AGRA: The Agra district administration in UP has decided to set up tour guides' offices at east and west entries of Taj Mahal to prevent tourists from being cheated by unauthorized guides, popularly known as ‘lapkas’.
A magistrate will oversee the system and streamline the process of hiring the guides.
The offices will come up next month.
‘Lapka' is a term used for guides as they pounce on unsuspecting tourists and harass them for hiring them.
The decision to set up the office was taken at a meeting of the approved tourist guides association along with tourism sector giants in Agra and the district magistrate.
These associations have been for long demanding an end to the harassment of tourists in the name of hiring tour guides.
Now, an approved tour guide list, along with their charges, will be available at the office and tourists can hire them as per their choice and convenience.
District magistrate Prabhu N Singh said that the aim is to facilitate tourists visiting the monument.
“Parking and other issues will also be monitored by the magistrate deputed especially for this purpose,” he said, adding that the facility will probably start from April 2.
Government of India’s approved tourists guide association president Shamsuddin Khan told TOI that non approved guides make tourists uneasy and they avoid interacting with them, which gives the wrong impression across the world as foreign tourists also visit Taj Mahal.
“Now with a separate office and rotation wise roster of tour guides, it will not only help tourists but end the prevailing tout culture, which is widely prevalent at Taj Mahal,” he said, adding that brochures will also be provided to the tourists at the office cum facilitation centre.
Tourism Guild Agra vice president Rajeev Saxena said that it's a remarkable step in a bid to stop the nuisance and crowding at the parking area which ends up defaming genuine guides and the image of Taj city.
Over 1,000 tourist guides having licences are registered as of now, which includes 425 approved tourist guides and escorts of GOI and 600 state tour guides.
UP tour guide association president Deepak Dan claimed that nearly 1,500 unauthorised people are working as touts here.
“To curb the lapkas, there is one more proposal of introducing chip loaded cards for license holder tour guides for entering the monument after placing the card to the biometric machine,” he said, adding that this will be the second check after hiring the guides from their office.
