A day after the Government hiked the entry fee for 116 monuments, including the Sun Temple at Konark, the Konark Suraksha Samiti (KSS) on Saturday locked the ticket counter of the temple protesting the Government’s decision.
The Government has announced a three-fold hike for domestic visitors and 100 per cent for foreign tourists for entry into the historic monuments across the country.
“We are demanding a rollback of the decision. Today, we will decide to go on an indefinite protest till our demand is met,” Konark Suraksha Samiti convenor Badal Das said.
The tourists were disappointed after being denied entry to the 13th-century temple following the protests.
“It is a wrong step. We came from far-off places to visit the temple but found the ticket counter and the entry gate closed. The hike should have been such that all classes of visitors should afford it,” a tourist said.
For the 32 World Heritage Monuments, the ticket price has been increased from Rs10 to Rs30 for domestic visitors while the entry fee for foreign tourists has been doubled from Rs250 to Rs500.
The ticket rates for monuments other than the World Heritage ones have been increased at par with the World Heritage sites. The fee has been increased from Rs5 to Rs15 for domestic visitors and from Rs100 to Rs200 for foreigners.
On the other hand, tourists from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) countries are treated at par with Indians and are charged similarly.
It may be mentioned that the revision in visitors’ fee comes after a period of more than 15 years as the last hike took place in 2000.
The Konark Suraksha Samiti has been demanding waiver of entry fee to the Sun Temple.