The parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture has referred to the tourism ministry’s flagship Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (Prasad) scheme as one whose conceptualisation is “radically wrong” and which needs a “complete relook”.
What’s the issue?
The standing committee noted that the scheme was not running properly even three years after its launch. It said, “States are not actually buying the idea of tourism department and their plan. The committee visited Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and during deliberations of the committee, it came to know that they have their own tourism policy. But it seems there is no coordination with the central government.” The standing committee was also dissatisfied with the government’s response blaming state government agencies for the delay.
The committee also notes that there is something radically wrong with the conceptualisation of the ‘Prasad’ scheme itself. The committee finds that study of the ‘Prasad’ scheme shows that it has not been properly conceived at all. Even today, without government intervention, there are many other well operated religious circuits in the country.” The standing committee recommended that the ministry undertake a “complete relook” of the scheme.
About PRASAD scheme:
PRASAD scheme aims to create spiritual centres for tourism development within the nation. To implement the PRASAD scheme a Mission Directorate has been set up in the Ministry of Tourism.
Twelve cities namely Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Gaya(Bihar), Dwaraka(Gujarat), Amritsar(Punjab), Ajmer(Rajasthan), Kanchipuram(Tamil Nadu), Vellankani(Tamil Nadu), Puri(Odisha), Varanasi(Uttar Prasesh), Mathura(Uttar Pradesh), Kedarnath (Uttarakhand) and Kamakhya (Assam) have been identified for development under Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) by the Ministry of Tourism.
