Tasked with developing a detailed action plan and implementing effective governance to promote tourism in the city, the Chandigarh tourism department failed to do its job, the principal director of audit, Chandigarh, has pointed out in a report. Also, although the UT tourism department is in the process of preparing a tourism policy, it has not yet been finalised. Following perusal of the department’s records from 2018 to 2023, the audit detailed that according to the 20-year Perspective Plan for Sustainable Tourism Development in Chandigarh (2003), tourism was a complex domain that covered a wide range of activities spread across several ministries and involved state governments, local governments and the private sector.
“Considering that tourism is impacted by multiple sectoral policies, it requires a whole-of-government approach. Furthermore, as per the implementation plan and key performance indicators, a detailed action plan and performance indicators in line with the vision, mission and goals of the policy and various strategic pillars should be prepared. The plan and performance indicators should be finalised within the stipulated time to create a baseline for measuring the performance of the policy’s implementation,” the report stated.
But no detailed action plan or baseline was prepared by the department. It was also observed that no rules or guidelines were framed for issuing permission to organisations, private bodies or others for tourism-related events in the city. Prominent tourist destinations in Chandigarh include the Capitol Complex in Sector 1, Rock Garden, Sukhna Lake, Bird Park, Indian Air Force Heritage Centre and Government Museum and Art Gallery in Sector 10.
Every year, 30,000 international tourists and 1 lakh domestic tourists visit the City Beautiful. The audit also found that from 2018 to 2023, the tourism department released a grant of ₹ 27 crore to CITCO for salary expenses and compensation. A utilisation certificate was required to be submitted to the tourism director, but this was not done.
₹ 9.5 crore remained blocked due to non-execution of projects The audit also revealed that an amount of ₹ 9.5 crore remained blocked for seven years, as CITCO, given the money in 2017-18 to construct a convention centre on the premises of Hotel Parkview in Sector 24, never executed the project.
“Ultimately, the amount remained idle in CITCO’s account for more than 6.5 years. In February 2024, the amount was refunded with interest to the tourism director.
However, the amount has not yet been deposited in the treasury by the tourism department, resulting in blockade of ₹ 9.5 crore for more than seven years due to non-execution of the project,” said the audit report. Despite repeated attempts, Hargunjit Kaur, secretary of tourism, could not be contacted for comments.
RK Garg, who procured the report under the RTI Act, said even though the UT administration had assured that they were in the final stage of working out a mechanism to monitor the audit objections, nothing had been done..
