Outsourcing of identified assets of Tourism Deptt
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Dec 8: Even after nearly four years of continual reconstitution, expansion and reshuffling of a high-level committee formed to devise a mechanism for outsourcing assets of the Tourism Department, there is still no visible progress on the ground, raising eyebrows over apparent lack of seriousness within the Government.
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Official sources told EXCELSIOR that despite multiple Government orders modifying the structure of the committee each time with claims of streamlining decision making the process remains stuck in paperwork, with no concrete roadmap, no finalized mechanism and no action plan for outsourcing dozens of identified tourism properties across Jammu and Kashmir.
The exercise began on 09.12.2021 when the Government, through Order No.1297-JK(GAD), constituted a committee headed by the Financial Commissioner, Finance Department, to finalise an outsourcing mechanism for tourism assets such as huts, lodges, restaurants, parks and adventure facilities.
The committee comprising of Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department, Principal Secretary Public Works Department, Administrative Secretary, Planning, Development and Monitoring Department, Administrative Secretary, Tourism Department and Administrative Secretary, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Department was further asked to identify the model for each property or group of assets for outsourcing, fix and approve the minimum bid amount for each property, fix and approve the time period for outsourcing and approve bid document to be prepared by the consultancy firm.
However, barely a year later, vide Government Order No.1327-JK(GAD) dated 07.11.2022, the chairmanship was shifted to the Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department, in what officials termed “administrative restructuring”.
Again, through Government Order No.36-JK(GAD) dated 11.01.2023, the committee was expanded with Commissioner Secretary Forest and Commissioner Secretary Revenue being co-opted as members. Deputy Commissioners and CEOs/Vice-Chairpersons of Development Authorities were designated as special invitees.
Later, the Government issued Order No.645-JK(GAD) dated 01.06.2023, altering the composition yet again while keeping the terms of reference unchanged. And now, in a fresh move, the committee has once again been reconstituted in partial modification of all the earlier orders, this time placing the Administrative Secretary, Tourism Department as its chairman.
Despite all these administrative overhauls, even the basic mechanism for outsourcing, a task that was originally expected to be concluded within months, has not been finalized even after the lapse of nearly four years.
According to the sources, the identified tourism assets, many located in prime destinations, continue to remain underutilized due to lack of professional management and absence of a policy-driven outsourcing framework.
“Every year, the Government keeps changing the committee but not a single step has been taken toward achieving the actual objective,” they said, adding the prolonged delay has resulted in financial losses as well as deterioration of valuable public assets. “While the tourism sector is being aggressively marketed as a key economic pillar of Jammu and Kashmir, the failure to evolve a functional outsourcing mechanism has pushed potential revenue sources into limbo”, they remarked.
“It is really a matter of serious concern that whenever a committee fails to deliver, it is reconstituted instead of being asked to show results”, they said while calling the situation a “classic case of administrative drift”.
They further said, “outsourcing of Government-owned tourism assets could boost infrastructure, create employment and attract private investment but only if the Government moves beyond committees and delivers a policy”, adding “the absence of a clear mechanism has also discouraged private players, who had expressed interest in taking over and modernizing various assets under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model”.
“At a time when Jammu and Kashmir is promoting tourism as the backbone of its economy and trumpeting record-breaking tourist arrivals, the Government’s inability to frame even a basic outsourcing policy exposes a deep disconnect between public statements and ground reality”, they said.
Sources hoped that the reconstituted committee will finally deliver the results and Government will prioritize results over committee restructuring and take decisive steps to unlock the economic potential of J&K’s tourism assets.
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