The Union tourism ministry has directed all states and Union Territories to implement the Tourist Police scheme, especially in places with high tourist footfalls, within the ongoing financial year.
States that have already rolled out the scheme have been instructed to scale up the schemes reach to cover more areas frequented by tourists, while those who are yet to start were given a lowdown this month on the best practices followed by states like Rajasthan, who have implemented the Tourist Police scheme successfully.
At presentAndhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa,Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra,Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh have deployed tourist police in one form or another.
The Tourist Police scheme, meant to make a tourists experience in the country more hassle free, secure and seamless, was rolled out in 25 tourist destinations as a pilot project in 2019, but could not be implemented across the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic.