Institution of Local Self Governance and its Linkages with Tourism

Cultural Activities Food May or may notdepend on them.Travel Culture (to see theculture of the indigenousgroups inhabiting there.Requires theconsent of thePanchayats.Ta ble 1 First and the second Column lists out the mandatory powerand functions of the Panchayats given under the ConstitutionalAmendment Act namely 73'd and 74th and the requirements of thetourism industry respectively. A comparative study has been madebetween the above tables. The table makes it very clear that tourismindustry is very much dependent on the Panchayats because theyuse the resources, which fa ll, within the Panchayats territorial area.Hence it becomes obligatory on them to take the permission andconsent prior to making use of them. Panchayats revenue sourcesmainly comprises of house tax, property tax, vehicle tax, andentertainment surcharge and fee for licensing the industries includingtourism industry. When other sources of revenues are limited theylook for these sources to accomplish mandatory and developmentalfunctions assigned to them. This has invariably forced thePanchayats to issue licenses for some unwanted and hazardousindustries to tide over the financial crisis in the absence of revenuesupport in the form of subsidies from the state exchequer andconsolidated fund.Purely for monetary benefits Panchayats allows industries liketourism, to come up in their region. While granting permission, thePanchayats too has certain expectations.• The Panchayats expects the tourism industry to pay tax whenthey occupy their land. Though the amount is very meager to takecare of the socio-economic development, the Panchayats furtherexpects a greater role in the industry itself as it leads todisplacement of people and privatize their major source ofl ivelihood and other naturally acquired scenic beauty.50