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| Funds booster for tourism in East & North East |
| BS Reporter / Kolkata Aug 13, 2009, 00:55 IST |
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In order to boost the tourism sector in the East and North East, Union ministry of tourism has increased fund allocation in these two regions for more projects. Much of these funds, however, remain unused.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of the inaguration of the East and North East Roadshow which has been designed to boost domestic tourism, Sujit Banerjee, secretary, ministry of tourism, government of India, said, “Compared to other states, utilisation of funds have not been up to mark. We have increased allocation of funds, we would want these states of East and North East to take the funds and put to projects. Bengal is somewhat lacking in tourism infrastructure which needs to be addressed.”
For the 10th Five Year Plan, Union ministry of tourism sanctioned projects worth Rs 52.9 crore, of which around 80 per cent have been utilised.
Compared to this, in the first two years of the 11th Five Year Plan, the ministry has sanctioned projects worth Rs 67.44 crore.
“We have sanctioned some important projects in Bengal which would boost tourism. The Ganga Heritage River cruise project is one of them which has been sanctioned Rs 20 crore,” said Banerjee. Some projects are under consideration. Similarly, for North-East, the Union tourism ministry had increased allocation of funds from Rs 89 crore to Rs 146 crore in 2008-09.
“Central government is very enthusiastic about East and North East but tourism sector has not been developed the way it should have been. There is scope for more,” said Sultan Ahmed, Union minister of state for tourism.
The ministry plans to organise domestic road shows and regional conferences in East and North East in order to boost tourism.
The minister proposed to make Kolkata the hub for Eastern and North Eastern tourism activity, the gateway to North East.
Connectivity and infrastructure are the major hurdles in Bengal which needs to be resolved by state tourism department, he added.
The Union tourism ministry is closely working with North Eastern states in order to relax permit system in many of the North Eastern states.
The permit system in Arunachal and Sikkim has been relaxed. Now two people can avail Inner Line Permit, earlier a group of four was necessary. Some villages in Arunachal and Sikkim which are of tourist importance have been relaxed of the ILP, pointed out Devesh Chaturvedi, additional director general, ministry of tourism.
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