SHILLONG: Meghalaya's Tourism Minister, Paul Lyngdoh, has reassured that the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the state will not deter tourists from visiting.
Lyngdoh offered Israel as an example to support his claim, highlighting that despite Israel's stringent visitor policies, the country's tourism sector is flourishing.
The minister stressed that in a similar fashion, the introduction of the much-sought ILP in Meghalaya would not negatively impact the state's tourism industry. He pointed out that Israel, despite being a challenging country for visitors to access, ranks among the world's top earners in terms of tourism revenue.
“Israel is a very difficult country to access by visitors, but looking at their tourism revenues it is among the top in the world,” said Lyngdoh.
Lyngdoh also went on to draw parallels between Israel's VISA system and the ILP system adopted in various Northeastern states, noting that Israel's VISA system is way more rigorous than the ILP system in some states.
“Their VISA system is more rigorous than the ILP in some of the states,” stated the Meghalaya tourism minister.
Earlier this month, Meghalaya's Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma, revealed that the state government is awaiting a response from the Centre regarding the assembly's resolution for ILP implementation in the state. Sangma emphasised that the state government has been consistently following up with the Union Home Ministry on the matter and is awaiting a response from the Narendra Modi-led BJP government.
“The state government has been consistently following it up with the union home ministry on the issue of ILP and the state is waiting for the response from the government of India on the matter,” CM Sangma said.
Recently, it is worth recalling that BJP national president JP Nadda appointed new presidents for the party’s units in Meghalaya, Puducherry, and Nagaland. An official order on the new appointees by the BJP’s national chief was issued by the party’s national general secretary and headquarters in-charge, Arun Singh. Benjamin Yepthomi has been appointed the party’s president in Nagaland, while Rikman Momin will take charge of the BJP’s Meghalaya unit. S. Selvaganabathy was appointed the party’s president in Puducherry. Yepthomi served as the BJP’s national vice president and was also the former state president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) for two consecutive terms.
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