The ministry of tourism is planning to ask all states to give a status report on the development of tourism projects, for which they have been given central financial assistance (CFA) in the tenth and the eleventh Five Year Plan.
According to sources in the ministry, in a regional conference to be held in Sikkim in October, the chiefs of various states will be asked to provide a status report on the CFA and how have the states utilised the money. The ministry is also mulling setting up a team of engineers and archaeologists who will carry out an on-ground reality check of the projects for which the assistance was provided.
?States are provided assistance from the Centre for Development of Tourism circuits and destinations as per their demands. The total CFA of every plan runs in to hundreds of crore of rupees. However, there is no mechanism to monitor the projects for which the assistance was provided,? said the source.
During the tenth five-year plan, the ministry provided a total of Rs 2011.16 crore for 1,160 projects. However, during the eleventh five year plan, the sum went down to Rs 1553.07 crore for 514 projects. On these, the states of Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh got the maximum assistance. While Sikkim was at the top of the heap with Rs 131.12 crore, J&K got Rs 106.78 crore and Andhra Pradesh received Rs 126.10 crore. ?While states use a part of the funding for the development or the restoration, rest of the money is not accounted for,? added the source. During the tenth plan, Jammu and Kashmir was again give the maximum funds of Rs 140 crore while Kerala and Tamil Nadu were the second and the third spot with assistance of Rs 138 crore and Rs 103 crore, respectively.
Though there is no financial data to substitute the claim, but West Bengal and Goa are said to be lagging behind all the others in terms of adequate usage of funds for development. On the other hand, the states of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh are believed to have a lead in terms of building of tourism infrastructure. According to the set norms, the ministry provides an assistance of Rs 5 crore for development of a tourism destination and Rs 25 crore for a mega destination. Similarly, a CFA of Rs 8 crore was provided for a tourism circuit while development of a mega tourism circuit invited an assistance of Rs 50 crore.
So far, the states used to send proposals to the ministry for funding for a particular tourism destination or circuit. After their proposals were passed they would be allotted the money.
