MPs' committee recommends 'pay as you wish' policy at ASI monuments

Shubhadeep Choudhury

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New Delhi, February 4

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport Tourism and Culture has asked the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to consider introducing “pay-as-you-wish ticketing” at all ticketed monuments of ASI across the country, while still keeping minimum amount as fee.

“Informing visitors about the development work they could fuel at the archaeological sites with their donations will certainly drive many people to contribute,” the Standing Committee report tabled in the ongoing session of Parliament said.

The Committee also suggested that the Ministry might consider introduction of special tours at archaeological sites and monuments before and after regular hours, charging a higher fee. The Committee recommended carrying out amendments in the AMASR Act (Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act), 1958, for the purpose.

The Ministry of Culture promised to examine the technical feasibility of the proposal regarding introducing “pay-as-you wish” system at all ticketing monuments of the ASI. The Ministry, however, added that the current rates of tickets are “minimal rates” and further reduction in the prices might not be feasible.

On the issue of donations, the Ministry said that corpus donations by corporate sectors (CSR) is already in vogue through the National Culture Fund (NCF).

The report, however, observed that feedback from some museums on their attempts to seek funds from corporate houses and companies showed these initiatives as having received a very poor response. The Committee asked the Ministry to review the proposals made by the Museums to attract CSR funds and assist the Museums in making attractive proposals so as to garner better response from corporate houses.

The Committee also recommended that the Museums may request Members of Parliament to contribute to the development of museums from their MPLADS funds.

The Committee also recommended experimenting with the ticket pricing for both domestic as well as international tourists, with the aim to maximise the revenue generated by such visits and allowing the maximum feasible number of people to visit sites. The ASI may consider granting special discount to young international tourists as well as offering weekly passes to both foreign and domestic travellers to entice them to visit and appreciate more historical sites during their trip, the report said.