Adopt  Heritage project: Government awards LoI to 9 agencies for 22 monuments

The Ministry of Tourism has awarded Letters of Intent to 9 agencies for 22 monuments under Phase-IV of Adopt a Heritage Project: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan Scheme. It was third award ceremony of the scheme conducted by Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), State/UTs Governments in New Delhi. So far, 31 prospective monument mitras have been shortlisted under the scheme by Oversight and Vision committee for developing tourist friendly amenities at 95 monuments.

Adopt a Heritage project Scheme

Ministry of Tourism in close collaboration with Ministry of Culture and ASI had launched the scheme in September 2017 to preserve rich cultural and natural heritage and to promote tourism across length and breadth of our country.
Under it, selected public sector companies, private sector companies and individuals will develop tourist amenities at heritage sites. They are being called as ‘Monument Mitra’ and adopt the sites essentially under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity.

Objectives of Scheme

• Provide world class tourist facilities at various natural and cultural heritage sites, monuments and other tourist sites.
• Make these selected sites tourist friendly, enhance their tourist potential and cultural importance in planned and phased manner across the country.

Features

The project primarily focuses on providing basic amenities that include cleanliness, public convenience, drinking water, ease of access for tourists, signage etc. and advanced amenities like Souvenir shop, Cafeteria, TFC etc. It seeks active participation of industry to ensure sustainable model formulation for tourism sector.
The public and private companies adopting these monuments will also look after their operations and maintenance initially for 5 years subject to review at any time. Resources for capital and recurring cost for this project is proposed through industry participation, through CSR or any other funding option subject to review and approval of Oversight & Vision Committee.
The heritage sites and monuments enlisted under this project are categorized as green, blue and orange on basis of tourist footfall and visibility. It is mandatory for monument mitra, opting for monument from green category to choose at least one site from either blue or orange category.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2018