HYDERABAD: Government school students will have an opportunity to visit popular tourist destinations in the state under ‘Telangana Darshini’, which was announced by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Friday.
Announcing the programme, he said that students studying in government schools will be given an opportunity to visit tourist and historical places in the state free of cost and that Telangana Darshini would educate the students about the historical and tourist places.
As per the order released by the Youth Advancement, Tourism and Culture department, this tour program has been structured for students from class 2 to graduation from all the government schools and colleges for educational and cultural experiences. In addition, the programme will also be extended to residential schools, KGVBs, model schools and a few Yuva Tourism Clubs.
Places known for ecotourism, arts and crafts, heritage and places of cultural, historical and scientific importance will be included in the tours, which can be conducted during weekdays or working days, said the order.
Under the broad guidelines for the programme, the tourism department has grouped the students into four categories for this purpose, and made allocation of funds for each category based on the number of students and duration.
The first category has students from class 2 to class 4; second category, from class 5 to class 8; third category, from class 9 to intermediate; and fourth category, degree courses. The expenditure for the tours will be borne by the departments of Tourism, Education, Scheduled Castes Development, Tribal Welfare, Backward Classes Welfare and Environment, Forest Science and Technology.
The order further said that a separate committee with nodal officers designated by departments concerned will chalk out a detailed plan with suggestions for places to visit, accommodation, etc., and also make suitable arrangements for the visit.The managing director of Telangana Tourism Development Corporation Limited has been nominated as the convenor to finalise the tour plans along with nodal officers of various departments for implantation of the programme.
The transportation, security of the students and drafting of teachers and coordination officers in the tour groups will lie with the district collectors and superintendents of police concerned, the order said.
Tourist spots along Musi
The chief minister also announced that historic buildings located along the Musi River will be developed as famous tourist spots. He appealed to industrialists to come forward for the preservation of buildings which reflect the culture of Hyderabad.
Speaking about the restoration of other heritage buildings in the city, he said that the state government has taken up the renovation of the old Assembly building and the state Legislative Council will be shifted to the renovated buildings soon.
The State Tourism Department signed an agreement with the Confederation of Indian Industry for the restoration of several ancient stepwells.
Many industrialists have taken the initiative to adopt the stepwells for restoration. Infosys has taken the responsibility of renovation of the Mahalaka stepwell in Osmania University; Sai Life has adopted Manchirevula stepwell; Bharat Biotech will restore the Salar Jung and Ammapalli wells; Adikmet step well will be renovated by Dodla Dairy; Falaknuma stepwell will be restored by TGRTC and Koti Women’s College will restore the Residency stepwell.
