New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) Most of the mortheastern states are 'not geared up for tourism' even as the region does not have a single five-star hotel, a parliamentary panel said Wednesday, lamenting that a central scheme aimed at ramping up infrastructure had achieved little in three years.
'Most of the states are not geared up for conventional tourism in respect to accommodation, affordable hotels and guest houses. There is no five star hotel in the region till date,' said the report of the parliamentary standing committee on the development of tourism in northeastern region. Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India-Marxist heads the panel.
The committee observed in the report: 'The government launched a scheme for capital subsidy of 30 percent on hotels in April 2008 for a period of five years. The scheme has not been successful in achieving the desired results.'
The report, tabled in both houses of parliament Wednesday, recommended the tourism ministry offer new initiatives on accommodation in the region.
'The ministry should impress upon state governments to offer new initiatives for the creation of quality accommodation for visiting tourists. Central assistance may be extended for achieving this goal,' the report said.
While many projects were taken up to upgrade tourism facilities, many of them are yet to be completed.
'A number of projects have been taken up for developing tourist circuits and other such projects. However, the committee finds that some of the projects were taken up long back and are yet to be completed.'
The northeast region comprises the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.