SOP of any organization is the established or prescribed methods to be followed routinely for the performance of designated operations to help ensure consistent and quality output. The government of Nepal had established the Tourist Police to help foreign tourists in Nepal overcome possible difficulties and hassles during their stay and hence contribute in sustainable development of tourism.
According to the Tourist Police, which was created under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, it has double accountability as it is mandated to report to the Nepal Police as well.
"It looks like the Tourist Police has double roles due to lack of specific guidelines or mechanism to function. But we are to bring reforms in their operating procedures in near future," Gobinda Bahadur Karki, the director general of Department of Tourism, said.
Inspector Rukesh Tandukar, in-charge of a Tourist Police unit, said, "We suffer several problems due to lack of clear provisions in legal acts, thereby creating confusions in our responsibilities."
Established as 'mobile tourist police' with just seven policemen, the Tourist Police at present has the strength of 227 personnel working under the supervision of police inspector in different 14 districts including the Kathmandu Valley.
Apart from bearing hassles due to unclear legal provisions, the Tourist Police has also been undergoing hard times due to lack of integrated record system of tourists entering, exiting Nepal and records of illegally staying tourists.
Tourist Police registers complaints and takes immediate action in order to recover lost goods and documents of the tourists and also prepares police reports for them. Tourist Police is celebrating the 37th Tourist Police Day on Monday.
Related story
Chinese language training provided to tourist police
