Jajpur: Although tourism is a major source of revenue for the state and the Centre, the latter has allegedly turned a blind eye to development of this sector in the state. The Centre’s failure to develop the tourist sites in Odisha under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme is a case in point.
It is yet to accept the proposals submitted by the state government for the development of several tourist sites. Launched in 2014-15, the Swadesh Darshan Scheme comes handy in the integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits.
The scheme aims to promote, develop and harness potentials of tourism in India through infrastructure development with financial assistance from the Centre.
The matter came to the fore when state Tourism Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi highlighted the Centre’s negligence towards the development of tourist sites in the state while replying to a question of MLA Mohan Charan Majhi in last session of the State Assembly.
The minister said that the Centre is yet to include Odisha in the Development of Buddhist circuits under its Swadesh Darshan scheme. The state Tourism department submitted a proposal along with a project report to the Union government September 24, 2019.
Later, a reminder was sent to the Centre July 17, 2020. However, the Centre is yet to reply in this regard.
The state Tourism department had also submitted a proposal to the Centre, October 24, 2015 for development of a rural tourist circuit and another proposal for a spiritual circuit under the Swadesh Darshan scheme in Odisha, January 1, 2016.
The department has also submitted a list of the tourist sites to the Centre for development under the Sagarmala Highway project, October 22, 2020. However, none of these projects has been approved so far.
The state with a 500-km-long coastline, scenic hills, lakes, natural biodiversity, rivers, wildlife reserves, beaches, temples, monuments, arts and festivals, varied tribal cultures and the delectable cuisines is one of the favoured destinations of tourists.
The state has over 500 small and big tourist sites. The state government is developing sites like Srikhetra Puri, Tara Tarini shrine in Ganjam, Samaleswari temple in Sambalpur, Sun temple at Konark, Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar on its own.
However, the development of many tourist sites is moving at a snail’s pace due to neglect and apathetic attitude of the government officials.
PNN