Gaya and Nalanda have been selected for development under Swadesh Darshan 2.0 informed Minister of Tourism G Kishan Reddy in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Monday (19 December).

The Ministry, as per the release, has now revamped its Swadesh Darshan scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) with the objective to develop sustainable and responsible tourism destinations, following a tourist & destination centric approach.

Gaya and Nalanda have been selected for development under SD2.0 whereas Punaura Dham in Sitamarhi District of Bihar is a site identified for development under Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) scheme of the Ministry of Tourism.

Under its schemes of Swadesh Darshan, PRASHAD and central agencies provide assistance to the state governments, union territory administrations for development of tourism infrastructure in the country.

The projects for development under the schemes are identified in consultation with the respective agencies and are sanctioned subject to availability of funds, submission of suitable detailed project reports, adherence to scheme guidelines and utilisation of funds released earlier etc.

The Ministry had launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in 2015 and sanctioned 76 projects under the scheme.

As per the ministry, with the mantra of ‘vocal for local’, the revamped scheme namely Swadesh Darshan 2.0 seeks to attain “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” by realizing India’s full potential as a tourism destination.

The guidelines document states that Swadesh Darshan 2.0 is not an incremental change ‘but a generational shift to evolve Swadesh Darshan scheme as a holistic mission to develop sustainable and responsible tourism destinations covering tourism and allied infrastructure, tourism services, human capital development, destination management and promotion backed by policy and institutional reforms’.