Bhubaneswar, Dec 10: The Odisha government has been “re-looking” into some of the provisions in the guidelines for regulation of visit of foreign tourists to areas inhabited and frequented by Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) such as Bondas, Dongaria Kandhas and other such communities.
State Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda said this a reply to a question in the Assembly on Wednesday that the guideline on the tours of foreign tourists to tribal areas is not meant to restrict them, rather to regulate their visits.
Asserting that the number of tourist to state has increased, Panda rejecting allegations that the tourism department’s guidelines lead to decline in foreign tourist flow.
He said 64,719 foreign tourists visited the state in 2012 while the number increased to 66,675 in 2013 and 71,426 in 2014.
The state government has been trying to augment infrastructural facilities in tribal dominated tourist places, the minister said and added a committee headed by the home secretary has held two meetings to re-look the guidelines.
Senior officials of Odisha Police’s intelligence wing, tourism department, scheduled tribe and scheduled caste welfare department are members of the committee, which will take a final decision on possible changes in the guidelines.
The state government on July 26, 2013 implemented a guideline to regulate the movement of foreign tourists in tribal dominated areas in view of a case in the National Human Rights Commission.
