Safety and security of tourists is essentially a State Government subject. However, Ministry of Tourism is well aware of the security concern of the tourists and has taken all possible measures to provide a safe and secure atmosphere for the tourists.
In the past, Ministry of Tourism has taken up the matter with all the State Govts/Union Territory (UT) Admins. and has reiterated the aspect of providing a safe and secure environment to tourists. In case any such untoward incident occurs against a tourist, there should be a robust system of law & order to handle the situation and provide a satisfactory solution to the affected tourists.
With the efforts of Ministry of Tourism, the State Governments/UT Administrations of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh have deployed tourist police in one form or the other.
Ministry of Tourism got a study conducted by Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management (IITTM), an autonomous institute under its control, to understand the requirement of tourist police and sensitizing the tourist police so created towards the needs of the tourists. Ministry of Tourism forwarded a copy of this Study report titled “Functioning of Tourist Police in States/UTs & Documentation of Best Practices” to all the State Govts/UT Admn. with the request to create a separate unit of police in the respective States/UTs and also to sensitize them about the needs of the tourists.
Ministry of Tourism has been seeking support of the Ministry of Home Affairs for taking up the matter with the State Governments.
To develop a comprehensive framework, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) commissioned a study on Tourist Police Scheme. Ministry of Tourism has organised a National Conference of DGs/IGs of Police Department of the State/UT Administration on 19th October, 2022 at New Delhi to implement the uniform Tourist Police Scheme at pan India level.
The Ministry of Tourism has set up a 24×7 Multi-Lingual Tourist Info-Helpline on the toll free number 1800111363 or on a short code 1363 in 12 Languages including 10 international languages (German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic), Hindi English for domestic and foreign tourists to provide support service in term of information relating to Travel in India and to offer appropriate guidance to tourists in distress while travelling in India.
The Ministry of Tourism along with all stakeholders, including the Tourism Departments of all States and UTs, have adopted the ‘Code of Conduct for Safe & Honourable Tourism’ which is a set of guidelines to encourage tourism activities to be undertaken with respect for basic right like dignity, safety and freedom from exploitation of both tourists and local residents in particular, women and children.
This information was given by Minister of Tourism Shri G. Kishan Reddy in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
