The Mamata Banerjee government has decided to ignore a central advisory to set up special tourist police units in Bengal as it believes the existing force is doing the job well.

“We received the advisory recently. Primarily, it appears there is no need for such a force in Bengal now,” said a senior state official.

The reluctance to follow the advisory comes days after Mamata announced Bengal’s withdrawal from the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat health scheme, alleging the Narendra Modi government was trying to claim all credit for the jointly funded plan.

Sources in the Bengal government said the central advisory was sent to all states requesting them to set up special police for tourist spots. The move followed findings in a study by the Centre-run Indian Institute of Travel and Tourism Management (IITTM) that the existing force had failed to make tourists secure in some states.

The institute had recommended to the Union tourism ministry that a special force be raised along the lines of Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. These squads could be posted round the clock at airports, rail stations, bus stands and other areas where tourists are most likely to be cheated or harassed.

Sources said 14 Indian states, including Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka, already had specialised tourist police units. Some of these states had set up the special units before the Centre issued the latest advisory.

“The Centre had advised that the special force should have a different uniform compared with the existing forces and that it should operate directly under the state governments. Law and order is a state subject. But we are not sure whether a special force is required in Bengal as we don’t receive many complaints from tourists visiting the state,” said a official in state secretariat Nabanna.

Bengal draws a significant portion of foreign tourists and incidents of crimes reported against such visitors have been low, sources said, explaining one of the possible reasons behind the state’s reluctance to set up the special unit.

According to a report of the travel and tourism institute, Bengal drew nearly 15 lakh foreign tourists in 2015 — around 6.38 per cent of the nationwide tally that year.

“The report points out that in 2014, only four criminal cases were registered by foreign tourists in Bengal. The number of victims in these cases was only six. So, it is assumed that the existing police is working properly in Bengal,” said a source.

Other Bengal officials pointed out that key tourist spots like Digha, Darjeeling and Santiniketan have their own police stations and enough personnel to man these hubs. “This is why we feel there is no need for a special force now,” said another official.

Another section of officials pointed out that raising the special force involved heavy expenditure on new offices, additional salaries and other costs.

“The Centre is yet to propose grants for the special force,” said a source.