The State Cabinet on Wednesday approved the draft Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations for the formation of the Responsible Tourism (RT) Mission as a society.
The RT mission formed in 2017 for the implementation of rural tourism development projects by ensuring rural development, employment opportunities, women empowerment, public participation in tourism, and waste management, will become the first government-owned society in the State to provide training, marketing, and other support systems to local communities to start various initiatives in the tourism sector.
The chairman and vice chairman of the society would be Tourism Minister and Tourism Secretary respectively, while the existing RT mission coordinator will be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the society. Registering the mission as a society will not prevent the RT mission from getting funds from local governments and other agencies. Further, the co-funding provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was discontinued earlier, as it was not registered as a society. There will be a change in the status of this as well.
With the society being able to operate independently, the plan fund utilisation could be reduced in the future, said a statement issued by the State government. In 2017 when it was formed, the government sanctioned 40 posts for the mission. Since there would be no new post or asset creation as part of forming society, it would not create any additional financial burden for the government.
The society can also increase its revenue through various means including registration fees, consultancy charges, commissions through product marketing, training fee, etc. By becoming a society, it can also work in more areas independently. Currently, 24,000 local units are functioning under the RT mission and around 1,50,000 families are getting income through the Mission.
