Arun Jaitley, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister presented the ‘Letters of Intent’ to Seven shortlisted companies under ‘Adopt a Heritage Scheme’ of Ministry of Tourism at the closing ceremony of ‘Paryatan Parv’ at Rajpath Lawns, New Delhi today. He also presented Certificates to the ‘Best Participating Central Government Ministry and Best Participating State Government’. Shri K.J. Alphons, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism presided over the function. The Paryatan Parv was organized by Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with other Central Ministries, State Governments and Stakeholders across the from 5th to 25th October 2017.Ministry of Youth Affairs was given the Certificate of Best Participating Ministry and M/o DONER was given the Runner Up Certificate. Madhya Pradesh was given the Certificate of Best Participating State and Gujarat was given the Runner Up Certificate.Addressing on the occasion, Shri Arun Jaitley said that the Paryatan Parv is an event to show India’s tourism potential which is available in our country. Geographically India has so many explored and unexplored tourism destinations. Normally religion, Nature and History attract tourism and India has all these. India’s cultural heritages and shrines are remarkable. It has largest sea shore in the world besides forests, wild life and many historical monuments. Whereas many countries in the world have one or two historical monuments to attract tourists, India has a plenty of these. But India lacks in connectivity and large sized airports. But very soon, regional connectivity scheme of Ministry of Civil aviation will start and which will boom tourism in our country.He opined that historical monuments need to be properly maintained and “Adopt a Heritage scheme” is a very good step in this direction. He emphasized that we need an atmosphere of hospitality in our country.
In his address, Shri K.J. Alphons said that ‘Paryatan Parv’ is a celebration of art, culture and tradition and incredible performing arts of India. Many Central ministries and State Governments have participated in this Parv. He said that Tourism contributes to 6.8% of India’s GDP. He opined that there is much more scope for promotion of domestic tourism in our country. He expressed his concern that still there is huge shortage of hotel rooms in our country. He called upon foreigners to come to India to see and experience it. He congratulated all award winners of “Best Participating Ministries and State Governments as well as of “Dekho Apna Desh Contests”.The ‘Adopt a Heritage Scheme’ of Ministry of Tourism was launched on World Tourism Day i.e. 27th September, 2017 by the President of India. Thereafter, Ministry of Tourism invited Private Sector Companies, Public Sector Companies and Corporate individuals to adopt the sites and to take up the responsibility for making our heritage and tourism more sustainable through conservation and development. This scheme is a unique endeavour of Ministry of Tourism in close collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) which envisages developing monuments, heritage and tourist sites across India and making them tourist friendly to enhance their tourism potential and cultural importance, in a planned and phased manner. The Inter-Ministerial oversight and vision committee members appreciated the positive response received from reputed organisations in the Initial phase, wherein Fifty Seven (57) responses have been recorded and fourteen (14) monuments have been opted through seven (7) Expression Of Interest(s). After detailed scrutiny, the following stakeholders ranging from hospitality industry, travel industry and banking industry have been shortlisted for vision biding for final selection of Monument Mitras:
SBI Foundation shortlisted for the adoption of -
o Jantar Mantar, Delhi.
· TK International Limited shortlisted for the adoption of -
o Sun Temple, Konark
o Raja Rani Temple, Bhubaneshwar
o Ratnagiri Monuments, Jajpur, Odisha
· Yatra Online Pvt. Limited shortlisted for the adoption of:
o Hampi, Karnataka
o Leh Palace, Jammu & Kashmir
o Qutub Minar, Delhi
o Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra
· Travel Corporation of India Ltd. shortlisted for the adoption of:
o Mattancherry Palace Museum, Kochi
o Safdarjung Tomb, Delhi
· Adventure Tour Operator Association of India shortlisted for the adoption of :
o Gangotri Temple Area and Trail to Gaumukh
o Mt. StokKangri, Laddakh, Jammu and Kashmir
· Special Holidays Travel Pvt. Ltd. (With) Rotary Club of Delhi shortlisted for the adoption of Agrasen ki Baoli, Delhi
· NBCC shortlisted for the adoption of Purana Quila, Delhi
These Seven shortlisted companies will be the future Monument Mitras who would associate pride with their CSR activities. The projects aims to develop synergy among all partners.Today in the afternoon, different States/ UTs presented their cultural performances viz. Assam presented Bihu; Daman & Diu presented Macchi Dance; Andhra Pradesh presented Kuychipudi; Rajasthan presented Chari & Ghoomer; Tamil Nadu presented Karakattam Thappattarm; Jammu & Kashmir presented Kashmiri Dances; and Telangana presented Perini. In the evening, Smt. Savita Devi presented ‘Purab Ang Gayaki of Banaras Gharana’ which was followed by Choreographed Cultural Performance by North Zone Cultural Centre.Paryatan Parv received a very enthusiastic response from other Central Ministries and State Governments, who had come forward in organizing various activities and events and based on reports received, the event which has spread to all regions of the country had been received very well and had attracted participation in large numbers.