The Ministry of Tourism has been continuously taking up the matter with all the State Governments and Union Territory (UT) administrations for setting up a dedicated Tourism Police, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said.
As a part of its endeavours to make travel for tourists safe and secure, the Ministry of Tourism has set up a round-the-clock Multi-Lingual Tourist Info-Helpline on the toll-free number or a short code 1363 in 12 languages, including 10 international languages (German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic), Hindi and English for domestic and foreign tourists to provide support service in terms of information relating to travel in India and to offer appropriate guidance to tourists in distress while travelling within India, the Minister said.
“With the efforts of the Ministry of Tourism, the State governments and UT administrations of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh deployed tourist police, in one form or the other,” Shekhawat said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Monday.