Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah, on the second day of his visit on Saturday, laid the foundation stone for border tourism development work at Tanot Temple complex, adjacent to India-Pakistan international border and 120 km from Jaisalmer.

A budgetary allocation of Rs 17.67 crore has been approved by the Centre for the Shri Tanot Mandir Complex project. Under this project, a waiting room, amphitheater, interpretation center, a room for children, and other necessary facilities will be developed to promote tourism. The Tanot Mandir Complex Project is being started by the Union Ministry of Tourism, Government of India under the Border Tourism Development Program.

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This project of the Ministry of Tourism will develop the border areas of Tanot and Jaisalmer adjoining Indo-Pakistan and employment opportunities will increase in the border area. But none of the shells were torn by the miracle of Tanot Mata.

Since 1965, the Border Security Force has been taking charge of the worship and arrangement of this temple. The Border Security Force operates this temple through trust and every morning and evening Mata’s Aarti and Bhajan Sandhya are organized in which thousands of devotees coming from different provinces of the country keep influx. During the Indo-Pakistan Longewala War of 1971, brave soldiers of the Border Security Force played an important and decisive role at Longewala Post.

It is pertinent to note that on December 4-5, 2021 the home minister visited Tanot and took stock of the tourism prospects there as well as boosted the morale of the soldiers by taking night rest at other border posts.

The home minister, who arrived here yesterday, was escorted by Pankaj Kumar Singh, Director General, Border Security Force, P Ramashastri, Additional Director General Western Command, David Lalringa, Inspector General, Rajasthan Frontier, Gyan Bhushan, Economic Advisor of the Ministry of Tourism among others, according to a BSF spokesman here.

On the political front, to mobilize voters of Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the home bastion Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in the western belt in Rajasthan ahead of assembly polls-20213, Shah will address two major meetings.  While a meeting of the BJP’s OBC Morcha National Executive Committee is scheduled for tomorrow, the Booth Level Sammelan of the group is going to be held at Jodhpur later today.

Shah will attend the valedictory ceremony of the OBC meet and deliver an inaugural address at the booth-level meet for which the BJP leaders of the Jodhpur division have been directed to mobilize the booth-level workers, over 25000, to attend the event, the State Media Coordinator Pankaj Joshi told SNS.