The
Ministry of Tourism has launched a scheme Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual
Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) for development and beautification of important
pilgrimage sites of the country in 2014-15. Under the scheme 13 sites have been
identified so far for development, namely Ajmer, Amritsar, Amaravati, Dwarka,
Gaya, Kedarnath, Kamakhya, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Patna, Puri, Varanasi and
Velankanni.
Details of the funds sanctioned for the projects of Mathura
under PRASAD Scheme are as under:-
(Rs. in crore)
|
Sl. No.
|
State
|
Name of the project
|
Sanctioned Amount
|
|
Year-
2014-15
|
|
1.
|
Uttar
Pradesh
|
Development
of Mathura-Vrindavan as Mega Tourist Circuit (Ph-II)
|
14.93
|
|
2.
|
- do-
|
Construction
of Tourist Facilitation Centre at Vrindavan, Distt. Mathura
|
9.35
|
The Ministry of Tourism has also launched another scheme,
Swadesh Darshan for integrated development of theme based tourist circuits in
the country in 2014-15. Ramayana and Krishna Circuits are among the thirteen
thematic circuits identified for development under the scheme.
The destinations initially identified for development under
the Ramayana, Krishna Circuits in the country are as under:
·
Ramayana Circuit: Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur & Chitrakoot (Uttar
Pradesh); Sitamarhi, Buxar & Darbhanga (Bihar); Chitrakoot (Madhya
Pradesh); Mahendragiri (Odisha); Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh); Nashik & Nagpur
(Maharashtra) Bhadrachalam (Telangana); Hampi (Karnataka) and Rameshwaram
(Tamil Nadu).
·
Krishna Circuit: Dwarka (Gujarat); Nathdwara, Jaipur & Sikar
(Rajasthan); Kurukshetra (Haryana), Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul, Barsana,
Nandgaon & Govardhan (Uttar Pradesh) and Puri (Odisha).
In the current financial year, the budget allocation for
the PRASAD scheme is Rs.100 crore while that for the Swadesh Darshan scheme is
Rs.706.35 crore. Suitable projects relating to the identified sites/circuits
are eligible for sanction subject to adherence to scheme guidelines, availability
of resources and submission of previous utilization certificates.
This information was given by Dr.
Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Culture and Tourism in a written
reply in Rajya Sabha today.
****
Sanjay Kumar/jk/Tourism-2/3-8-2016