The Central Government has approved Rs 99.94 crore based on a Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted by Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) for development of the Tribal Tourism Circuit in the State under ‘Swadesh Darshan’ package.
The approval was given in a Secretary-level meeting held in New Delhi recently, officials stated.
The objective of forming the tourism circuit is to highlight rich and ancient tribal culture and environment of Chhattisgarh’s tribal dominated regions.
Under this tribal tourism circuit, Jashpur, Kunkuri, Mainpat, Ambikapur, Maheshpur, Ratanpur, Kurdur, Sarodhadadar, Gangrel, Nathiyanawagaon (Kanker), Kondagaon, Jagdalpur, Chitrakoot, Teerathgarh will be developed for tourism.
In this circuit, Jashpur, Ambikapur and Sarodhadadar would be developed as ethnic tourist village and Mainpat, Kurdur, Gangrel, Kondagaon, Jagdalpur, Chitrakoot and Teerathgarh are to be developed for eco-ethnic tourism while work for sight amenities will be carried out in Kunkuri, Maheshpur and Nathiyanawagaon.
The Ministry of Tourism will soon be allocating funds for the circuit and work in this regard would be carried out in a sequential manner.
Notably, in August this year, the Central government had granted 'in-principle' approval for including Chhattisgarh in the ‘Tribal Tourism Circuit’ under its ‘Swadesh Darshan’ package, officials stated.
The 'in-principle' approval was granted in a high-level meeting of officials which was attended by Chhattisgarh Tourism Minister Dayaldas Baghel and Union Minister of State for Tourism ( Independent Charge) Dr Mahesh Sharma in New Delhi.
Notably, the Union Ministry of Tourism launched the following two new schemes pursuant to the Budget 2014-15 announcements — Swadesh Darshan for Integrated Development of Tourist Circuits around Specific Themes and National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) to beautify and improve the amenities and infrastructure at pilgrimage centres of all faiths.
Funds have been sanctioned to States or UTs for developing tourism destinations and circuits during 2014-15, which includes projects relating to Product or Infrastructure Development for Destinations and Circuits (PIDDC), Human Resource Development (HRD), Fairs and Festivals and Rural Tourism.
The Union Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) to State Governments or UT Administrations for various tourism projects subject to availability of funds, inter-se priority, liquidation of pending utilisation certificates against the funds released earlier and adherence to the relevant scheme guidelines.
Twelve theme based circuits i.e. North East Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit and Ramayana Circuit have been identified for development under ‘Swadesh Darshan’.
Under PRASAD, initially twelve cities have been identified namely Ajmer, Amritsar, Amravati, Dwarka, Gaya, Kedarnath, Kamakhaya, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Puri, Varanasi and Velankanni.
The revised budget allocation for these schemes in the financial year 2014-15 were Rs 20 crore and Rs 15.60 crore respectively. In the current financial year, the budget provision for these schemes is Rs 600 crore for Swadesh Darshan and Rs 100 crore for PRASAD. These are Central Sector Schemes, hence State or UT-wise allocations have not been made.
Chhattisgarh is among only two other states which had sent a proposal to the Union Ministry of Tourism for its theme-based ‘Swadesh Darshan’ scheme for development of eco-tourism infrastructure in the State.
The proposal by Chhattisgarh is for ‘Integrated Development of Eco Tourism’ circuit in Rajmergarh–Kabir Chabutra-Achanakmar Tiger Reserve- Kurdar-Sirpur-Kodar Dam-Gangrel Dam-Kanger Valley National Park, officials informed.
Notably, in 2014-15, the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) had drawn up ambitious plans to develop India’s biggest 'Eco-tourism hub' in the State, an official press release issued last year had stated.
The press release had stated that CTB had already received Rs 113.5 crores project prioritisation go ahead from the Union Ministry of Tourism to take its plans forward.