The Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge), Tourism (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma is on a two day (April 17-18, 2015) visit to the North -East. He is accompanied by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju and senior officials of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. On the first day of his visit today, the Minister made a tour of the various ongoing projects of Tourism of Government of India in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. He will visit the states of Manipur and Nagaland on the second day of his visit tomorrow.
Dr Sharma held a meeting with Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh , Shri Nabam Tuki at Itanagar. During his meeting with Shri Tuki, the Minister highlighted the importance of the North-east especially from the view point of Tourism. The Minister said that the North-east has a large unexploited potential for tourism and the Union Tourism Ministry has designated a special circuit for the region under its new Swadesh Darshan scheme. The Government will help to create the necessary infrastructure and other facilities required for promoting tourism in the region under this scheme. The Minister held a detailed meeting with the senior officers of Arunachal Pradesh on projects of Ministry of Tourism and Culture.
Earlier during the day, Dr. Mahesh Sharma paid an inspection visit to the Adventure Camping site and Tourist Lodge at Bhalukpong in Arunachal Pradesh, which is sponsored by Ministry of Tourism, Government of India as a part of Sports and Adventure Tourism project. Dr Mahesh Sharma also laid the foundation stone of Tourist Lodge at Siddhartha Vihar in Itanagar as a part of Development of Itanagar-Doimukh-Sagalee Circuit by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. The Minister paid a visit to the Buddhist Gompa near Itanagar. The Minister will visit Nagaland and Manipur tomorrow. He will lay the foundation stone of the Regional Convention Centre of North-East Zonal Cultural Centre (NEZCC) at Dimapur. On his return to Guwahati, Dr Mahesh Sharma will visit Kamkhya temple. Kamakhya has been identified as one of the twelve cities for the new scheme PRASAD of Ministry of Tourism.