr Parrikar also said that under the proposed legislation, still being discussed by the cabinet, only trained and certified masseurs will be able to provide massages to patrons and that formal rate cards will have to be advertised at parlours.
"It will give powers to officers like deputy superintendents of police and have provisions for fines and penalties. There will also be check-up of masseurs to ensure they have proper certificates," Mr Parrikar said while promising "law will have teeth".
The issue of illegal massage parlours flourishing along Goa's tourism-oriented coastline has been the subject of controversy for the past several years.
Goa Police have conducted several raids in the last couple of years and arrests have revealed human trafficking linked to the massage parlours and spas.
Underlining the importance of having trained and certified masseurs, Mr Parrikar quipped: "The genuineness of the massage can be established by which part of the body is massaged."
"A person who is trained knows parameters and where he has to stop. Masseurs, whether male or female, should be trained. When they are not trained, they go for something else," he said.