Tourist village fiasco

Empty vessels make much noise. This is an old saying. The type of democracy that we are adhered to is of tall claims, unfulfilled commitments, visions unrealizable, and dreams that evaporate in thin air when eyes are opened on material world.  This all happens because there is lack of dedication to work.
Tourism is an important industry of the State, which contributes substantially to the economy of the State. This is the patent rhetoric exuded by each Minister in charge of Tourism.  However, the situation remains altogether different. In the first place, the policy planners in the tourism sector in the State have never given any convincing proof that they think of other two regions also when they talk about tourist industry in the State. Without any contradiction, we can say that their minds never go beyond the few tourist destinations in the valley, and that too in South Kashmir, the ones that had been explored and developed by the British during the days of the Raj.  Name the new destinations in Kashmir valley that have been developed scientifically in post-independence period? There is hardly anything to name. Again, we want to be told what concrete achievements have been made during seven long decades in developing tourist destinations in Jammu and Ladakh? None, worth the name. The State Government has not thought of nationalizing the industry.  It has left its monopoly in the hands of a pampered few in Kashmir valley. In Ladakh, it is the people who took the initiative how best they can make a tourist comfortable while promoting guest tourism industry. Therefore, let us be very clear in our mind that State Tourist Industry has, by and large, remained confined to a few destinations.
Therefore, the first step and the right step in the direction of promoting tourism in the State will be to develop tourist destinations in Jammu and Ladakh regions on priority basis. A good percentage of the budgetary allocations have to be earmarked for development of tourist destinations in these two regions. As regards the subject of developing tourist villages, the scheme has drawn a flop. Even with the Union Government sanctioning a hefty sum of Rs 29.56 crore for the project, the Tourism Department as well as other administrative apparatus have shown how slack they are to perform any developmental assignment entrusted to them. The height of slackness is that except for two District Development Commissioners, no one else has even responded to the first step of identifying the villages within the jurisdiction of respective districts. The underlying truth is that the DDCs are under political pressure from various quarters to recommend specific villages. All MLAs want that their constituency should become the recipient of benefits and accompanying largesse. Therefore, the matter becomes complicated for the DDCs. It often becomes difficult for the administrative head of a district to convince people’s representatives that an identified village has to fulfill the criterion set forth for eligibility of a village to be made tourist village.
Additionally, it has to be ensured that after extending financial support to the identified villages, the requisite infrastructure is provided to the concerned villages so that it becomes worthy of hosting tourists. Its geography, historicity, connectivity, social environs and pollution free ecology have to be ensured. We would suggest that the Tourism Department should take a fresh look at the entire project and review has to be pragmatic and not something just wishful.

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