The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is going to establish a specialised police force and tourism fund for the promotion of tourism in the province. For the establishment of special police force and tourism fund, the government has passed KP Tourism Bill, 2019 from the provincial legislature.
The proposed police force will work as the wing of KP Culture and Tourism Authority under the supervision and general command of the Authority to be established in the province under the law.
The authority will create the posts and police personnel of Tourism Police and also establish the posts as required. The authority will also requisite on deputation basis necessary senior and junior rank police from Police Department to act as Tourism Police:
Provided that the authority may hire own Tourism Police once the authority has developed the requisite capacity. The police to be posted in the Tourism Police will be selected by keeping in view the education, behaviour and physical fitness.
The police officers and officials posted in the Tourism Police will have to undergo tourism-facilitation training courses to be designed by the Police Department in consultation with the Culture and Tourism Authority and the force will also have to wear a distinctive uniform.
All expenditures on Tourism Police will be borne on the budget of the authority including any additional incentives paid to its employees as per the incentives structure, determined by the Provincial Tourism Strategy Board that will also be established under the same law.
The functions and powers of the tourism police will be to facilitate the tourists by imparting information about location, transport system, facilities, legal assistance, shopping centres accommodation, cultural norms and medical help.
It will also perform watch and ward function in tourist destinations in order to curb activities of touts, beggars, unauthorized hawkers, pickpockets, eve teasers, anti-social elements ad fraudsters and for this purpose, the tourism police will maintain effective patrolling of tourists' destination and will provide necessary security to the tourists.
The tourism police will have to keep an updated record of known eve teasers, fraudsters, unauthorized tour guides, harassers and other disreputable elements for each destination.
The tourism police will also have the power to stop the entry of known eve teasers from a tourist destination or a part thereof. For the purpose, a police officer now below the rank of Superintendent of Police will have the power to issue orders to restrict entry of such person(s) into any tourist destination or a part thereof.
The tourism police will act as first responder in case of any incident and will hand over the delinquent to the local police for legal action; write an incident report and handover the culprit to the regular police station.
In the event, a case is registered by or against the tourist, tourism police will facilitate and provide legal assistance to the tourists; have all the powers of facilitation and regulation available to Traffic Police in area of its deployment under Provincial Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1965; and receive claims and complaints by the tourists and will either resolve the same on its own or liaise with the concerned to get resolved.
The tourism police operation will be governed under the regulations to be prescribed by the authority and until such regulations are prescribed, under Standing Operation Procedures (SOPs) already issued or to be issued by the KP Inspector General of Police (IGP).
The provincial govt is also going to establish a fund to be known as "Tourism Fund" that will vest in the Provincial Tourism Strategy Board and to which will be credited, all sums received by or on behalf of the Culture and Tourism Authority.
The income sources of the proposed fund will be development and operational grants allocated by the provincial government; rent and profits payable or accruing to the authority from immovable property vested in or managed by it; proceeds or any other profits from bank accounts and investment of the fund; gifts, grants or contribution by individuals and institutions accepted with the approval of the strategy board; proceeds of fee charged by the authority for advisory services, registration, affiliation and licensing; fee, fines, cess imposed for violation of rules or regulations including any fine imposed and collected through tourism police or through ticketing; sale proceeds and royalty on publications of the authority; funds received and charged upon tourism activities and services; grants, donations, bequests or other gifts made to the fund; and monies from any other sources approved by government.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019