Par panel raps Tourism Ministry on funds utilisation issue

A Parliamentary panel today rapped Tourism Ministry for the "absence of proper planning" for utilisation of funds allocated to different schemes.
"The Committee has noted that there is absence of proper planning by the ministry to utilize the funds they have already earmarked to different schemes. As a result, schemes such as the domestic campaign, overseas campaign, etc could not commence immediately at the initial months of the financial year," the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture said in its report.
It also expressed "serious concern" about the "huge underutilization of funds" for the Market Development Assistance and recommended the minsitry to look into the issues.

"The Committee observes that as in the case of domestic campaign, the Ministry has not made any concrete plan for the activities to be undertaken on the overseas promotion. Domestic campaign being basic to tourism promotion in the country, for encouraging domestic tourists, has not received required attention," it said.
The panel, headed by Trinamool Congress MP Kanwar Deep Singh, also noted that Product or Infrastructure Development for Destinations and Circuits (PIDDC) Scheme is "totally in a hopeless situation" as Finance Ministry is "not yet ready to allocate sufficient funds" to complete the ongoing projects.
Under the scheme, funds are sanctioned to states or UTs for developing tourism destinations and circuits.

The panel observed that Tourism Ministry requires an "immediate government decision" in this regard otherwise all the taxpayers' money spent in 34 states/UTs in various PIDDC projects will be wasted and tourism development in all these states may be affected.

The Committee also observed that in most of the tourist places, lack of signage and properly displayed information boards as regards to vehicle parking, information office, parking charges, and toilet facilities were the "major drawbacks".
Noting that India has one of the richest and varied natural habitats in the world, the panel said despite such numerous comparative advantages India has been unable to convert it into competitive economic advantages.

The panel also noticed that the airfares are "exorbitant during the peak tourist seasons" which are also causing hindrance to passenger flow in the country and suggested the ministry to take up the matter in the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee for Tourism Sector in which the Ministry of Civil Aviation is also a member.
In view of "overwhelming response" to e-tourist visa, the committee recommended that the restrictions on e-tourist visa such as not more than 30 days' stay and only two times in a calendar year should be relaxed or removed.
It also said e-tourist visas may also be allowed for medical, business and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibition (MICE) tourists.