Tourism sits on funds, FM plans to slash budget

In what could be a blow to the Tourism Ministry and efforts to boost tourism in the country, the Finance Ministry has threatened to pull bac...

In what could be a blow to the Tourism Ministry and efforts to boost tourism in the country, the Finance Ministry has threatened to pull back Rs 100 crore from the ministry’s annual budget of Rs 500 crore for non-utilisation of funds. The timing could not have been worse coming as it does at a time when the country has achieved new heights in tourist inflow , and when Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury has pulled out all the stops to promote tourism.

Finance and Planning Commission officials are unhappy that though three-fourth of the financial year is almost over, the Tourism Ministry has spent barely 30 per cent of its annual budget. It was earlier this year that the Planning Commission had granted an extra budget of Rs 125 crore, to increase the total annual fare from Rs 375 crore to Rs 500 crore, after repeated pleas from the Tourism Ministry.

Instead, the money has been lying unused despite Chowdhury announcing a project a week to boost tourism, and state governments sending a proposal a day to build tourism infrastructure in their respective states. Trading of charges has become the order of the day between the two—while ministry officials accuse state governments of lack of initiative and motivation, state government officials complain about how their proposals take a long time to get cleared.

Ministry officials chorus: ‘‘Apart from a small clutch of state governments, none of the rest are forthcoming on ideas and projects to boost tourism in their states. They come up with mostly dull and run-of-the-mill proposals. It is time the states realised that tourism is not only the biggest employer in the country, it is also number three when it comes to revenue generation after agriculture and IT.’’ The state governments can take comfort in the fact that ministry officials in Delhi have got a dressing down from Chowdhury for not clearing projects on time. Says a source, ‘‘The minister has ordered officials to put all pending proposals on the fast track for clearance and has given them a deadline. It would be ridiculous if the annual budget is slashed, that too when the country is witnessing a tourism boom again.’’

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