Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on the BJP’s efforts to connect with the younger generation, navigating the challenges facing the tourism sector and the government’s response to the student protest at Jantar Mantar. He was in conversation with Liz Mathew, Deputy Editor, The Indian ExpressLiz Mathew: The mandate across the ministries and party right now is to appeal to Gen Z. Recently, in an ‘Under-18 World’ video, you were seen doing crafts, pretending you were a 15-year-old and dancing with teenagers. What has changed you? Is it the Gen Z fever?No, it is not like that. The children came to my room, and a 16-and-a-half-year-old girl introduced herself as the Chief Minister of Telangana, with her Deputy CM, Speaker, Leader of Opposition, Chief Secretary and a 12-year-old Secretary. They asked me my age. When I said I was 58, she said that would not work and that I had to be equal to them, so I agreed to be 15. If you want to talk to children, you have to match their wavelength. It was a coincidence rather than a planned Gen Z trend.Liz Mathew: So it doesn’t have to do with the party’s new decision to have a big, massive outreach to Gen Z?I look at this decision of the party in an organic way. We all say India is a country of the youth. Today’s youth has a lot of curiosity and wants to participate. When we were young, we had our studies, games and friends, and didn’t think much beyond that. But today’s youth has knowledge available at their fingertips. You have to connect with such an aware generation with more energy. Those who are Gen Z today will become voters in the forthcoming elections, so establishing a dialogue with them is essential. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism (right), with Liz Mathew, Deputy Editor, The Indian Express. (Photo by Renuka Puri)Liz Mathew: Do you think political parties across the board can speak their language effectively?Our dialogue with them has been an ongoing process. But this generation, particularly over the last five to seven years, has experienced enormous change. I was born in a village and have seen a house without electricity, but now I see children in villages using AI. In college, getting new information required going to the library. Today, you just ask a question. This generation is overpowered with information, so if you want to deal with them, you have to change yourself. In a tsunami of change, only flexible trees that bend remain alive.Story continues below this adLiz Mathew: Gen Z has been talking about employment, and both tourism and culture are closely linked to their future. What are you doing to address their concerns?At the macro level, the Indian economy has grown from $2 trillion to $4 trillion in the last 10-12 years. Infrastructure has grown, commuting has become easier, taxes have been reduced, salaries have increased and disposable income has risen. The government also provides free rations to 80 crore people, saving a family Rs 1,000-1,500 a month.At Mahakal in Ujjain, annual footfall grew from under 40 lakh in 2014 to 7 crore currently. But it is not only religious tourism, domestic travel has grown enormously. Last year, 420 crore domestic travels were recorded where people stayed at least one night elsewhere. India has rich cultural diversity, history, monuments, wildlife, cuisine, costumes and music. Today, tourism contributes around 6 per cent of GDP, and the PM has given us a target of 10 per cent. Once reached, tourism will create the most jobs in India after agriculture.Divya A: What is the roadmap to achieving the 10 per cent, and what about the demand for industry status?Story continues below this adTourism is primarily a state subject. In 2024, I commissioned a study of state policies and formulated a draft policy and framework shared with all states and UTs. While industry status has been extended across states, gaps remain, whereas states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Meghalaya are extending great incentives. At the Centre, we addressed the hospitality sector’s demand for infrastructure status. Traditionally, hotel loans had short 7-8 year repayment windows despite long gestation periods. Infrastructure status extends repayment periods to 20-25 years and lowers interest rates for hotels built in destinations with populations under 10 lakh, as well as at 50 designated iconic destinations. We are also working to reduce the burden of clearances, as over 30 types of compliances still apply.Divya A: Foreign tourist arrivals have not reached the 2019 benchmark of 11 million. What are we doing?We consider 2019 the pre-Covid benchmark. Tourism was the most hit sector. It sinks first during a crisis and stands back up last. After recovery, the Russia-Ukraine war and geopolitical turbulence affected our feeder countries.But another challenge is that India’s tourism became expensive because domestic demand grew faster than supply, making India expensive compared to Dubai or Thailand. In 2024, total five-star hotel rooms in India were fewer than in New York City alone. Since building hotels takes at least three years, policy incentives to expand room supply are vital.Story continues below this ad Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism. (Express Photo by Renuka Puri)Vikas Pathak: Does the growth in religious tourism necessarily mean people have more disposable income, or is there a rise in religiosity? Has non-religious tourism grown similarly?It is not only religious tourism. Go to any destination in India and the biggest challenge is overtourism. In Kashmir, which is not a religious destination, 40,000 new rooms were added between 2019 and 2026, yet in Pahalgam people struggled to find rooms even in summer. Footfall has increased across destinations because per capita income has increased on record.Aanchal Magazine: Safety is key for travel, especially for foreign tourists and solo female travellers. If harassment or theft happen in India, they go back with that impression. What are you doing to ensure safety?Even one such incident is a black mark on the country. Overall, there were 2 crore international arrivals in the country. Ideally, I assume 50 per cent would be women. Tell me, how many such incidents occurred in the last five years? When you go to Italy, the advisory you get is that you should keep your valuables hidden inside your clothes. In the US, it used to be part of the advisory that after evening or at night, don’t leave the main road for an alley, even in New York. But does anyone say that America is unsafe? Two shootouts happen every month in America. Recently, we saw a man playing football with a beheaded Indian’s head. Two crore people come to India. If two incidents happen somewhere, our media channels use those for 24 hours for TRPs.Story continues below this adIt is our responsibility to ensure the safety of our travellers. India is a country that believes in Atithi Devo Bhava. And today I can tell you that India is the safest country for solo women travellers. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism. (Express Photo by Renuka Puri)Dheeraj Mishra: In the 10 per cent share of tourism in GDP, is there a plan for how many tourists will be carried by railways and highways when the numbers increase? What about the environmental concerns, especially in the hills, over increased tourists?Growth will happen in everything equally. The way India’s aviation industry has grown in the last 10 years, the number of airports has increased. Today, our biggest challenge having fewer aircraft. India’s players — Air India, Indigo or Akasa — together have booked the highest number of airplanes in the world. People are taking their cars anywhere in India because they feel safe and comfortable. The road network has expanded. The Vande Bharat Express is also receiving a good response. All these will grow at an equal pace.Sustainability is a big challenge, and it is happening everywhere in the world. Wherever I go on tourism-related international or multilateral platforms, this concern has emerged everywhere.Story continues below this adOther countries can control the number of footfalls through visas. But if we have to give permits to those going to Shimla in India, that wouldn’t be right. There are two ways to solve this. One is to create other attractions in cities beyond the usual spots. Goa took an initiative — Goa Beyond Beaches — to decongest the beaches and add new experiences. The Prime Minister has also put forward the idea to build 50 new global-standard iconic destinations. Although, I believe this problem will remain because by the time we build 50, demand will have increased five-fold.We are not just working on the supply side; we have also started working on the demand side. How can the traveller’s behaviour be more responsible? When we go to another country, Indians automatically become responsible. But in India, we consider it our right; this is our country, we can do whatever we want. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism (right), with Liz Mathew, Deputy Editor, The Indian Express. (Photo by Renuka Puri)Liz Mathew: Nowadays, Indian tourists abroad too create a bad name.Of the 2.5 crore people travelling outside of India, maybe 250 people do something wrong. You shouldn’t judge the country’s character by that.Story continues below this adWe took on a pilot project called ‘Paryatan Mitra’ or ‘Paryatan Didi’, where we train local youngsters. In the future, we will train 10,000 such children. We have also worked on re-skilling tourist guides so that they cultivate responsible tourism.Harikishan Sharma: A major factor why the cost of travelling within India remains high is the government’s taxation policy, especially on hotels. Thailand has 5 per cent whereas we have 18 per cent. Have you raised this with the Finance Ministry?I have personally written a letter to the Finance Minister and requested her to support the sector. I extracted data from all our peer competitors and given it to her to be considered at the GST Council.At the Council, the government, Ladakh, Goa and Andaman and Nicobar islands each have one vote. Everyone should bring this demand from their respective regions to the GST Council so that GST can be re-rationalised on this.Story continues below this adVikas Pathak: When the Jantar Mantar protest started, there was little response from the government in the first 20 days. Do you think the government delayed its response?Initially, the government viewed the movement as a sitting without facts or basis. But as it spread and distressed the youth while political parties sought benefits, a government response became necessary.The Under-18 World children asked why Dharmendra Pradhan was welcomed with garlands in Parliament after resigning following youth protests; if we were rubbing salt in their wounds. I asked them if they had ever thrown a tantrum at home, explaining that parents sometimes accept a child’s tantrum not because the child is right but to honour their emotions.Liz Mathew: But why did you receive him with garlands?Our leader accepted the children’s insistence and resigned. Boosting the morale of a leader who spent 30 years building his political standing by working with grassroots workers is our responsibility. He is not a scapegoat. He offered his resignation voluntarily, and caring for our leader is our duty.Manoj C G: You said we have to match the wavelength of this generation, but when you say a minister resigned to ‘pamper the children’, aren’t you patronising them?What is right is right. The children I spoke to were very smart. They asked me a difficult question and were satisfied with my answer.Suanshu Khurana: During the lathi charge at Jantar Mantar, Parliament wanted to discuss Vande Mataram and the inclusion of all its six stanzas. What do you think about the politicisation of the national song?During the freedom struggle, when the self-confidence of Indians had wavered, Vande Mataram awakened that self-confidence. It served as a uniting thread across tribal and sanyasi movements, 1857 and the Quit India Movement. Thousands took bullets, hung from gallows or received lathi blows with the two words ‘Vande Mataram’ on their lips. Who politicised such a sacred song? First, the Congress did it when, in the name of appeasement, they divided it into two parts.Suanshu Khurana: Wouldn’t you call it inclusivity?Now, when the country is commemorating it with a sense of gratitude on the completion of 150 years — a song which the Constituent Assembly gave a status equal to Jana Gana Mana — it was decided that it should be codified. Where was there any scope for politics in this?Suanshu Khurana: It seems to appeal to the BJP’s idea of nationalism.It appeals to the idea of Bharatiyatva (Indianness). Where is the politics in this? Ask those who are opposing it why they are. Because of those same feelings of appeasement. Even now, they see that vote bank.Liz Mathew: Why do you call inclusivity appeasement?Inclusivity at the cost of our national song, culture, ideology and soul has damaged the country. Truncated under past pressure, Vande Mataram was our ideal then and is our ideal today.Shahid Pervez: At a ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event Rahul Gandhi urged women to smash patriarchy. How do you look at the issue of patriarchy? flagged by the LOP?He should be ashamed. He is looking at his political future by climbing onto the shoulders of children. Indians are not going to vote based on such deceptive things.Adrija Roychowdhury: What is the Centre doing to create national or international interest in the Keeladi excavations in Tamil Nadu?The ASI conducted excavations with the Centre’s permission, but the submitted report had shortcomings — incomplete scientific evidence, charts, diagrams and photographs. The state government politicised its non-publication. Without scientific validation, publishing it would destroy our credibility. Once validated, we will be more than happy as it adds a new dimension to our civilisational development.Saikat Bose: The Malviya Nagar fire revealed how budget hotels operate without fire exits or municipal norms. Is there an overview by the Centre?Hotel fires and compliance with building norms are handled at the municipality level, where the Central government has neither a role nor a right.Reva Thakkar: With an increase in Israeli tourists, including IDF soldiers, in places like Himachal Pradesh, is there a screening process?Israel is our strategic partner country. Visas are issued through an online system, and verification of a person’s record and background is the responsibility of the Indian embassy in that country.Atif Shah: Whenever there is a security breach in Kashmir, the tourist spots are closed for two or three months. Shouldn’t security forces be deployed instead?On the day Pahalgam happened, the government was questioned over security. We have to ensure every traveller’s safety, while harnessing the tourism potential. So after Pahalgam, we closed places where there could be a security threat. But it’s not that tourism possibilities have suddenly decreased; we can’t open up 100 per cent of the experiences. But 70 per cent are there.Divya A: TheASI has over 3,000 vacancies out of 8,000 posts, which affect heritage conservation.Nearly 80 per cent of the 3,000 vacancies in ASI are all at the level of Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) . Currently in India, when MTS vacancies are announced, because there is direct selection, the SSC (Staff Selection Commission) reports to us and gives us numbers. But when a person finds out their posting is for the security of a field in Assam, they don’t join. Whoever joins stays for maybe seven days. Someone joins, and then gets a better job elsewhere, so they leave.So these vacancies continue. It doesn’t mean no one is working on them. Contractual labour is already working. When the permanent recruit comes, they will be removed.