By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, July 18: Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh on Thursday said there is no question of banning or restricting Assam tourist vehicles from ferrying tourists to places across Meghalaya as demanded by the Local Tourist Taxi Association.
The government discussed the matter at a meeting which was attended by the officials of Tourism and Transport departments.
After the meeting, Lyngdoh told reporters that the government wants to facilitate better livelihood opportunities for the local taxi drivers.
He said the demand for tourist vehicles in the state has increased rapidly while the number of vehicles available has more or less remained stagnant.
“Rather than going for any ban, we have to look at how to regulate the system in a manner that our youth and those in the transport sector stand to gain,” Lyngdoh said.
He said in order to push the dialogue forward, the government will convene a meeting with all tourist taxi associations and tourist taxi drivers who are not a part of any association.
“We would like to ensure that any measure that we take does not have any negative repercussion as it is not only tourists from Assam traveling to Shillong but people from Meghalaya too travel to various parts of Assam,” the Minister said.
It was made clear that any system, which is devised, should not have any negative impact on the state’s tourism industry. The Transport department was asked to provide correct inputs on the number of vehicles engaged in tourism-related services.
Reiterating that there is no question of banning or restricting Assam vehicles, Lyngdoh said the transporters also have national permits or tourist permits for at least three states.
“This is a demand-driven economy and you cannot close all doors when even the demands are not being met by the operators for accommodation and transportation of tourists,” he said, adding that 18 lakh tourists have visited the state so far this year.
Asked about the Sikkim model where tourist vehicles from other states are restricted to a particular point and not allowed to move further with tourists, he said Assam is the entry point to Meghalaya and the airport and railway stations are located there.
“Are we in a position to risk the services that are being provided by transporters from Meghalaya? We have to act responsibly and fine-balance the emerging situation,” he added.
