All the district magistrates have been asked to give proposals to develop tourism in their districts, state tourism minister Babul Supriyo said in the Assembly today.
He said the DMs will make powerpoint presentations and mention the date of completion of the projects. The state government is keen to develop heritage tourism. The proposals from Malda and Murshidabad have already been received by the department in this regard.
He said the department has prepared a draft heritage tourism development policy which is lying with the finance department. Once the finance department approves the proposal , steps would be taken to implement them.
The minister said work was on to upgrade the heritage tourism website to make it more user and navigation friendly for easy information.
BJP MLAs raised the question that there were many places mentioned by the Archaeological Survey of India, which are unapproachable due to poor connectivity. The minister said the government would look into the matter.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has laid special emphasis to develop tourism in the state. Homestays have come up across the state and the state government is giving Rs 1.50 lakh to those who would open homestays. In north Bengal and Jangalmahal homestays have become very popular.