Safety and Security of tourists is essentially a State Government subject. However, the Ministry of Tourism has been continuously taking up the matter with all the State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations for setting up of dedicated Tourism Police to strengthen on-ground safety mechanism for tourists. With the efforts of Ministry of Tourism, the State Governments /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 have deployed tourist police, in one form or the other.

As a part of the Ministry’s continuous endeavors to make travel for tourists safe and secure, the Ministry of Tourism has set up a 24x7 Multi-Lingual Tourist Helpline on the toll free number 1800111363 or on 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 term of information relating to Travel in India and to offer appropriate guidance to tourists in distress, while travelling within India.

The Government has set up a dedicated non-lapsable corpus fund - Nirbhaya Fund, being administered by Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, which can be utilized for projects specifically designed to improve the safety and security of women.

Ministry of Tourism has been periodically requesting all State Governments and Union Territories for availing the benefits of the ‘Safe Tourism Destinations for Women’ under Nirbhaya fund which can be utilized for projects specifically designed to improve the safety and security of women tourists.

Ministry of Tourism sanctioned a total of Rs.16.79 crore (approx.) to Madhya Pradesh Tourism under the “Safe Tourism Destination for Women” Scheme.

This information was given by Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

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Sunil Kumar Tiwari

tourism4pib[at]gmail[dot]com

(Release ID: 2159108)