Gangtok:11th Jan: Tourism Deptt, Govt of Sikkim, has refuted allegations regarding Tourism Sustainable Development Fund (TSD) being diverted to a pvt agency. To begin with the service provider agency was engaged after due procedure.
Tourism Deptt authorities have urged ‘stakeholders and public to rely on verified facts.’
Diversion of 40%of fund to pvt company is incorrect and misleading .The said fund is directly deposited into Govt revenue head-1452/-800,other receipts. They have reiterated their accountability, commitment to transparency and sustainable development.
Reacting to statements of Komal Chamling SDF,(without mentioning any name), Tourism Department has clarified,that since starting of the TSD Rs 9.98 Lakhs have been collected from 19969 tourists,out of it 8.86 Lakhs have been credited to the Deptt.The rest of amount is pending deposit by concerned hotels etc.
About any trouble to tourists,Deptt has said Rs 50 per tourist is modest.
Further,Tourism Deptt authorities said ,the concerns raised regarding the fund and Atithi GIS/ App they would like to put on record that the TSD Fund is being collected under the Sikkim Registration of Tourism Act 2024.And it’s for promoting sustainable tourism, infrastructure, improve visitor management and more.
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