Govt plans tourism circuit connecting Ambedkar sites

DHARAMSHALA: A tourism circuit connecting ‘Panch Teerth’, the five key sites associated with Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the founding father of the Indian Constitution, is among the key thrust areas of a tourism action plan being drawn up by the government. The circuit will focus on improving connectivity, enhancing tourism infrastructure, streamlining branding, and showcasing the connect the sites have with Ambedkar.
This comes days after former President Ram Nath Kovind released a book titled ‘Ambedkar and Modi: Reformer’s Ideas, Performer’s Implementation’, which shows how PM Narendra Modi has realised Ambedkar’s vision of India’s development. Doubling down on the message, tourism minister G Kishen Reddy said his ministry is working on the soon-to-be-launched circuit to promote tourism. The ‘Panch Teerth’ are: Mhow, his birthplace; London, where he stayed and studied; Nagpur, also where he studied; Delhi, where he died; and Mumbai, where he was cremated.
At the conference that kicked off in Dharamshala on Sunday, Reddy also said India will have its long-awaited revamped tourism policy before the the Parliament next year. The government has been pursuing integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits in the areas of eco-tourism, wildlife, rural, desert, coastal, tribal, northeast, spiritual, heritage, Ramayana, Krishna, Buddhist and Himalaya.
Apart from the development of these theme-based circuits, Reddy also said the key thrust areas for the promotion of domestic tourism includes, among other things, wildlife, sustainable and home stay tourism, and will also focus on inviting private enterprise to invest more deeply in the tourism sector. He also said that the tourism action plan proposes to deploy 3,000 coaches for promoting rail tourism.
Reddy said the meet is important in the context of India’s G20 presidency that begins later this year, and which aims to showcase India as a must-visit destination for the global audience.