After putting Uttar Pradesh back on the track with its battle against the second Covid wave, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stressed on providing new identity to archaeological, cultural, religious places and forest areas located in the remote areas of the state to promote religious tourism.
Promising to turn these places into popular tourist hubs, the state government has plans to promote employment opportunities, business and crafts and soon all major pilgrimage sites and ‘Siddhapeeths’ of the state will mark their presence on the world map.
Aiming to transform UP into a landmark religious-tourist destination across the globe, the state government has started beautification work of Vindhyachal, Chitrakoot, Naimisaranya (Sitapur), Shakumbhari Devi Sidhpeeth (Saharanpur), Shuktirth, Shravasti, Balrampur, Devipatan and other religious places in Muzaffarnagar n a war footing to enhance facilities for the convenience of tourists and pilgrims.
The chief minister has instructed officials of the Tourism department that negligence of any kind would not be tolerated under any circumstances. “Stringent action will be taken if any kind of deficiency is noticed in the quality of work. Complete all the work by September 30 and hand it over to concerned institutions and trusts after the work of religious places is completed.”
The development work is being carried out by the Tourism department under the CM's Tourism Promotion Scheme which is aimed at bringing significant changes in the state. These tourist destinations will become arenas for social change and development. “Due to the negligence of previous governments, these places were far away from the reach of tourists till date. But for the first time, after the Yogi Government came into power, the revamping work of all religious places has been started,” a UP government spokesman said.
“The Yogi government has left the previous regimes far behind in launching various schemes to promote tourism. Shravasti, Kapilvastu, Kushinagar in Buddhist circuit, Chitrakoot in Ramayana circuit, development of tourism facilities in Shringverpur have become great examples of this. Besides, the unprecedented work of starting water sports activities in Ramgarhtal of Gorakhpur and increasing the number of tourists in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, Lakhimpur Kheri, Dudhwa National Park, Jim Corbett National Park were also among major achievements of the Yogi government,” he claimed.
The spokesman further said, “The state government received global praise for its unique initiative on tourist places and developing new ones. Besides, organising of Prayagraj Kumbh 2019 was praised by UNESCO while celebration of Deepotsav at Ayodhya found place in Guinness Book of World Records. The celebrations of Krishna festival of Mathura, Rangotsav in Barsana, Shivratri in Varanasi have also established their identity across the world.”