16 CREATION OF TOURIST INFRASTRUCTURE IN ANDAMANS AND NICOBAR ISLANDS [Action Taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations of the Committee contained in their One Hundred and Fifth Report (16th Lok Sabha)] MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE (2020-21) SIXTEENTH REPORT SEVENTEENTH LOK SABHA LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW DELHI PAC NO. 2197 SIXTEENTH REPORT PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE (2020-21) (SEVENTEENTH LOK SABHA) CREATION OF TOURIST INFRASTRUCTURE IN ANDAMANS AND NICOBAR ISLANDS [Action Taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations of the Committee contained in their One Hundred and Fifth Report (16th Lok Sabha)] MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS '>, Presented to Lok Sabha on: JCJ-09 ..-<>20::).0 Laid in Rajya Sabha on: / 9- t5q- ~Or:)_ 0 '\, LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW DELHI September, 2020 /Bhadrapada, 1942 (Saka) CONTENTS PAGE COMPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE (2020-21) (iii) INTRODUCTION (iv) CHAPTER I Report .............................................. CHAPTER II Observations/Recommendations which have been accepted by the Government CHAPTER Ill Observations/Recommendations which the Committee do not desire to pursue in view of the replies received from the Government CHAPTER IV Observations/Recommendations in respect of which replies of the Government have not been accepted by the Committee and which require reiteration CHAPTER V Observations/Recommendations in respect of which the Government have furnished interim replies APPENDICES Minutes of the sitting of the Public Accounts Committee (2020-21) held on 28.0ff.2020 II Analysis of the Action Taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations of the PuQJic Accounts Committee contained in their One Hundred and Fifth Report (Sixteenth Lok Sabha) \ \'\) COMPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE (2020-21) Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Chairperson MEMBERS LOK SABHA 2. Shri T. R. Baalu 3. Shri Subhash Chandra Baheria 4. Shri Sudheer Gupta 5. Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh 6. Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab 7. Shri Ajay (Teni) Misra 8. Shri Jagdambika Pal 9. Shri Vishnu Dayal Ram 10. Shri Rahul Ramesh Shewale 11. Shri Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh 12. Dr. Satya Pal Singh 13. Shri Jayant Sinha 14. Shri Balashowry Vallabhaneni 15. Shri Ram Kripal Yadav RAJYA SABHA 16. Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar 17. Shri Naresh Gujral 18. Shri C. M. Ramesh 19. Shri Sukhendu Sekhar Ray 20. Shri Bhupender Yadav 21. Vacant 22. Vacant SECRETARIAT '>;. 1. Shri T. G. Chandrasekhar Joint Secretary 2. Shri M.L.K Raja Director 3. Smt. Anju Kukreja Deputy Secretary 4. Shri Ashikho Alemo Assistant Executive Officer INTRODUCTION I, the Chairperson, Public Accounts Committee (2020-21), having been authorised by the Committee, do present this Sixteenth Report (Sixteenth Lok Sabha) on Action Taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations of the Committee contained in their One Hundred and Fifth Report (Sixteenth Lok Sabha) on 'Creation of Tourist Infrastructure in Andaman and Nicobar Islands~ relating to the Ministry of Home Affairs. 2. The One Hundred and Fifth Report was presented to Lok Sabha/laid on the Table of Rajya Sabha on 19 July, 2018. Replies of the Government to the Observations/ Recommendations contained in the Report were received on 27 June, 2020. The Committee considered the draft Report on the subject and thereafter adopted the Report at their sitting held on 28 August, 2020. Minutes of the sittings form appendices to the Report. 3. For facility of reference and convenience, the Observations and Recommendations of the Committee have been printed in bold in the body of the Report. 4. The Committee place on record their appreciation of the assistance rendered to them in the matter by the the Committee Secretariat and the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. 5. An analysis of the Action Taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations contained in the One Hundred and Twelfth Report (Sixteenth Lok Sabha) is given at Appendix-II. NEW DELHI; Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury fC/- September, 2020 Chairperson Bhadrapada, 1942 (Saka) Public Accounts Committee "'· REPORT PART-I INTRODUCTORY This Report of the Public Accounts Committee deals with the Action Taken by the Government on the Observations and Recommendations of the Committee 1 contained in their One Hundred and Fifth Report (16t1 Lok Sabha) on the subject "Creation of Tourist Infrastructure in Andaman and Nicobar lslands"based on the C&AG Report No. 24 of 2016 relating to the Ministry of Home Affairs. 2. The One Hundred and Fifth Report (16th Lok Sabha), which was presented to Lok Sabha and laid in Rajya Sabha on 19th July, 2018 contained 9 Observations and Recommendations. Action Taken Notes in respect of all the Observations and Recommendations have been received from the Ministry of Home Affairs and are broadly categorized as under: (i) Observations/Recommendations which have been accepted by the Government: Para Nos.1,3, 5-9 Total: 7 Chapter - II (ii) Observations/Recommendations which the Committee do not desire to pursue in view of the replies received from the Government: Para Nos. Nil Total: Nil Chapter - Ill (iii) Observations/Recommendations in respect of which replies of Government have not been accepted by the Committee and which require reiteration: Para Nos.2 & 4 Total: 2 Chapter - IV (iv) Observations/Recommendations in respect of which , Government have furnished interim replies: "'· Para Nos.Nil Total: Nil Chapter- V 3. A detailed examination of the subject by the Committee revealed poor management of implementation and execution of Projects, delays in finalisation of DPR resulting in dropping of projects, unfruitful expenditure on uninitiated projects, irresponsible procurement of outlived vessel without undertaking any techno economic feasibility resulting in wasteful expenditure in manning the vessel which had to be disposed off ultimately, wasteful expenditure towards development of yacht marina and procurement of luxury boats, non-issue of work order resulting in abandonment of work, violation of financial rules and norms in releasing advance fund for implementation of projects, need for introducing a holistic script for the sound and light show at the Cellular Jail etc. The Committee had accordingly given the Observations/Recommendations in their One.Hundred and Fifth Report. 4. .The Action Taken Notes furnished by the Ministry of Home Affairs in respect of all the Observations and Recommendations of the Committee have been reproduced in the relevant Chapters of this Report. The Committee will now deal with the Action Taken by the Government on the Observations and Recommendations made in the Original Report which either need reiteration or merit comments. (Recommendation Para No. 2) 5. The Committee noted that the Tourism Department had engaged fn May, 2009. Indian Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (ITDC) as consultant for preparing Detailed Project Report (DPR) for development of the tourist circuit, 'Port Blair Neil Havelock Baratang' "Project/Infrastructure Development for Destinations and Circuits (PIDDC) under the scheme of Ministry of Tourism". The Ministry of Tourism sanctioned the work of preparation of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report in October, 2010. The Department of Tourism, ANI awarded the work of preparaton of EIA study/ CRZ clearance to the NIOT in December 2011. The work of development of tourist facilities at Baratang was, however, excluded, citing various environment and tribal issues. The NIOT submitted the draft EIA reports for Port Blair, Havelock and Neil Islands on 27 Deceniber, 2012, 31 May 2013 and 20 November 2013 respectively and requested A&NI Administration for site-wise details such as project layout, technical justification, technical design, etc., for inclusion in their final report. However, even after three years, the Administration had not provided the requisite information. As a result, the project was not approved by the Ministry of Tourism, but they had tentatively allocated an amount of '5.00 crore .under the PIDDC scheme in 2014-15. Thus, lack of follow up by ANI Administration rendered unfruitful expenditure of '18.45 lakh on the preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) and EIA reports. The Committee, therefore, desired to be appris~d of the reasons behind the delay of three years in providing the requisite details"for inclusion in the final DPR and recommended that stringent disciplinary penalty may be imposed against officials who were responsible for the delay. The Committee also desired to be apprised of the present status of the project. 6. The Ministry of Home Affairs in their Action Taken Note have stated as .under:- "As intimated by A& NI Administration, the Tourism Department had entered into an Agreement on 25th May, 2009 with India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) as a Consultant for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for development of tourist circuits, 'Port Blair-Neil-Havelock-Baratang' at a total cost of '10.00 lakh plus taxes. The ITDC submitted a DPR in November, 2009 and '11.83 lakh was paid to ITDC. The DPR proposed for development of sites at Port Blair (ITF Ground, Carbyn's Cove), Baratang (Baludera beach, Middle Strait jetty, Limestone Caves & Jirkatang), Neil Island (Neil Kendra, Sitapur Beach, Laxmanpur Beach & Bharatpur Beach), Havelock ·beach(Radhanagar beach and Elephant beach).The facilities proposed to be developed included water harvesting, public conveniences, Kiosks for tourist facilitation, interpretation centers, souvenir kiosks,