Shillong, Nov. 28: The Union tourism ministry has renewed air travel concessions for central government employees to attract tourists to the Northeast.

An official statement issued here today by the tourism ministry said the government has relaxed Central Civil Services (Leave Travel Concession) Rules, 1988, to enable the central government employees to travel by air to the Northeast.

According to the proposal, group A and group B central government employees will be entitled to travel by air from their place of posting or nearest airport to a city in the Northeast or the nearest airport. The ministry said other categories of employees would be entitled to travel by air to a city in the Northeast from Guwahati or Calcutta.

All central government employees will be allowed conversion of one block of hometown LTC into LTC for destinations in the Northeast. This means that employees can use LTC meant to visit their homes for travelling to tourist destinations.

The minister of state for tourism, Sultan Ahmed, announced these decisions in a written reply in Lok Sabha recently. An official of the Meghalaya tourism department today said the initiative would definitely boost tourist flow to the Northeast, including Meghalaya.

“During the recent meeting, we had taken up the matter with the Union tourism minister to pursue the matter with the Union finance ministry as the LTC scheme was to expire in April,” the official said.

According to the official, the move is a welcome step for better tourist flow.

The official statement said every year, 10 per cent of the total planned allocation of the Union ministry of tourism is earmarked for releasing funds to all the northeastern states.

The northeastern states and selected places of Jammu and Kashmir have been allocated a budget to implement the schemes of infrastructure development of destinations, circuits, accommodation, restaurants, and other eco-tourism projects.

The statement said 100 per cent central financial assistance is given only to the northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir for organising fairs and festivals.

The ministry of tourism has launched aggressive campaigns to promote various tourist destinations and products of the country, including the Northeast.

Northeast-specific media campaigns are being launched to promote the entire region, besides providing complimentary space to northeastern states in Indian pavilions set up at major international travel fairs and exhibitions, the statement added.