Six nations issued travel restrictions to Assam over law and order situation: Minister
Guwahati, Mar 25 (PTI): Six countries, including the USA, UK, Australia and Switzerland, have issued travel restrictions for their citizens against visiting Assam and the rest of the Northeast over the law and order situation in the region, Assam Tourism Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass informed the assembly on Tuesday.
Dass was replying to a query from Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed.
The countries that have issued the restrictions are the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada and Switzerland.
The restrictions are for Assam as well as other northeastern states citing the law and order situation, he said.
Dass said the Tourism Department, on behalf of the state government, is in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs to persuade these countries to lift these restrictions.
"A high-level team from Australia had recently visited Assam to look into this aspect," the minister added.
He further said the number of tourists visiting the state in the 2022-23 fiscal was 98,31,141, which had dropped to 70,67,335 in 2023-24 and was at 67,88,565 in 2024-25 (till January).
On the promotion of tea tourism, Dass said the 'Promotion and Development of Tea Tourism Infrastructure in Assam' scheme was taken up by the state government in 2022-23.
Under the scheme, selected tea gardens will receive Rs 2 crore grant for the development of tourism potential and heritage bungalows.
A total of 22 tea gardens were selected in the first phase and another 34 in the second phase under the scheme, the minister added.
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Will vacate one of two assembly seats won in 10 days: BJP''s Suvendu
Kolkata (PTI): BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur and secured Nandigram for three times in a row in the recent assembly polls, said on Wednesday that he would vacate one of the two constituencies within 10 days.
Adhikari also asserted that the party's central leadership would decide which constituency he would retain.
"I will vacate one seat within 10 days. The party will decide which one I retain. I will not forget my responsibility towards the people of Bhabanipur and Nandigram," he said.
Adhikari on Monday defeated Banerjee in Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes, puncturing what was long seen as her safest political refuge and delivering a decisive psychological blow to the TMC, amid a sweeping BJP surge across West Bengal.
Addressing party workers and supporters in Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP leader appealed to them not to take out victory processions immediately and instead maintain peace.
"Do not take out victory rallies now. Maintain peace and discipline. Celebrate after May 9, after taking permission," he told party workers.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Wednesday announced that the oath-taking ceremony of the new government will be held on May 9 at Brigade Parade Ground.
Referring to alleged attacks on BJP workers during the TMC regime, Adhikari said he would not forget the “atrocities" faced by them and assured them of taking appropriate action against perpetrators through legal processes.
"I was part of the 2011 ‘poribartan’ (change), and now I am part of the real change. I offer my gratitude to the people of Nandigram," Adhikari said.
He was referring to the TMC's victory in 2011 when the Mamata Banerjee party dismantled the 34-year Left Front regime in the state.
Adhikari offered prayers at a Hanuman statue in Nandigram and remembered the BJP workers, who had died in political violence.
"We will work in such a way that the BJP government in Bengal stays for 100 years," he said, expressing hope that the BJP’s vote share in the state would rise from the current 46 per cent to 60 per cent in future elections.
The BJP leader also assured residents of Nandigram of improved drinking water supply and better hospital and education infrastructure.
