The Goa government has been pitching for inclusion of the coastal state under the Centre's ambitious 'PRASAD' scheme, which it said would help in reviving infrastructure at the heritage monuments and places of archaeological importance, Archives Minister said Monday.
The move comes in the wake of a section of people opposing the Central government's "Adopt a Heritage scheme", under which the monuments are supposed to be taken up for infrastructure upgradation by private parties.
Goa Archives and Archaeology department has been communicating with the Union government to cover the state under Union Tourism ministry's Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) scheme.
State Archives Minister Vijai Sardesai said the talks are on with the Central government so that the infrastructure at the heritage monuments and places of archaeological value could be taken up for upgradation under Central funds.
He said the discussions are currently on and that the state government is optimistic that the Union government will consider the proposal from Goa.
Ministry of Tourism has listed twelve cities including Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Gaya (Bihar), Dwarka (Gujarat), Amritsar (Punjab), Ajmer (Rajasthan), Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu), Vellankani (Tamil Nadu), Puri (Odisha), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Kedarnath (Uttarakhand) and Kamkhya (Assam) under PRASAD scheme.
A senior officer from Archives and Archaeology department said a mission directorate has been set up in the union ministry of tourism to implement PRASAD scheme in these cities.
"There were apprehensions that we (government) would hand over our monuments to private parties under 'Adopt a Heritage scheme'. To dispel these, the state government has decided to put up infrastructure under the Centrally-sponsored scheme", the officer said.
Apprehensions were raised over handing over of Old Goa churches and historic Cab-de-Rama Fort to the private parties under the Heritage scheme.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)