Already providing monetary assistance to the state governments under a number of schemes to upgrade the capabilities of its police forces,the Union Home Ministry has turned down a request to fund half the recurring expenditure for setting up tourist police units in the states. The Home Ministry decision has prompted the Tourism Ministry,which had suggested to the state governments to raise tourist police force to prevent attacks on tourists,mainly foreign visitors,to offer money from its own budget. The Tourism Ministry on Wednesday told the states it was ready to bear 50 per cent of the financial burden for the first three years. For the next three years,the Tourism Ministry has offered to contribute 25 per cent of the cost. The states have been citing lack of money as the reason for their reluctance in setting up of the tourist police. As a result,the previous tourism minister,Ambika Soni,had written to the Home Ministry requesting it to fund half of the recurring expenditure mainly,the salaries of the personnel in a bid to reduce the financial burden on the states. Sources said the Home Ministry,however,has rejected the proposal saying the states should allocate more money for policing and not depend on the Centre for every requirement. The idea of a separate tourist police at all important tourist destinations was mooted in the wake of a disturbing spate of attacks on foreign tourists,especially women in the past couple of years. Ten states had already acted on the Centres advice and created a special force to ensure the safety of tourists and tourist destinations. At Wednesdays meeting,Tourism Minister Kumari Selja also exhorted all stakeholders redouble their efforts to soften the negative impact of economic recession on the tourism industry. She said recession would not come in the way of allocating money for development and improvement of tourism infrastructure,promotion and publicity of India as the preferred tourist destination in overseas markets and development of trained human resource.
