Nation

Ministry to cut down on theme-based tourism circuits under Swadesh Darshan scheme

Ritwika Mitra

NEW DELHI:  The  Ministry of Tourism is planning to streamline implementation of its Swadesh Darshan scheme which aims to increase theme-based tourist circuits in the country and will instead divert its attention to develop the limited number of spots to its full potential for tourists.

Currently, there are 15 theme-based circuits. These are Buddhist, coastal, desert, eco, heritage, Himalayan, Krishna, north-east, Ramayana, rural, spiritual, Sufi, Tirthankar, tribal and wildlife.

Following a review of the states and circuits of the existing projects, the ministry is planning to keep each circuit limited to four or five states. Within a state, the ministry is mulling over limiting each circuit to four or five main locations.

“This is a step towards making the projects more effective with the funds available that are available. The ministry is currently reviewing the states where the existing circuits are to monitor the impact of the schemes,” said an official.

“The idea is to bring down the number of locations and states for each circuit,” added the official.

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