Tourist police to get going soon

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 26

A select band of 63 police personnel to be deployed at 33 strategic tourist locations in the state would get tips from officers of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC). Called tourism police, the band would be imparted lessons in courtesy and good behaviour to assist the tourists visiting the state.

The police personnel, who would become part of a 63-member tourist police, would be imparted one-day training by HPTDC staff in eight districts for polishing their behaviour and motivating them to be courteous while assisting the tourists.

As many as 33 locations have been identified for deployment of tourist police and all districts barring Hamirpur, Lahaul and Spiti and Baddi (police district) have been covered to project an impressive image of the police, said ADGP Johar Zaidi, adding that the dates of training would be conveyed to the district SPs soon.

The training would be imparted in the respective districts and the cops would be in place from June 1, he said. He added that the police would be given tips on courtesy, behavioral and interactive skills. They would be told about tourist destinations at their locations and issues of tourists. Pamphlets would be distributed among the cops so that they could get the details of locations such as importance of tourist place, distance, kinds of activities offered, hotels and food joints.

The cops, who would act like facilitators for tourists, would be permanently deployed at key tourist destinations such as Shimla, Manali, Dharamsala and Dalhousie while deployment at religious places such as Sri Naina Devi, Jwala Ji, Chintpurni, Chamunda Devi, Bizli Mahadev and other places of religious significance would be as per need — like on Navratras and weekends, the tourist rush picks up.

Apart from being a deterrent for anti-social elements, the tourist police would be supposed to keep a tab on acts of eve-teasing, fleecing by touts and is expected to contribute to a general feeling of security and wellness.