Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh on Thursday said the implementation of ILP or Meghalaya Residents, Safety and Security (Amendment) Bill, 2020 will have no impact on the tourism sector in the state.
Speaking to media persons, Lyngdoh said though there is a need to preserve and protect the rights of Indigenous people but that doesn’t mean to compromise with the interest of livelihood of the people who mainly depend on the tourism sector.
“Not at all…. You have to preserve and protect the rights of the Indigenous people to survive and to feel secure but that doesn’t mean that you compromise with the interest of livelihood, for which tourism is a major industry,” the Tourism Minister said.
Slamming Congress legislator Saleng Sangma, who questioned the state Government for spending too much on festivals without addressing the common issues of the public, Lyngdoh said there is a separate budget provision for the tourism department.
Dismissing the allegations from various sections that the government is spending too much on festivals without looking at core issues, he said, “The Government runs on a certain system, which is that we have budget allocations for different departments.”
“As tourism department we have a budget of our own that has been approved by the state Assembly, so we organise events and festivals based on the budget allocated to us, we have not borrowed anything from PWD or from Urban Affairs to support our event,” he added.
Stating that many departments may have their own shortcomings, the Minister claimed that the tourism sector has proved very vibrant for the economy of the state to survive and thrive.
“We cannot wait for all the roads to be the best in the world, for the health centre’s to be in perfect conditions then only we promote tourism. We are promoting tourism based on budget allocations meant for us, based on Externally Aided projects funded to us. It’s on the basis of funds available to us that we are organising these events,” Lyngdoh said.
He further informed that the state has been able to attract more foreign tourists, even compared to domestic tourists, and also the local visitors and Meghalaya has been recognised as the next tourism distinction by Outlook Magazine.
“It’s a huge achievement, considering that all along Meghalaya has not received such attention, today we have arrived,” the Tourism Minister added.