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ALL IS NOT WELL WITH COORG HOMESTAYS. OFFICIAL PATRONAGE FOR ILLEGAL HOMESTAYS?

By P.T. Bopanna

While Coorg district in Karnataka has emerged as ‘India’s homestay capital’, there is a seamier side to the story. It is believed there are more illegal homestays than registered ones. Illegal homestays run with the tacit support of the police and local authorities.

While the owner of a registered homestay is supposed to live in the premises, this is seldom the case as it is outsourced to a caretaker. This came to the fore recently when a caretaker harassed two women guests by banging on their doors in the wee hours. Since they refused to open the door, the caretaker allegedly punctured the car tyres of the guests.

According to Anita Bhaskar, deputy director of the department of tourism, Kodagu, there are 3,500 homestays in Kodagu district, of which only 2,269 have got registered so far.

When the officials are aware of the unregistered homestays, why no action has been taken against them. It is no secret that illegal homestays have the patronage of the official machinery and some of them are engaged in prostitution, gambling and rave parties.

In the past, former minister M.C. Nanaiah, who was chairman of the committee to suggest measures for safety of women and children, was quoted as saying “At least 3,000 homestays operate in the Malnad region without certification from the state tourism department. They offer rooms at rates much lower than the licensed homestays. Most of these places do not have families staying in them and are run by people with dubious credentials. These illegal activities cannot happen without the tacit support of police and local authorities.”

Over the years, it has become a routine exercise for the Kodagu DCs and SPs to declare that the district administration will crack down on illegal homestays. But this seldom happens because homestays are a cash cow for officials and elected representatives at the lower level.