Chandigarh’s Tourism Department is Failing its City, Concludes Audit

According to the final report shared by the principal director of audit, Chandigarh, the tourism department of the city has been doing an underwhelming job at “developing a detailed action plan and implementing effective governance to promote tourism in the city”. Though the government claims that it is creating a tourism policy for the Union Territory, nothing has been finalised as of now.

The Audit States

According to the report, the audit perused the records of the tourism department from the year 2018 to 2023. The report pointed out that the department did have a 20-year Perspective Plan for Sustainable Tourism Development in Chandigarh, which was started in 2003 and involved various domains and activities. However, not much was done about it. The report stated, “Considering that tourism is impacted by multiple sectoral policies, it requires a whole-of-government approach. Furthermore, as per the implementation plan and key performance indicators, a detailed action plan and performance indicators in line with the vision, mission and goals of the policy and various strategic pillars should be prepared. The plan and performance indicators should be finalised within the stipulated time to create a baseline for measuring the performance of the policy’s implementation.”

With Chandigarh being one of the most loved tourist destinations for international travellers, it comes as a surprise that the Union Territory does not have a proper action plan in place. There are also no guidelines for granting permission to organsations and private bodies to hold tourism-related events in the area. Another pointer in the audit highlighted that around ₹9.5 crore worth of funds have been blocked for seven years because a convention centre at the Hotel Parkview in Sector 24, funded by CITCO, was never constructed. “Ultimately, the amount remained idle in CITCO’s account for more than 6.5 years. In February 2024, the amount was refunded with interest to the tourism director. However, the amount has not yet been deposited in the treasury by the tourism department, resulting in blockade of ₹9.5 crore for more than seven years due to non-execution of the project.”