The Hindu Business Line : Commonwealth group in Bengal, Orissa to study tourism potential

Tourism potential
The project will include visits to leading global institutions, meetings with Government, educational institutions and healthcare facilities in India, providing a wide perspective of the changing times in India.

Kolkata March 20 A 13-member Commonwealth Study Group is currently visiting West Bengal and Orissa, focusing on "Sustainable tourism as a Development Option".

This group is among several study groups comprising 180 participants from 30 Commonwealth countries that are here to participate in the CII-organised Commonwealth Study Conference 2007. India will host the conference along with Malaysia and Singapore.

The study groups plan to visit 18 States and union territories in India.

Mr G. Suresh, who is leading the group visiting West Bengal and Orissa, told newspersons here that while no recommendations would be made to the Secretariat, each member was expected to record his/her impressions on the various facets of potential tourism interest in the two States . Mr Suresh said the project will include visits to leading global institutions, meetings with Government, educational institutions and healthcare facilities in India, providing a wide perspective of the changing times in India.

Welcoming the study group members, Mr Sanjay Budhia, National Committee on Trade Policy, CII, and Managing Director, Patton International Ltd, said the members representing a cross-section of disciplines such as health, education, labour relations, environment and banking will have interactions on infrastructure, environment, women's empowerment, agriculture, tribal welfare, information technology, tourism, education and health.

Stating that the study group would also explore the country's cultural aspects, Mr Budhia said the cross-cultural setting would be a new experience for the group members. The two-week programme would examine the human aspects of industrial issues in Commonwealth nations.

The members visiting Bengal and Orissa are from Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Uganda, Canada, Pakistan and the UK.