The Ministry of Tourism promotes India in a holistic manner, through various initiatives. As part of on-going activities, promotion of eco-tourism is also taken up. The Ministry of Tourism has formulated a National Strategy for Development of Ecotourism which was circulated to the State Governments / Union Territory Administrations.

 

The Guidelines for Star Classification of Hotels mandates Eco-friendly Practices viz. (a) Sewage Treatment Plant (b) rain water harvesting (c) waste management (d) pollution control method for air, water and light (e) Introduction of non CFC equipment for refrigeration and air conditioning and other Eco-friendly measures and initiatives in order to qualify for classification. National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism was also formulated by the Ministry and circulated to the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. In line with the strategy, Travel for Life (TFL) programme was initiated to encourage tourists and tourism businesses to adopt sustainable tourism practices.

 

Ministry of Tourism has taken various initiatives to strengthen tourist safety in the country. The details of the same are mentioned as under: -

 

(i)      Safety and Security of tourists is essentially a State subject. However, the Ministry of Tourism has been continuously taking up the matter with all the State Governments and Union Territory (UT) Administrations for setting up of dedicated Tourist Police to strengthen on-ground safety mechanism for tourists. With the efforts of Ministry of Tourism, States/UT’s viz Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh have deployed tourist police.

(ii)     As a part of the Ministry’s continuous endeavors to make travel for tourists safe and secure, the Ministry of Tourism has set up a 24x7 Multi-Lingual Tourist Helpline on the toll free number 1800111363 or on a short code 1363 in 12 Languages including 10 international languages (German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic), Hindi and English for domestic and foreign tourists to provide support service in terms of information relating to travel in India and to offer appropriate guidance to tourists in distress, while travelling within India.

(iii)    Government has set up a dedicated non-lapsable corpus fund - Nirbhaya Fund, being administered by Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, which can be utilized for projects specifically designed to improve the safety and security of women. Ministry of Tourism has been periodically requesting all State Governments and Union Territories for availing the benefits of the ‘Safe Tourism Destinations for Women’ under Nirbhaya fund which can be utilized for projects specifically designed to improve the safety and security of women tourists.

(iv)    The Ministry of Tourism along with all stakeholders, including the Tourism Departments of all States and UTs, have adopted the 'Code of Conduct for Safe & Honourable Tourism' which is a set of guidelines to encourage tourism activities to be undertaken with respect to basic right like dignity, safety and freedom from exploitation of both tourists and local residents in particular, women and children.

 

This information was given by Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

 

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Sunil Kumar Tiwari  

tourism4pib[at]gmail[dot]com

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