DRAFT GUIDELINES FOR

THEMATIC AUDIT ON

Infrastructure development in the Department of Tourism

Office of the Principal Accountant General (General and Social Sector Audit) and Puducherry -18.

INDEX

Sl. No. Content Page No.

1 Introduction 3

2 Organisational framework 3

3 Functioning of the Tourism Department 3

4 Financial performance 4

5 Scope of audit and audit coverage 5

6 Audit objectives 5

7 Audit criteria 6

8 Sample selection 6

9 Issue analysis 6

10 Time schedule 6

11 Annexure 7,8

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Audit Implementation Guidelines

1. Introduction:

Puducherry is one of the most popular tourist destinations in . Puducherry is a place of history and preserved colonial charm. Sandy beaches, clean promenade, temples, monuments, heritage villas, quaint old-world town planning, spiritual mystique and a lingering French ambience define its unique character.

Prior to establishment of Tourism Department, the tourism activities were governed by a wing in the Department of Information, Publicity and Tourism. In the year 1986, a separate Directorate for Tourism was created. In the same year, the Tourism and Transport Development Corporation was bifurcated and Pondicherry Tourism Development Corporation was set up. The main objectives of the Department are to fully develop the tourism potential of U.T of Puducherry in a planned and integrated manner by augmenting infrastructure facilities involving Public Private Participation and thereby increasing the arrival and stay of domestic / foreign tourists.

2. Organization Setup

At Government level, Secretary to Government is the administrative head of the Tourism Department of the Government of Puducherry. The Directorate of Tourism in Puducherry is headed by the Director who is assisted by one Deputy Director, one Junior Accounts Officer and two Deputy / Assistant Directors who are in charge of the Branch Offices at , Mahe and respectively. The Pondicherry Tourism Development Corporation was established in 1986 with the aim to promote tourism industry. Puducherry Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology was established in 1991 to educate and train the students and produce them as skilled man power to Hospitality industry are affiliated to the Tourism department.

3. Functions of Tourism department

This Department is developing tourism infrastructures through various Schemes with financial assistance from the besides promoting tourism through propaganda, fairs and festivals. A large number of projects such as tourist bungalows, restaurants, wayside amenities, yatri niwas, tourist reception centres [3] were sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism during the VII, VIII and IX five-year plans to promote domestic tourism and to attract overseas tourists in India. In order to avoid spreading the resources very thin and also to adopt an integrated planning approach, various schemes sanctioned during earlier five year plans were merged in September 2006 into a single scheme “Product/Infrastructure Development for Destination and Circuits” with two components: a) Major Destinations and Circuits Development; and b) Rural Tourism Infrastructure Development. As per the scheme, a destination is a place of tourist interest falling under the most visited sites in the State, or a recognized heritage monument, while a tourist circuit is a route on which at least three major tourist destinations are located. The focus of this scheme was to improve existing tourism products and developing new products, to provide infrastructure facilities required by tourists within such destination and circuits which would be carefully selected based on tourism potential. There was clear delineation of activities for which the State/ UT Governments would be responsible, including making land available, implementation of rehabilitation package, operation and maintenance of assets, external infrastructure etc., while other activities/items directly related to tourism were identified under the central component. The thrust of rural tourism infrastructure development component was on promotion of village tourism as the primary tourism product to spread tourism and its socio-economic benefits to rural and new geographic regions. Under UT Plan, small schemes such as setting up of museum, providing information centres, upgrading tourist homes, purchases of boats, water sports equipments to promote tourism were taken up with UT funds and through loans from external agencies. The schemes are executed by the Public Works Department and Puducherry Tourism Development Corporation with the guidelines, instructions, delegation of powers issued by the GOI / Union Territory of Puducherry from time to time.

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4. Financial performance:

Details of provision of funds in UT budget and actual expenditure incurred against the provision during the years 2010-11 to 2014-15 are given below:

(Rupees in lakh) Year Budget estimate Revised estimate Actual expenditure Plan Non-plan Plan Non-plan Plan Non-plan 2010-11 60.00 95.75 79.83 143.84 47.07 143.61 2011-12 89.00 130.00 22.70 136.50 22.70 136.47 2012-13 138.75 331.50 25.32 186.36 23.51 185.99 2013-14 60.67 165.00 40.67 185.10 32.54 182.50 2014-15 65.50 196.00 Not finalized Not finalized Total 413.92 918.25 168.52 651.80 125.82 648.57

Plan expenditure includes expenditure on consultancy charges and land acquisition cost in execution of centrally sponsored schemes, execution of state schemes, grants-in-aid to Puducherry Tourism Development Corporation to meet their expenses towards salary and other maintenance works etc. and Non-plan expenditure relate to salaries, other allowances and office expenses. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India release grants for execution of schemes approved by them. Details of grants received, utilized during the years 2010-11 to 2014-15 are as given below: (Rs in crore)

Year Opening Grant Total Grant Unutilized Balance received Receipt utilized grants 2010-11 11.76 7.00 18.76 9.51 9.25 2011-12 9.25 23.98 33.23 7.63 25.60 2012-13 25.60 0.00 25.60 0.38 25.22 2013-14 25.22 3.38 28.60 7.47 19.75 2014-15 Not finalized Total 34.36 24.99

5. Scope of Audit and Audit coverage: Year-wise details of schemes approved by Ministry of Tourism for the XI Plan (2007-12) and XII plan (2012-17) periods are given in Annex 1. In the XI Five year plan (2007-12), eleven schemes were sanctioned by Ministry of Tourism as detailed below:

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Name of the Project Number of Remarks schemes Major Destination 8 One scheme was dropped due to delay in obtaining Development Project environmental clearance. Out of the seven schemes, two are implemented in Puducherry, three in Karaikal and two in Yanam. All the seven schemes are completed as of January 2015. Circuit development 1 The scheme Development of Puducherry as Mega Tourism Project Circuit involves execution of 13 sub-schemes to form a tourism circuit. The scheme is in progress as of January 2015 1 One scheme Construction of Institutional building for Puducherry Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology was taken up. This Institute is a registered Institute under Societies Act with the aim to educate and train the students and produce them as skilled man power to Hospitality Industry Rural Tourism 1 The project was dropped due to encroachment in the acquired Infrastructure land and acquisition of new land is in process Development Project

In the XII Five Year plan (2012-17), though eight schemes each during 2011-12 and 2012-13 and eleven schemes during 2013-14 were prioritized by Government of India for implementation, no schemes were approved due to non-submission of Utilisation Certificate and surrender of unutilized grants relating to the schemes sanctioned and executed during XI Five year plan period to Government of India by the Government of Puducherry.

Six State schemes (Annex 2) were implemented during the period 2007-14. Money value involved in execution of these schemes was less than Rs 10 lakh.

Considering the above facts, the thematic audit would focus on the planning as per the scheme guidelines, utilization of grants and implementation of seven schemes (Annex 3) that were taken up for execution under the Major Destination Development Project in XI Five Year Plan with Central Finance Assistance and completed as of 31 January 2015.

The audit objectives would be discussed with the Secretary to Government/Tourism. The field visit would include examination of records at the

 Tourism Directorate and Secretariat to study the sanctions, release of funds for execution of projects and its implementation aspects

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 Government Departments such as Public Works Department where works are executed, Planning and Research Department where five year plans are framed, Treasuries and Accounts Department to study the flow of funds Thematic Audit would also include field inspection of the destinations developed under the seven schemes to verify its actual utilisation. An exit conference would be held, on completion of the field visit, with the Secretary to Government/Tourism to discuss the outcome of the audit. The thematic audit would cover the period of execution of the seven schemes i.e from the date of commencement to its utilization as of 31 March 2015. 6. Audit objectives:

In respect of the seven schemes taken up for detailed study, the Audit objectives are to assess whether:  The scheme guidelines were followed in selection of tourist destination and in execution of the schemes  The grants received from Government of India were utilised for the intended purpose and matching share provided by the Government of Puducherry  The schemes were completed as planned and put to use

7. Audit criteria

The audit findings would be benchmarked against the following criteria:

 Scheme guidelines for various schemes executed with the assistance of central government and Union Territory of Puducherry  Government orders, executive instructions and circulars issued from time to time; 8. Sample selection

No sample selection was required in the theme audit, as only seven schemes implemented in Puducherry, Karaikal and Yanam were selected for detailed study.

9. Issue Analysis

An issue analysis for the thematic audit is given in Annexure 4. Each question is derived from the audit objective or audit sub-objective which they support. The

[7] overall conclusion against each audit objective supported by the conclusion on the sub objectives would be based on the result of audit tests. 10. Time Schedule The following time schedule is proposed for the Thematic Audit.

Sl. No. Schedule Date 1. Beginning of field visit First week of February 2015 2. Mid-term review by Prl.AG Second week of March 2015 3. Submission of factual note 15 April 2015

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Annex 1 – List of Central schemes (Rupees in lakh) Sl.No Year of Name of the scheme Total Total Status of sanction project expenditure work cost as of 31 January 2015 XI Plan 2007-12

1 Development of ECO Beach 446.00 335.00 Completed Karaikal 2 Beautification of Beach 800.00 606.57 Completed Promenade in Puducherry 3 Development of walk way 492.00 407.48 Partly along the river Arasalar in *completed Karaikal 4 Revitalisation of Gandhi Thidal 314.74 273.60 Partly and Crafts Bazaar *completed 2007-08 5 Revitalisation of Karaikal 345.78 326.62 Completed Ammaiyar Koil Tank in Karaikal 6 Construction of Institutional 1177.00 1177.00 Completed building for Puducherry Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology 7 2008-09 Development of Recreational 355.26 228.24 Completed Park at Buddha Lake in Yanam 8 Land Scaping and tourist 527.00 465.00 Completed amenities around Yanam 2009-10 Obelisk 9 Rural Tourism at Alankuppam 55.22 0.00 Dropped 10 Development of Kirumapakkan 614.50 0.00 Dropped Lake at Puducherry 11 2010-11 Development of Puducherry as 5151.00 1829.59 In progress Mega Tourism Circuit 12 2011-12 Eight schemes were prioritised by Ministry of Tourism but not sanctioned

XII Plan 2012-17 13 2012-13 Another eight schemes were prioritised by Ministry of Tourism but not sanctioned 14 2013-14 Eleven schemes were prioritised by Ministry of Tourism but not sanctioned 15 2014-15 Six schemes were prioritised

* two schemes were completed partly with reference to the plan and closed

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Annex 2 – List of State schemes (Rupees in lakh) (Details of funds awaited) Sl.No. Year of Name of the scheme sanction 1 Setting up of Museum at 2007-08 2 Promoting eco tourism at Oussudu lake 3 2008-09 Purchase of boat Cleaning and landscape work 4 2009-10 at Tourist home, Uppalam, Puducherry 5 2010-11 Nil * 6 2011-12 Nil * 7 2012-13 Nil * Providing tourist information 8 centre at Puducherry 2013-14 Railway station 9 Purchase of water sports equipments

* During the years 2010-13 expenditure was incurred towards consultancy charges and for acquisition of lands for the schemes

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Annex 3 List of seven schemes taken up for detailed study in the Thematic Audit (Rupees in lakh) Sl.No Name of the scheme Total project Total Status of cost expenditure work as of Jan’15 1 Revitalisation of Gandhi Thidal 314.74 273.60 Partly and Crafts Bazaar, Puducherry completed 2 Beautification of Beach 800.00 606.57 Completed Promenede in Puducherry 3 Development of walk way 492.00 407.48 Partly along the river Arasalar in completed Karaikal 4 Development of ECO Beach 446.00 335.00 Completed Karaikal 5 Revitalisation of Karaikal 345.78 326.62 Completed Ammaiyar Koil Tank in Karaikal 6 Development of Recreational 355.26 228.24 Completed Park at Buddha Lake in Yanam 7 Land Scaping and tourist 527.00 465.00 Completed amenities around Yanam Obelisk

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