Madhya Pradesh govt to set up Tourism Board

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh government has decided to constitute MP Tourism Board for expansion of facilities at tourist spots and draw investment in the sector. "The state Tourism Cabinet has given its nod to a proposal for constitution of MP Tourism Board, which would be a non-profit company, to be registered under the Companies Act," a Public Relations department official said today. Last evening, a meeting of the state's Tourism Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was organised at Pachmarhi - a hill station in Satpura range of hills which is about 205 kms from Bhopal, he said.

The main functions of the board will be to perform all responsibilities mentioned under Tourism Policy-2016, like to draw private investment in tourism sector, investors' facilitation and avail grant and facilities for investors as per the policy, the official said. "The board would work to frame, execute and monitor new policies for inviting investors, increase land bank by selecting appropriate places for increasing tourism projects with the help of private investment," he said. The board will also develop a work plan for all tourism-related archaeological sites, wildlife places, caves with natural beauty, amusement and other parks, water reservoirs and also take measures for their supervision.

"The new body would be entrusted with the work to promote rural tourism through fairs, local dishes, culture, dress, handicrafts, to make necessary arrangements for eco-tourism etc," he said. "The Chief Minister would chair the board while tourism minister would be the deputy chairman. Chief Secretary and principal secretaries of finance, forests, urban development, environment and culture departments will be the directors," he said, adding that Principal Secretary (Tourism) will be its ex-officio member secretary and managing director. The work of tourism sector in the state would be distributed between the MP Tourism Board and Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (MPSTDC).

The activities of tourism promotion unit, planning, training, eco-tourism and adventure, creative and publicity activities, marketing, fairs and festivals, information technology etc, will be conducted by the Tourism Board. "On the other hand, hotels, restaurants, boat clubs, transportation crew etc will be run by MPSTDC," he said. In February last year, the Madhya Pradesh government had decided to constitute a separate Tourism Cabinet, which included ministers of different departments.