Recognising concerted efforts made by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to perpetuate State’s rich cultural legacy, the Central Government on Wednesday agreed to grant Rs25 crore to the State every year as financial assistance for upcoming iconic heritage and tourism projects across the State.
The decision was taken by Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Affairs Shripad Yesso Naik in a meeting with the Chief Minister on Wednesday.During the meeting, Badal apprised Naik about State Government’s efforts to preserve and highlight rich cultural heritage by constructing Virasat-e-Khalsa Memorial at Sri Anandpur Sahib, which was daily visited by nearly 10000 visitors.
Badal also apprised the Union Minister about the state-of-the-art Museum-cum-Panorama centre coming up at Valmiki Tirath in Amritsar, where Bhagwan Valmiki had created great epic and masterpiece Ramayana.He added that to showcase supreme sacrifices made by Punjabis in national freedom struggle, the State Government was coming up with Jang-e-Azaadi memorial at Kartapur near Jalandhar, besides the War Heroes Museum at Amritsar to highlight sacrifices made by Punjabis in armed forces and showcase their the gallantry spirit.
Badal also envisaged special allocation of funds for its ongoing tourism and cultural heritage project as state had made remarkable progress in showcasing glorious cultural heritage not only at national but at international level also.lauding state government’s efforts to acquaint younger generations about their glorious history, the Union Minister assured Badal that Centre would soon sanction nearly Rs 25 crore every year for projects listed by him including the second phase of Virasat-e-Khalsa.
Acceding to Badal’s another demand, Naik assured him that the Ministry would sympathetically look into the matter of setting up skill centers across the state under its ‘Hunar Se Rozgaar Tak’ program. Naik assured that he would soon get state government’s proposal of Food Craft Institute at Mithra in Hoshiarpur district thoroughly examined to ensure its expeditious clearance.
He also assured Badal that feasibility of setting up another Institute of Hotel Management in the state, similarly on the pattern of already existing one at Gurdaspur, would also be explored to enable youth to avail tremendous job opportunities in the Hospitality sector.Union Minister informed Badal had already cleared the proposal of Mega Sikh Tourism Circuit encompassing Amritsar-Dera Baba Nanak-Sultanpur lodhi under its scheme of Mega Projects.