Rijiju pleads Centre for relaxation of tourism policy for Arunachal

Itanagar, Jul 13 (UNI) Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh Kiren Rijiju has urged the Centre to exempt the state from certain restrictions to enable more domestic and international tourists to visit the Himalayan state.

In a letter to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, a copy of which was made available to the press, the BJP MP requested him to relax the criteria of entry of foreign tourists in a group of four.

The restrictions, made by the ministry of home affairs for foreigners and Indian nationals for entry into Arunachal Pradesh keeping in view the strategic nature and location of the state, have created a stumbling block for tourism development of the state, he pointed out. Since the Centre is determined to develop Arunachal by bringing it out of isolation and put into the stream of development through various conducive policies, tourism is one of the main focus area, which needs special attention, he added.

Presently less than four foreign tourists are not permitted to enter the state, he pointed out adding the ministry of home affairs should change this existing norm so that inflow of tourists increases.

Mr Rijiju further requested for increasing the number of days permissible for foreign tourists to stay in the state from existing ten to thirty, as the state was very large and a tourist required more time to spend.

Moreover, Deputy Resident Commissioner of the Arunachal Pradesh government, stationed at Guwahati and Kolkata, should be authorised to issue protected area permit for convenience of the tourists, he observed.

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