Aviation, tourism to get ministerial interface

The government has decided to set up an inter-ministerial group to facilitate better co-ordination between the tourism and civil aviation ministries.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting between Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury today.

At the meeting, Chowdhury said the air capacity at key destinations was a major limiting factor for the development of tourism, according to sources.

It was also pointed out that there was an immediate need to upgrade about 22 airports in the country to provide better travel facilities to tourists.

Chowdhury also pointed out that the facilities at Indian airports were hopelessly inadequate to meet the growing traffic. "We must facilitate travellers with faster immigration clearances and better connectivity to all cities across the country," she said.

According to Patel, the plan of the the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to upgrade non-metro airports will be set in motion early next year. The minister said he expected this Rs 5,000-crore project to be completed by December 2006.

The airports marked for upgradation include Khajuraho, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Dehra Dun, Bhubaneswar and Thiruvananthapuram among others. The tourism ministry plans to develop these 20 cities as tourist hubs.

It was also proposed that the government should take steps to introduce services at key airports to enable transit passengers to obtain transit visas to visit key tourist destinations.

Moreover, the two ministries are considering introducing a new passenger service, Swagat Seva. As a part of this, passengers will be provided with escorts, who will accompany them right from the time they arrive at the airport till they are ready to board their aircraft.

These escorts will help passengers complete all security formalities like baggage screening, checking-in, immigration clearance etc.

Officials of the AAI and the Central Industrial Security Force are now reportedly working out the details, so that the proposal can take shape. Similar services are available at most airports around the world.

The civil aviation ministry has also appointed V Subramanian, additional secretary and financial adviser in the ministry of civil aviation and tourism, as arbitrator.

He will look into all disputes between the AAI and the India Tourism Development Corporation, especially those relating to the rental of space by the tourism agency at airports.

A major dispute between the tourism ministry and the civil aviation ministry is over the former's refusal to pay commercial rents for the space it uses at international airports.

Besides duty-free shops, ITDC has been operating several counters and kiosks that provide services like taxi bookings and hotel reservations, apart from tourist information booths.

Working in tandem

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• About 22 airports in the country to be immediately upgraded to provide better travel facilities to tourists
• Transit visas to be provided at airports to allow tourists to visit key destinations
• The two ministries are considering introducing a new passenger service, Swagat Seva