BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel on Friday announced that heritage site Konark will find a place in the list of iconic sites of the country.
“The people of Odisha will soon receive the good news about Konark being included in the list of iconic sites. We will organise a special event to announce the inclusion,” the Minister said while addressing the concluding day of the two-day National Tourism Conference 2020 at the Konark Eco Retreat.
Last year, there was a huge hue and cry about Konark not making it to the list announced by the Ministry of Tourism. The Centre had sanctioned Rs 5000 crore for the development of these sites across India. Taking up the issue with the Centre, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had urged Patel to include at least two important places of Odisha in the list of iconic tourist destinations of the country. Expressing concern over the omission of Odisha from the list of 17 iconic tourism sites earmarked in the Budget, the Chief Minister had drawn attention towards the development of prime tourist destinations of the State like the Sun Temple at Konark and Chandrabhaga beach, Chilika Lake, Bhitarkanika National Park, Similipal Biosphere and Buddhist Diamond Triangle.
Talking to media persons here, the Minister said he would take up conservation of the Sun Temple with ASI authorities. Besides, he would try to know from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) about the allegations of replacing sculptured stones from the walls of the 13th-century temple with plain stones.
“It is alleged that sculpted stones of the temple have been replaced by plain stones. If a replica can be made, we should not go for plain stone,” he said.
Addressing the conference, the Minister referred to the Paryatan Parv under which the Ministry has decided to award travellers who will visit 15 places in a year by sponsoring their travel expenses. “We will fund the travel expenses of the travellers who complete 15 destinations in a year and submit the photos to our website. But the person should travel out of his/her own State,” he said.
Additional Director General of Ministry of Tourism, Rupinder Brar asked the Odisha Government to encourage students and other candidates to participate in certificate programmes organised by the Ministry for tourist guides. “Out of 3500 students trained by us, there were only 15 participants from Odisha,” she said.
On the concluding day of the conference, a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) was signed between Odisha and Gujarat governments for cross-promotion of tourist sites in both the States as well as across the country. A formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) mentioning key frameworks and policies will be signed soon after discussion with relevant departments of both the States, Tourism Director Sachin Ramchandra Yadav said.
Gujarat, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh made a presentation on initiatives to promote tourism in their States.