Restricted areas permit likely to be removed from Manipur

The state's Minister of Tourism and Public Health Engineering said the Centre was willing to remove RAP.

The Centre is likely to remove the Restricted Areas Permit (RAP) from Manipur soon. The state's Minister of Tourism and Public Health Engineering Govindas Konthoujam said in Imphal the Centre was willing to remove the RAP regime to provide a boost to the tourism sector.

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Known as the "land of the jewels", Manipur's potential as a tourist destination has hardly been exploited. Under the RAP, foreigners are required to obtain a special visa to visit Manipur. "All this has led to a feeling that the state is persistently being denied economic development," said a senior state government official.

The state government has proposed an allocation of Rs 2 crore in the annual plan outlay for 2005-06 for the development of tourism in Manipur and has also prepared a 20-year plan for the development of the sector.