Manipur fails to make to list of sites for rural tourism
Source: Hueiyen News Service / PIB

Imphal, July 22 2015 : No sites in Manipur figure in the list of States for rural tourism sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Tourism.

The States in which the sites of Rural Tourism have been sanctioned are Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Tripura.

The ministry sanctioned 15 Rural Tourism sites for an amount of Rs 436.29 lakh during the year 2012-13.Similarly during 2013-14, 17 Rural Tourism sites for an amount of Rs.9.44 lakh was sanctioned & for 2014-15, 4 Rural Tourism sites received fund of Rs 131.05 lakh.

It has launched a new Scheme namely Swadesh Darshan for Integrated Development of Tourist Circuits around Specific Theme pursuant to the Budget 2014-15 Announcements.

One of the circuits which have been selected for development is Rural Tourism Circuit.

At present Ministry of Tourism does not receive any assistance from UNDP for promoting Rural Tourism.

Ministry of Tourism has a Rural Tourism Scheme which is the part of "Product/Infrastructure Development for Destinations and Circuits (PIDDC)" Scheme.

The main objective of this scheme is showcasing rural life, art, culture and heritage in villages, that have core competence in art & craft, handloom, textiles, natural environment etc.

Under this scheme, Central Financial Assistance (CFA) upto Rs.50.00 Lakh for infrastructure development and upto Rs.20.00 Lakh for capacity building is provided to State Governments/Union Territory Administrations for each identified site by them.

However, an amount of Rs.20.00 crore has been allocated under U.T.Plan for PIDDC during 2015-16 .

This information was given by the Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge), Culture (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation Dr Mahesh Sharma in reply to an unstarred question in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Comment