Taj Mahal Suffers 60% Decline In Tourism Following CAA, NRC And NPR Unrest

by Vidisha Khaitan
Taj Mahal Suffers 60% Decline In Tourism Following CAA, NRC And NPR Unrest

After Assam tourism industry loses over ₹400 crores, Taj Mahal sees a 60% decline in tourism. About 200,000 tourists skipped India’s crown palace in the last 2 weeks of December 2019. Several countries like USA, Canada, Russia, Britain, Singapore and Taiwan have issued travel warnings against India amid unrest following the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizenship.

What’s Going On

Social unrest caused by the recent row over CAA, NRC and NPR has further wounded India’s bleeding economy. Media company Bloomberg reported that international money managers have begun to unwind from the Indian stock market after pouring ₹45 billion into it. The estimated cost of implementing the NRC nationwide ranges from ₹50,000 – ₹70,000 crores. That’s the price of 73 Chandrayaan moon missions or sponsoring 10 crore underprivileged children or establishing 59 IITs. Moreover, Economic Times reported that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) detected financial irregularities to the tune of ₹108 Crore in Assam’s NRC exercise.

taj mahal
Image Credit: traveldailymedia

News organisation Reuters reported that the Taj Mahal generates $14 million from entrance fees of over 6.5 million tourists annually. It further informed that last minute cancellations in hotels around Taj Mahal have “dampened business sentiment at a time when the country’s economic growth has slowed to 4.5%, its slowest pace in more than six years.” All this in the festive season has industry spirits quite low.’

Also read: Assam Tourism Loses ₹400 Crores Following CAA And NRC!

What’s More

Uttar Pradesh has witnessed severe violence from all parties involved. The death toll in India is at least 26, 19 of which were civilians from Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, the state has begun to implement the NRC through a campaign for identification. The police in Ferozabad district also sent 200 protesters notices. One such notice was sent to Banne Khan, a man who has been dead for 6 years. Two other bedridden men in their nineties have also received similar notices, according to the newspaper Telegraph.

Also read: Goa Sees Massive Decline In Foreign Arrivals Following CAA Protests

CAA
Image Credit: india today

‘Internet shutdowns imposed by the UP government has also affected travel and tourism in Agra by about 50-60%,’ Sandeep Arora, president of the Agra Tourism Development Foundation, was reported as saying. In the midst of an economic slowdown in our developing country, we must shift our attention to jobs, tourism, education, healthcare and basic necessities.

Also read: Section 144 Imposed In Parts Of The Country To Quell CAA, NRC, NPR Protests