| Trav
Track |
 |
| By
Som Mehta |
No.
This has nothing to do with a popular TV show that carries
this banner. It is about a ‘Cabinet Sub Committee (CSC)
on Tourism” which will be formed by the Prime Minister
of India (PM) and like the fabled Aladdin’s lamp, will
solve all the problems of Tourism India. No. It is also not
about the Arabian tale of Ali Baba and his forty thieves.
It is about an exclusive retreat set up by the India Chapter
of WTTC (World Travel & Tourism Council) at Agra in August
2002. No. It is not the PM who asked for the CSC. It was conjured
up, as if in a dream sequence of a Bollywood movie, by an
assorted group of politicians, including the tourism minister:
bureaucrats, including three retired secretaries of tourism
and civil aviation ministries: and a sprinkling of life style
and main press media biggies. Leading opposition MP (Member
of Parliament) Amar Singh, a sworn enemy of BJP, the party
in power, scored a political point by offering to lead a delegation,
including the tourism minister, who himself is a cabinet minister,
to the PM, to complete the dream sequence. The question here
is not whether this brand new CSC will be formed or not: but,
if formed, will it have the right agenda?
From all accounts, it will not: because, it is being seen
as a super structure that will strengthen the hands of tourism
minister, as a coordinator and facilitator with other ministers.
That is no big deal if the shenanigans of the (cabinet ministers)
members of the CSC on disinvestment, regarding the strategic
sale of oil majors BPCL & HPCL, is a guide.
It appears that, in India, WTTC is putting all its eggs in
the CSC basket and departing from its world wide agenda of
separating politics from business. I have said it, in this
column, before and I will go on saying that the governments
must get out of all travel and tourism-related businesses,
including airlines.
Tourism is essentially a state subject and so it must remain
and the proposed constitutional amendment to bring it under
the ‘concurrent’ list should be dropped. At the
national level, we need a fully autonomous National Tourism
Organisation (NTO), run by capable and committed travel and
tourism professionals of proven ability, to take care of national
and global business related issues, including marketing. I
would like to place this item on the WTTC(I) agenda as priority
number one. WTTC must focus on men and institutions in this
country that have the power and legitimacy to bring about
such a structural change.
Yogesh Chandra, who runs this organisation, S K Mishra, vice-chairman
INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art Culture and Heritage)
and M P Bezbaruah, the WTO (World Tourism Organisation) representative
in India, can be useful allies in this mission. They have
been there and know how helpless they were in arresting the
decline of Tourism India, when they were in charge. In the
heart of their hearts they also know how futile the CSC chase
can be and how necessary the formation of the Indian NTO is:
not to speak of ostracising the ghosts of their past.
If this means the extinction of MoT (Ministry of Tourism)
so be it. The Planning Commission and the Comptroller and
Auditor General of India have already questioned its relevance.
Now, we have the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) taking MoT to
task for violating the provisions of Foreign Exchange Management
Act, 1999, by permitting dual tariff at the country’s
monuments and hotels, among others. Does one need to say more
except? Khul Ja Sim Sim and take MoT away?
|
