New Delhi, July 30: The Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance to State Governments and Union Territory (UT) Administrations under the schemes of Swadesh Darshan, National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) and Assistance to Central Agencies for the development of tourism related infrastructure in the country.
Under the PRASHAD Scheme, 26 religious cities and sites in 19 States have been identified for development which inter-alia include Amaravati and Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, Kamakhya in Assam, Patna and Gaya inBihar, Dwarka and Somnath in Gujarat, Gurudwara Nada Saheb in Haryana, Hazratbal and Katra in Jammu & Kashmir.
Deogarh in Jharkhand, Chamundeshwari Devi in Karnataka, Guruvayoor in Kerala, Una in Himachal Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra, Puri in Odisha, Amritsar in Punjab, Ajmer in Rajasthan, Kanchipuram and Vellankani in Tamil Nadu, Varanasi and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, Badrinath and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand and Belur in West Bengal.
The Scheme of Assistance to Central Agencies for Tourism Infrastructure Development aims at developing tourism related infrastructure through central financial assistance to the Central Agencies who own the assets. This information was given by the Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism Shri. K. J. Alphons, in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
