Team Herald
PANJIM: After tourism stakeholders and NGOs criticizing the draft Tourism Master Plan 2018, the issue has taken a political turn with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) singing the same tune.
The party accused the Tourism Department of not inviting citizens while drafting the plan, as the present Module IV is not in the interest of the State or its people. AAP leader on environment, Sidhart Karapurkar, criticised the government for paying a whopping amount to the consultant ‘to prepare this piece of paper, without even involving the people who are the main stakeholders’.
“It’s a norm with the government to get consultants and pay whopping amounts in crores and then to ‘misgovern’ on the basis of what these outsiders say, without hearing the voice of the people. Everyone knows that cost is indicated on the back cover or inner cover of any book. But here, the cost of this draft book is kept ‘under cover’ for obvious reasons. Those at the helm in the Government as well as the consultants are happy with the success of the first part,” he alleged addressing the media after the AAP Goa volunteers protested at the department against the draft.
AAP has petitioned Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and Director Tourism Sanjiv Gadkar (holding the additional charge) opposing the plan and demanding that it be drawn afresh by bringing it before the people. “For AAP Goa, it is an attack on the concept of Swaraj as it disregards the existence of local indigenous Goans, and has only kept the interests of the rich businessmen of non-Goan origin in mind, allowing them privileges to further destroy agricultural and ecologically-sensitive land, and cause irreversible damage to the culture, heritage and natural beauty of Goa,” Karapurkar said.
A similar demand has been made by Centre for Responsible Tourism to scrap the draft plan.
and prepare a fresh one by involving local people, experts and stakeholders.
