Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Mar 14: National Conference president and Member of Parliament from Srinagar Dr Farooq Abdullah on Monday sought rationalization of airfare to all domestic tourist destinations in the country including Kashmir.
Escalation of airfare dampens the plans of those countrymen who can ill-afford to pay hefty amounts of pleasure trips across the country. “People across the country cannot afford to visit domestic destinations due to skyrocketing airfare. There, it is imperative for the Government to rationalize the airfare, so that country men can visit these domestic destinations, particularly Kashmir,” he said.
He also urged the Ministry of Tourism to consider reducing charges on allied tourism activities including passes, boarding, lodging and food. Dr Farooq also impressed upon the concerned Ministry to resume direct flights from Kashmir to Sharjah as well.
Replying to the issues flagged by Dr Farooq, Minister Tourism G Kishan Reddy said that Government of India has given a thought to this issue. He said the Tourism department doles out subsidies to the Civil Aviation Ministry under Udaan scheme to ensure that underprivileged people are able to board aeroplanes and visit tourist destinations. He also enumerated various steps taken by his ministry to ease the visa issuance for tourism purposes.
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