Tourist Police

Tourism is well established industry all over the world. Advanced countries have introduced many novel methods in this industry to make tourism very attractive for the tourists. Some countries like Switzerland and Spain have developed tourism so perfect as to make it a big source of their economy. The idea behind these developed countries in promoting tourism is to make their culture, history, connectivity etc. saleable and accessible. Of course, there is the private enterprise sector in their tourism but it is controlled by the Government in a manner that it has become complimentary to the Government’s policy.
The first bane of our State tourist industry is that it is essentially Kashmir valley centric on the supposition that there are many natural tourist destinations in the valley and its mountains. This is not an absolute truth. No tourist destination in any part of the world is attractive and beautiful unless it is given the touch of beauty and attraction by human hand. Tourism is a sophisticated industry where you have to give more than what you receive. Jammu and Ladakh regions have always been consigned to the backburner in the context of tourist industry.
Thirty-eight years ago in the year 1978, State Tourism Department was provided with Tourist Police force of about 107 policemen. In the first place, what was the need of creating police force for Tourism Department? Ordinarily, there are tourist guides for every Tourism Department and these guides could be from various activity branches like hikers, mountaineers, rafters, tour programmers, gondola and rope walkers, horse riders, bird watchers etc. These are activities in which tourists evince interest and they ask for guides. We are told that Tourist Police is to prevent crimes against tourists cheating, stealing, misleading, harassing etc. Are not the police dealing with incidents like these on their own? What then is the need of creating a police force for the tourists? The number of tourists of all sorts like pilgrimage tourists, hikers, sight- seeing tourists and pleasure-tourists runs into hundreds of thousands. What duty will a group of 107 police personnel render to such a huge number of tourists?
Anyway, the point that we like to make is that 38 years down the line, nobody knows in the State that there is a force by such name and that it has some duty assigned to it. This force has never made itself felt and seen. What is the use of the force when for thirty-eight years it has neither been seen nor has rendered any service that will be called contribution to tourist industry?
Once force was created, what should have been the follow up action has never been taken. In the first place, the police personnel were recruited for specific duty in the Tourism Department. Common sense says that they should have been given elementary training in the duty they are required to perform. Obviously, the duty is to protect the tourists from fleecing, harassing and misleading. They are not enjoined upon to undertake any sort of physical action against misdoing persons. Therefore, they should have been trained in the profession. Secondly, the force should have been provided with necessary equipment especially vehicles to make it mobile. There are two vehicles with the entire force out of which one vehicle is used by the SSP and the other by the SHO. How on earth is the force expected to look to the complaints of the tourists who are spread over a vast area from Gulmarg to Pahalgam to Aharbal. It is physically impossible to mount surveillance on this vast area in absence of vehicles. Thirdly, the force has no quarter where it would sit and establish its office. It is a force invisible to everybody including the administration. What purpose does it serve except that salary is paid to 107 persons regularly?
In this background a revision of the duties assigned to the force, its logistical support, training, mobility and performance are to be redrawn and made functional. The Department of Tourism should address the issue and make the force fully functional. Nobody is aware about its attendance and whereabouts. Who knows some of them might have been put to personal services in the households of the officers while paid from the public exchequer. Therefore, the Tourism Department has to act now and account for the duty this force is expected to render.  It is important that a branch of the Tourist Police force is opened in Jammu region especially when we know that millions of pilgrim tourist visit parts of Jammu each year.

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