l Palace of Wheels-like fast trains to run between Goa, Mumbai l Exposition of St Francis relics to be a religious tourism draw; Pope Francis to be invited l Visa-on-arrivals for foreign travellers along with reduced fees for short-term stays?l Unutilised project funds to be
returned to Centre l Modi to preview fresh list of projects where land is not a bottleneck
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik announced a slew of measures to bolster tourism, including fast trains, on the lines of the Palace of Wheels, between Goa and Mumbai, promotion of the forthcoming exposition of the relics of St Francis Xavier as a religious tourism event, sending an invitation to Pope Francis through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), a cruise line terminal, e-visas and increasing scope of visa on arrivals.
The decennial exposition of the relics of St Xavier will be held from November to December 2014 at Old Goa.
Speaking to the media after a high-level task force meeting, the Union minister in the presence of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said that as part of the focus on promoting tourism in Goa, the Union Tourism Ministry intends to start fast trains between Goa and Mumbai. This would also sort out problems of scarcity of train tickets. The ministry will approach the Union Railway Ministry with the proposal.
“There is often a huge rush for train tickets. Many passengers fail to get tickets and this has been a major area of concern. This discourages tourists from visiting Goa,” he said.
Naik revealed that other projects pertaining to rural tourism, agro tourism and beach cleaning are also on the anvil for Goa.
Parrikar, who also attended the task force meeting, told mediapersons that the state will promote hinterland, heritage, medical, event and sports tourism as discussed in the State Budget 2001.
“We are currently facing a financial crunch but it will be solved in August-September,” Parrikar said.
Parrikar also indicated that the state government’s task force on tourism has decided to refund the central funds sanctioned for two projects –a convention centre and Goa Haath (exhibition facility) citing feasibility issues. The UPA had allocated an advance of Rs 4 crore each for setting up the two projects which did not take off. Instead, the state will ask for more funds for its other projects, the chief minister said
“We reviewed all the earlier grants sanctioned for tourism sector in Goa and decided that all those projects which were not feasible, the state government will refund the money so that our new projects can be funded,: he said.
The meeting also decided to resubmit fresh proposals for both the presently-deferred projects. The state is also expected to submit a list of fresh projects to Narendra Modi government by mid-July ‘where land is not a bottleneck.’
“I have issued directions to select only those projects which are easy to implement. Centre also has restrictions on releasing funds…by mid-July we will be able to list new projects where land is not a bottleneck. We are going for infrastructure projects where execution is easier,” he added.
The chief minister conceded that in several cases, state government failed to give utilization certificate to the ministry because of which funding had stopped. Parrikar also disclosed plans to double the number of tourists at Dudhsagar waterfall from its present strength of 1 lakh..
The meeting also discussed ways and means to increase flow of foreign tourists to India. For this the Union government is contemplating relaxing the visa policy by introducing e-visa facility and expanding the scope for visa-on-arrivals.
The Union minister said that these plans will help solve visa issues faced by the international tourists. He also went on to add that the tourism ministry will hold dialogues with the Union External Affairs Ministry to reduce the visa fee.
“Visa fees for short term travellers can be reduced. We also plan to introduce e-visa facility for foreign travellers to India. This will encourage more and more tourists to come to the country. We will approach the MEA on these proposals,” Shripad mentioned.
Explaining about the e-visa facility, he said that a traveller can apply for a visa from his home country. The application will be processed and the applicant will be sent the travel authorization document before s/he leaves the country.
“We intend to provide this facility to maximum countries,” Shripad said.
Meanwhile, Shripad while speaking in Kasarpal-Bicholim stated that he will focus on hinterland tourism and Goa will be his priority.
“We are in the process of chalking out plans so that tourism in Goa could get a boost. We will also focus on hinterland tourism, as the state has not just beaches but is also rich in culture,” Naik said.
