Bhubaneswar: The state Tourism department seems to have become an experiment ground for the bureaucrats and the state government as frequent changes of its leadership is baffling the whole department and affecting its performance.
Information sought from the department through an RTI application filed by this correspondent reveals that most of its secretaries and directors have not served even for one year and frequent transfers and bureaucratic rejig have made the neglected department a ground for experiments.
This comes at a time when many tourism projects like Dhauli ropeway (announced in 2015) and others are hanging in balance for long and failing to see light of the day. Meanwhile, the state government keeps on changing its directors and secretaries involved in decision making and executing the ideas and making blueprints for its development.
Not only this, there are many secretaries and directors who has been holding the tourism portfolio as an additional charge and bigger departments are reported to keep them busy in their works while their attendance and attention in the department remain abysmal, sources in the state tourism department claimed.
According to the response of the department in an RTI reply, it accepts that some bureaucrats served even less than 3 months. For example LN Gupta becomes the Tourism Secretary between 19.08.2015 to 18.11.2015 and served only for three months. Similar was the fate of Arti Ahuja who served the department for only eight months 1.12.2016 to 17.07.2017 or Mona Sharma who led the department from 20.07.2017 to 06.05.2018 and served for 10 months.
Not only secretaries, it continued for the tourism directors too. Take the case of Anil Samal who joined and served the department for only five months from June 2015-November 2015. Another IAS officer Archana Patnaik served only for 3 months between September 2018 and December 2018. Many others also continued to join the league as the state government continued to transfer IAS officials from the department on a frequent basis while it continued to suffer.