Lok Sabha Question No. 3353 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-09
Subject: Steps Taken to Increase Employment in Tourism Sector
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: Balak Nath

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.†3353

## ANSWERED ON 09.08.2021

## STEPS TAKEN TO INCREASE EMPLOYMENT IN TOURISM SECTOR

†3353. SHRI BALAK NATH:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has any plan to compensate the loss caused to tourism sector due to corona pandemic;
- (b)
- if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government is taking any steps to increase the opportunities of employment in tourism sector; and
- (d)

## MINISTER OF TOURISM

- if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

(SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)

- (a) & (b): The  Government  of  India  has  announced  various  fiscal and regulatory relief measures to support the tourism sector from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The details of the same are given at Annexure.
- (c) & (d): The Ministry of Tourism has put in place the Scheme of 'Capacity Building for Service Providers' (CBSP) to provide education, training and certification to the tourism service providers at every level. The main objectives of this scheme are to train  and  up-grade  manpower  at  every  strata  of  service  and  to provide professional expertise to the local populace as well as to create employable capacity in the tourism sector both in urban and rural  areas.  Presently  the  programmes  being  conducted  under  the CBSP  Scheme  are  Hunar  Se  Rozgar  Tak  (HSRT),  Skill  Testing  & Certification (ST&C) for existing service providers, Tourism Adventure and Escort Courses, Linguistic Tourist Facilitators (LTF), Sensitization Programme/ Tourism Awareness Programme (for existing service providers) and entrepreneurship Programme.

Besides  the  above,  the  Ministry  has  launched  destination based capacity building programme so that tourism service providers  can  take  the  courses  without  having  to  travel  to  far  off cities where the institutes are usually located and in turn ensuring that the sector is no longer serviced by untrained hands.

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## ANNEXURE

STATEMENT  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  and  (b)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  3353 ANSWERED  ON  09.08.2021 REGARDING STEPS TAKEN TO INCREASE EMPLOYMENT IN

TOURISM SECTOR.

FISCAL AND RELIEF MEASURES ANNOUNCED BY THE GOVERNMENT TO SUPPORT THE TOURISM SECTOR AFFECTED BY

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The following are the various fiscal and relief measures announced by  the  Government  which  are  expected  to  benefit  the  Tourism Industry:

- (i) The Government announced Atmanirbhar Bharat Package vide which Rs.3 lakh crore collateral free automatic loan has been made available for MSMEs. The loan will have 4- year tenure and 12-month moratorium.
- (ii) The Government waived off PF contribution for three months for  organisations  with  less  than  100  pax  and  90%  of  their employees earn below Rs.15000.
- (iii) Under  Atmanirbhar  Bharat  package,  PF  contribution  of  both employer and employee has been reduced to 10% each from existing 12% each for all establishments covered by EPFO for three months
- (iv) Deferment of TCS up to October 2020.
- (v) Return filing deferred for three months with no penal interest for companies up to Rs.5 Crore, rest @ 9% penal interest.
- (vi) The Central government also gave relief from various regulatory compliances under Income Tax Act, companies Act and GST Act for varying period in the wake of COVID-19 crisis to ensure business continuity and survival.
- (vii) The RBI extended moratorium on term loans till 31st December 2020.
- (viii)  Suitable  provision  for  funds  for  implementing  the  Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) for services rendered in FY 2019-20 has now been made by the Ministry of Finance.
- (ix) The Government of India has launched Emergency Credit Line Guarantee  Scheme  (ECLGS)  to  support  eligible  Micro,  Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and business enterprises in
- meeting their operational liabilities and restarting their business.
- (x) The scope of the scheme has been enlarged with introduction of  ECLGS  3.0.  to  cover  business  enterprises  in  Hospitality, Travel & Tourism and Leisure & Sporting sectors. The scheme
- is valid till 31.03.2021.
- (xi) The  validity  of  ECLGS  (ECLGS  1.0,  ECLGS  2.0  &  ECLGS  3.0) have been extended upto 30.06.2021 or till guarantees for an amount of Rs. 3 lakh crore are issued. Last date of disbursement under the scheme has been extended to 30.09.2021.
- (xii) The  Reserve  Bank  of  India  has  announced  On-Tap  Liquidity Window  for  Contact-Intensive  sectors:  A  separate  liquidity window of Rs. 15,000 Crore is being opened till March 31, 2022 with  tenures  up  to  three  years,  at  the  repo  rate.  Under  this scheme,  Banks  can  give  fresh  lending  support  to  hotels, restaurants,  travel  agents,  tour  operators,  aviation  ancillary services  and  other  services  including  private  bus  operators, rent-a-car service providers, event organizers, spa clinics etc.
- (xiii)  Financial  support  to  more  than  11,000  registered  Tourist Guides / Travel and Tourism Stakeholders. Under the new Loan Guarantee Scheme for Covid Affected Sectors, working capital / personal loans will be provided to people in tourism sector to discharge  liabilities  and  restart  after  being  impacted  due  to COVID-19.  The  scheme  will  cover  10,700  Regional  Level Tourist  Guides  recognised  by  the  Ministry  of  Tourism  and Tourist  Guides  recognised  by  the  State  Governments  and Travel  and  Tourism  Stakeholders  (TTS)  recognized  by  the Ministry of Tourism. TTS's will be eligible to get a loan upto Rs. 10 lakh each while tourist guides can avail loan upto Rs 1 lakh of foreclosure  /  prepayment  charges  and  no  requirement  of the
- each. There will be no processing charges, waiver additional collateral. Scheme  to  be administered by Ministry of Tourism through NCGTC.
- (xiv)  Free  Tourist  Visa  to  5  Lakh:  As  per  the  announcement,  once Visa issuance is restarted, the first 5 lakh Tourists Visas will be issued free of charge. The benefit of free of charge visa will be available only once per tourist  during the issuance of the first 5 lakh tourist visas (free of charge visas). The scheme will be  applicable  till  31st  March  2022  or  till  5,00,000  visas  are issued, whichever is earlier.
- (xv) Ministry  of  Finance  has  given  concurrence  to  release  SEIS scrips  on  16.06.2021.  Earlier,  several  Industry  stakeholders had flagged appeals to the government to release SEIS Scrips for  2019-20  and  DGFT  had  put  a  detailed  proposal  for  the allocation for SEIS for exports made during 2019-20. Taking all circumstances  into  account,  the  Department  of  Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has given concurrence to the proposal of Department of Commerce for continuation of SEIS for 2019-20 with  a  financial  allocation  of  Rs.2061  crores  subject  to  the condition that the amount will be provided through Expenditure  Budget  following  the  procedure  of  providing  a New Minor Head.
- (xvi)  Vide notification  dated  26th  April  2021,  'Exhibition  cumConvention  Centre'  has  been  included  in  the  Harmonized Master List of Infrastructure Sub-sectors by insertion of a new item in the category of 'Social and Commercial Infrastructure ' , with a footnote defining Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre.
- (xvii)The  Ministry  has  been  in  regular  touch  with  the  industry stakeholders through several rounds of discussions and brainstorming sessions and examined their suggestions carefully.  All  such  proposals  have  been  taken  up  with  the concerned Ministries and Departments of Government of India. Similarly, the issues pertaining to the relief measures expected from the States/UTs have been pursued with them at the highest level.
- (xviii)Operational Recommendations for safe resumption of business with  easing  of  lockdown  restrictions  have  been  issued  for various  segments  of  the  travel  and  hospitality  industry  and circulated amongst all stakeholders.
- (xix)  With a view to prepare for a post-COVID 19 revival, the Ministry has formulated and issued detailed operational guidelines for Covid safety and hygiene for hotels, restaurants, B&Bs/Home stays and Tourism Service Providers on 08.06.2020 to facilitate smooth resumption of business.
- (xx)  An initiative called SAATHI (System for Assessment, Awareness  &  Training  for  Hospitality Industry)  has  been developed,  for  effective  implementation  of  Guidelines/SOPs issued with reference to COVID-19  and  beyond  for  safe operations of Hotels, restaurants, B&Bs and other units.
- (xxi)  Further, the Ministry of Tourism has issued modified guidelines for Recognition of Tourism Service Providers dated 08.12.2020
- which  are  effective  from  January,  2021.  As  per  the  modified guidelines,  Category  of  Greenshoot  /  Start-up-  Agencies  is being introduced for the first time. This is in keeping with the policy of the Govt. of India for encouraging Start-Ups and will
- also further the cause of 'Atmanirbhar India'.
- (xxii)With an aim to incentivize stakeholders in the Tourism industry, the Guidelines for the Scheme of Market Development Assistance (MDA) for providing financial support to  stakeholders  for  the  promotion  of  Domestic  Tourism  have been modified to enhance the scope and reach of the scheme, so  as  to  provide  maximum  benefits  to  the  stakeholders. Additional promotional activities have been incorporated including  online  promotions  and  and  the  extent  of  financial assistance permissible has been enhanced.
- (xxiii)Recognising the fact that revival in the tourism sector will be largely spearheaded by Domestic tourism, the Ministry initiated  arranging  a  series  of  webinars  under  the  overall theme  of  Dekho  Apna  Desh.  The  objective  is  to  generate awareness  and  at  the  same  time  sustain  interest  amongst stakeholders, students and the general public.
- (xxiv)Validity of approval  or  certifications  of  hotels  and  other accommodation units whose project approval/re-approval and classification/re-classification have expired/were likely to expire, has been extended upto 30th September, 2021.
- (xxv)Recognition of Travel Agents, Tour Operators, Tourist Transport  Operators  by  the  Ministry  of  Tourism  has  been extended  automatically by six  months.  Those  who  have submitted  applications  for  recognition  by  the  Ministry  have been  given  provisional  recognition  for  six  months,  pending completion of required procedures.
- (xxvi)The  Guidelines  of  the  Marketing  Development  Assistance Programme under the Overseas Promotion and Publicity Scheme has been modified to enhance the scope and reach of the  scheme,  so  as  to  provide  maximum  benefits  to  the stakeholders in the tourism industry.

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