Jagmohan to take on touts

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 6. Beware touts and cheats! Tourism police in India may still be faraway but the Union Tourism Minister, Mr. Jagmohan, with his no-nonsense approach has arrived. Unfazed by the fact that he did not survive for long as the Urban Development Minister for challenging the land and building mafia, in his new incarnation he is now all set to take up the cudgels against those whose misdeeds are harming the tourism sector.

Egged on by his desire to reform the tourism sector to enable it to fully harness its potential, he has started unfolding his plans to rid this sector of those whose nefarious activities in taking the tourists for a ride bring a bad name to the country and deterred prospective tourists.

The new Tourism Minister, while opening the Tourist Reservation and Information Centre of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India, said every foreign tourist after a successful visit to the country could be `our Ambassador' helping in projecting India as an international tourism destination. He emphasised the need for guarding the interest of both domestic and international tourists by looking after their comfort and offering them a clean environment to make their sojourn hassle free.

He went on to promise action against criminal elements - cheats, robbers, touts and others including those in transport business who harass tourists - to ensure that they were brought to book. He asked the tourism industry to cooperate with the Government in this endeavour.

Making his intentions clear to straighten up things, he asked the industry to bring to his notice all incidents of harassment and cheating of tourists reported after January 1 this year and assured that he would see to it that the culprits were punished.

Referring to the industry's demands for concessions, rationalisation of taxes and infrastructure status for the tourism sector, Mr. Jagmohan said even yesterday he had spoken to the Finance Minister. He was hopeful of a positive outcome in the near future. But if it did not happen, he said, he would bring the Finance Minister with him to their meeting and added that the Government looked at the industry as a partner in promotion of the tourism sector.

Earlier, painting a grim picture of the situation in which the industry finds itself in the wake of terrorists attacks in the U.S., the president of the Hotel and Restaurants Association of Northern India, Mr. B. K. Gupta, and other functionaries said the occupancy in the hotels, which used to be full during the peak tourists season in October, was down by half, no matter what others were saying about the impact of September 11 attacks on tourism and aviation sectors.

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