The state government will soon take a series of steps to stop harassment of tourists at Howrah and Sealdah stations by touts, who operate in collusion with a section of police and railway staff.

Tourism minister Dinesh Dakua on Thursday called a meeting with officials of the Howrah district administration, Railways, CMDA, Howrah civic body and the Calcutta Port Trust to finalise the measures to be taken.

As a first step, a 24-hour pre-paid taxi booth will be set up at Sealdah.

?We have studied the system in Delhi,? the minister said after the meeting. ?The booth operator?s job will not end with the allotment of a cab to a passenger. He will have to ensure that the cabbie doesn?t clinch a deal with any tout. The payment will be made only after the passenger reaches his destination safely,? he added.

The government?s emphasis is on tourists? safety as tourism is one of the few industries that holds the prospect of maximising revenue. Of the states, Bengal records the maximum outflow of tourists. But it ranks fourth in the category of incoming tourists.

?To earn more revenue, we should attract more tourists. And the primary condition for that is to ensure their security,? Dakua elaborated.

To make the state?s tourism policy more effective, the minister has also set up an 11-member committee to monitor the implementation of Thursday?s decisions.

The team comprises representatives from the Railways, Howrah Municipal Corporation, Government Railway Police, Bengal police, CMDA, Howrah Zilla Parishad, local MLA and the tourism director. The first meeting of the panel will be held on November 16. It will report to the ministry from time to time.

Tourism director M.K. Sengupta, who also heads the committee, reiterated that harassment of tourists would not come to an end unless some tough measures are taken.

Touts, he asserted, will have to be driven out of Howrah and Sealdah stations.

Sengupta, however, admitted that the decisions taken at the meeting would take time to be implemented in entirety.

The railway and the district police have been asked to clear the station premises and their adjoining areas of touts and other illegal operators as early as possible.

They have also been asked to ensure that the premises are kept clean.

In a recent report, superintendent of railway police, Howrah, S. Mallick has stated 187 touts had been arrested in a number of raids over the past one month. At Sealdah station, more than 900 tickets touts had been arrested.