GUWAHATI, Nov 19 - The Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) Ltd has decided to group the tourism properties in clusters and lease them out. But the move has not gone down well among many as they feel the policy is loaded against the interest of local entrepreneurs.
According to the proposal prepared by the ATDC, the properties � hotels, tourist lodges, wayside amenities, motels, restaurants across the State have been bundled into some clusters based on predefined norms like �size, location, present performance�.
For example, the Prashanti Tourist Lodge of Tezpur has been clustered with the Prashanti Lodge at Orang and Wayside Amenity Centre at Dhekiajuli. The ATDC has proposed to select a private sector participant for developing the cluster of the three properties �to unlock their commercial value�.
It is for the first time that the clustering has been done. Earlier, one property was leased to one lessee.
The dice is also loaded against the local entrepreneurs when it comes to the financial and technical bids.
In the technical bid, the scoring criteria is such that a bidder having experience in running a five start category hotel will get 15 marks, while those having experience in 3/4 start hotels and 1/2 start category hotels will get 10 and 5 marks respectively. Those having experience in running more hotels will get more marks. Only those whose technical proposals score 70 points or more out of 100 will be eligible for evaluation of financial bid.
While the bid security is Rs 3 lakh, the developer will have to make an investment of Rs 30 lakh and the minimum rent for the cluster would be Rs 3 lakh.
Even for the bid document, one has to pay a non-refundable fee of Rs 25,000.
There are apprehensions that no local entrepreneur will be able to participate in the bids, given the criteria.
Opposition leader Debabrata Saikia said that the tourism was a local industry so far. �But this government wants to hand over the infrastructure to the corporate houses. Given the requirements as per the proposals, no local entrepreneur will be able to participate in the bids. This policy is against the interest of local youths. When the government should have chalked out a policy to engage more locals in the industry, it has instead prepared a blueprint to leave many youths who are already engaged in the properties jobless,� Saikia told The Assam Tribune.
Sources in the ATDC, however, said that the government wanted to develop the properties through �lease-cum-development� model to ensure the highest standards of service to the tourists and promotion of tourism in the State. �In order to make the properties commercially viable for strategic partners, they have been clustered. We need to unlock the commercial value of the properties and at the same time promote tourism by improving the infrastructure,� the sources said.
There are over 50 such lodges and hotels, most of them under local entrepreneurs who have employed five to over 10 local youths in each. The Tourism Department also has some employees in a few properties like the one at Tezpur Prashanti Lodge. The new policy to cluster the properties and lease them under the new guidelines has left a question mark over the future of these youths.