NEW DELHI: The Centre’s flagship tourism scheme, Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD 2.0) aimed at developing sustainable and responsible destinations, has been progressing at a sluggish pace, with over 84% of sanctioned projects still below 25% physical completion even after three years.
The slow progress came under scrutiny during a recent review as it was found that poor coordination between the Centre and states was a key reason behind the delays. In an effort to address the issue, the tourism ministry has introduced a Project Management Information System (PMIS) to track project progress. States and UTs have also been directed to upload time-stamped photographs documenting stages of the project lifecycle to ensure transparency and accountability.
Out of 91 projects, only one project has achieved more than 75% progress and four projects are 50-75% completed. While nine projects are 25-30% in completion band, 77 projects are still less than 25% complete, as per the ministry’s recent submission before the department-related standing committee.
Under the scheme, 53 projects have been sanctioned Rs 2,208.31 crore. Additionally, 38 projects worth Rs 697.94 crore have been sanctioned under the Challenge Based Destination Development (CBDD) sub-scheme across four themes—spiritual tourism, culture and heritage, vibrant villages, and eco-tourism and Amrit Dharohar.