The State government will no longer extend random sponsorships to non-governmental programs to promote tourism in the State, national and international level as each proposal will now be scrutinised by two committees.
According to State officials, the Maharashtra tourism policy 2016 has already been approved and various schemes are being implemented accordingly.
“Various private entities organise events like exhibitions, conclaves, seminars and sports tournaments. They approach the State government for sponsorship and till now there was no full-proof system to take decision on this,” an official said.
The State government has sanctioned annual funds of ₹12 crore for this move.
As per the State Cabinet decision, the process to extend sponsorship has now been streamlined and will be extended only after the scrutiny of the two committees.
A sub-committee to be headed by the Managing Director of Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) will have the task of scrutinising the project first. This committee will mostly consist of officials from the State publicity and tourism department, with representatives of the organisation that wishes to arrange the program.
After receiving clearance, the proposal will be sent to a high-level committee which will comprise of officials from tourism, finance, planning, home, industry, cultural and State publicity department. “This committee will be tasked with checking whether the proposed program has received all necessary permissions, its reach and whether the sponsorship to be offered is legitimate. Government sponsorship will be extended only after the high-level committee clears the proposal,” an official said.
‘Looks bureaucratic’
The official said that the the process may look bureaucratic but it is much-needed. “Earlier, an individual used to contact the tourism secretary or the minister for sponsorship and based on only what that person presented, the decision used to be taken. This process had to be changed. It is government money that we are spending and we need deeper scrutiny,” said the official.