Parliamentary panel pulls up govt. for failure to create Tourism Council

Parliamentary panel pulls up govt. for failure to create Tourism Council

Subject :Polity

• The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has urged the government to set up a National Tourism Council on the lines of the GST Council to make recommendations directly to the Union and the State governments.
• The Committee also asked about the steps taken by the Tourism Ministry with respect to its earlier recommendation of adding tourism to the Concurrent List under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
• According to the Committee, the inclusion of tourism in the Concurrent List will help address the challenges posed by the pandemic to the tourism sector since tourism is a multi-sectoral activity.
• The Committee also questioned why a few States have not yet accorded industry status to hospitality projects.
• At present, only eight States namely Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand have accorded industry status to hospitality
• The Committee further raised concerns over the progress achieved in projects such as the “Development at Hazratbal” in Jammu and Kashmir and “Infrastructure Development at Puri, Shree Jagannath Dham – Ramachandi – Prachi River front at Deuli under Mega Circuit” in Odisha which were sanctioned before 2017-18.

Parliamentary Committee

• A Parliamentary Committee is a panel of MPs that is appointed or elected by the House or nominated by the Speaker/Chairman.
• The committee works under the direction of the Speaker/chairman and it presents its report to the House or to the Speaker/chairman.
• Parliamentary Committees have their origins in the British Parliament.
• They draw their authority from Article 105 and Article 118.
  • Article 105 deals with the privileges of MPs.
  • Article 118 gives Parliament authority to make rules to regulate its procedure and conduct of business.
• India’s Parliament has multiple types of committees. They can be differentiated on the basis of their work, their membership and the length of their tenure.
• However, broadly there are two types of Parliamentary Committees– Standing Committees and Ad Hoc Committees.
• The Standing Committees are permanent (constituted every year or periodically) and work on a continuous basis.
• Standing Committees can be classified into the following six categories:
  • Financial Committees
  • Departmental Standing Committees
  • Committees to Enquire
  • Committees to Scrutinise and Control
  • Committees Relating to the Day-to-Day Business of the House
  • House-Keeping Committees or Service Committees
• While the Ad Hoc Committees are temporary and cease to exist on completion of the task assigned to them.
  • They are further subdivided into Inquiry Committees and Advisory Committees.
  • The principal Ad hoc Committees are the Select and Joint Committees on Bills.