Home-stays and guest houses have mushroomed in different parts of Meghalaya. Sohra and its surrounding areas, the favourite destinations of tourists are feeling the pinch after the Inner Line Permit (ILP) protests and indiscriminate checking by vigilante groups at Byrnihat. No self-respecting tourist wants to be inspected and asked unnecessary questions by non-state actors. The home-stay and guest house owners are a worried lot; some having taken loans to build their new setups.
At Nongriat, the location of the famous Double Decker Living Root Bridge, domestic tourists have dwindled considerably. There are a few foreign tourists that stay a couple of days to do the difficult treks. At one time domestic tourists thronged the place. Petty shopkeepers report low sales in these tourist destinations. Many of them live from hand to mouth. Tourism is an industry that employs people for different trades. There are tour guides, porters, shop owners, boat/canoe rowers; people running the zip-lining facilities and a host of other ancillary services. But they all operate independently and have no association of any kind to voice their grievances against any policy that hits at their livelihoods. Indeed there is no single, powerful platform that is inclusive and accommodates the voices of the large number of small home-stay owners and other stakeholders in tourism, other than the big hoteliers. In fact, tourism in Meghalaya is a largely disorganized sector with everyone doing virtually what they please.
The Government too has chosen to ignore these small entrepreneurs by going along with the ILP demand without looking at the big picture. A weak-kneed Government panders to populist demands without taking a stand for what it believes is the right thing to do. A Government is elected to govern. Governance requires both experience and the courage of conviction. It stands up for what it believes is right for the larger public good and will not pander to populist demands. The diminishing returns of clamouring for the ILP are already being felt by a vital section of Meghalaya’s economy – tourism. Does the Government have the wherewithal to employ all those who are presently engaged in tourism? The answer is a resounding “No.” So does the Government have the right to kill the enterprise of the small tour promoters? In fact, if ILP is implemented in Meghalaya, this Government will go down as the most spineless, visionless and dispirited government that Meghalaya has ever had. Ultimately, those elected to govern have to choose between bowing down to political expedience or working in the larger interests of Meghalaya and its people.
