Category Archives: MOT

Calling tourist guides the backbone of tourism in India, Tapan Kumar Mishra, National Tourism Awardee for Best Tourist Guide (Odisha), says, “If taxi drivers are eligible for a monthly Covid allowance of Rs 5,000 by the Delhi government, why not tourist guides from the Ministry of Tourism? Kerala has provided one-time help of Rs 10,000 to 328 guides. Why is MoT asking them not to take up any other job without providing them any help during off-season or during a pandemic?”

Tourism Minister PS Patel has said that the focus of the Ministry of Tourism post-COVID will be on promoting offbeat destinations and activities such as eco-tourism, wellness retreats and mountaineering, among others. He also added, “India would like to offer to the world, post COVID-19, calm, peace and health through yoga, Ayurveda and other forms of traditional treatments and spiritual surroundings.”

Amid speculations about the increase in Travel Allowance (TA) of the central government employees after the central government’s announcement of the restoration of Dearness Allowance (DA) from the month of July, a report has clarified that according to 7th CPC matrix calculation rule, the TA will not rise despite the rise of DA as the current DA is not 25 per cent and above. As the existing DA of the central government employees is 17 per cent, TA hike from July is not going to be applicable.

According to a study done by the university using data from India and five other countries, using domestic travel bans to control COVID-19 infections may be inadvisable. It found that imposing travel bans can counter-intuitively increase the total spread of coronavirus disease, creating a ‘lose-lose situation’. The national lockdown in the first wave trapped millions of migrants inside big cities like Mumbai that were fast-growing coronavirus hotspots.

Both Kerala Travel Mart Society as well as Hotel Association of India (HAI) have requested the FM to customise the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 3.0 that has been extended to the industry. They have also requested to investigate the anomalies in the operational guidelines and FAQ released by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC), due to which, the scheme itself is being nullified.

Following the orders from the Centre, Tuhin Kanta Pandey (IAS 1987-Batch) has been assigned the additional charge of Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. Pandey will hold the additional charge from April 26, 2021 to May 13, 2021 i.e. during the period of absence on leave of Pradeep Singh Kharola (IAS 1985-Batch). At present, Pandey is serving as the Secretary, Department of Investment & Public Asset Management, Ministry of Finance.  

Speaking on during a webinar conducted by the MoT recently, Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism discussed the important of training programmes for students in the hospitality and service industry and how more and more students should be encouraged to participate in these programme in near future by the tourism industry.

Amid hospitals across the country scrambling for medical oxygen due to rising number of Covid-19 cases, an Air India flight brought 318 Philips oxygen concentrators from New York JFK Airport to New Delhi on Monday.  

Addressing a webinar ‘India’s Heritage: Powering Tourism’ organized by Ministry of Tourism on World Heritage Day, Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture, Prahlad Singh Patel, said “We have several ancient sites and temples but they have not received their due they deserve on the global platform. It is essential to bring together our pool of conservationists, archaeologists and historians who can throw light on our heritage on the world platform.”

In its ongoing effort to strengthen the hospitality and tourism industry, especially in these times of a pandemic, Ministry of Tourism has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Cleartrip and EaseMyTrip. The tourism ministry says that more such MoUs will follow in the near future.