To project Punjab as a global tourist destination, the World Bank on Tuesday offered to fund projects for promotion of religious, heritage, health and ethnic tourism in the State.
A four-member team of senior World Bank (WB) officials, led by its Country Director Onno Ruhl, met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday and asked the Punjab Government to work out the modalities in this regard.
Ruhl said that the WB had already made similar offers to Pakistan’s Punjab State to develop its tourism and Indian Punjab was being invited to promote tourism as both the eastern and western Punjab shared a common cultural affinity and glorious cultural heritage.
Punjab has been asked to send a detailed proposal of different tourism projects to be developed through financial assistance from the WB.
Punjab gets a large number of visitors, especially devotees, annually due to its famous Sikh shrines and other heritage structures. The holiest Sikh shrine, Harmandir Sahib (popularly known as Golden Temple) in Amritsar attracts millions of people every year.
WB appreciated the State Government’s efforts for getting Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur corridor opened through mutual initiatives of Governments of India and Pakistan. He hoped that such initiatives would go a long way for promotion of tourism in the sub-continent.
Referring to the WB-aided Punjab Rural Water and Sanitation Sector Improvement Program (PRWSS), the Chief Minister urged Ruhl to allow the State Government to initiate PRWSS Project Phase II of Rs 2,200 crore in January 2015 instead of after March 2015.
Badal also sought technical and financial support from WB for setting up of skill development centres to impart technical training to the youth besides helping the State to revamp the century-old canal system which was now in extremely dilapidated condition and was unable to carry adequate quantity of water for irrigating the fields.
Ruhl assured that an expert of global level of World Bank is likely to visit Punjab in September 2014, who will take forward this dialogue and assess how World Bank can assist in this sector of agricultural and irrigation in Punjab.
Expressing satisfaction over the progress of ongoing World Bank Aided Rural Water Supply Project closing in December 2014, Ruhl stressed that implementation of new project should be taken up as per the old pattern of SWAP being followed in the first Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project.
He also agreed to a request from Badal regarding deposit of the beneficiary contribution for the poorest households by the village panchayats from its own sources. likewise, Ruhl also agreed to make efforts for preponing the commencement of new project with sanction from World Bank Washington Office in January 2015.
In addition broad outlines of the new World Bank Project under appraisal with the WB team worth Rs 2,200 crore were also finalised. In order to make Punjab ‘Open Defecation Free’, the World Bank team also agreed to have a look for an effective sustainable design for construction of twin leach pit toilet for water logged areas.