The Tourism Ministry’s multi-aspirational scheme, ‘Swadesh Darshan’, has been revamped with a new nomenclature, ‘Swadesh Darshan 2.0’, with a motive to develop sustainable and responsible destination centric approach. According to a tourism ministry official, Swadesh Darshan 2.0 will prove an advanced version of its previous scheme with some specific objectives to focus on.
Sharing the information in the Lok Sabha, Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy said, “This updated version of the scheme will focus, especially on enhancing the contribution of tourism to the local economies and creating jobs including self-employment for local communities.”
“Under this scheme, the government will work on enhancing the skills of local youth and will provide opportunities to increase private sector investment,” he said, adding that the government will also take steps to preserve and enhance the local cultural and natural resources in the tourism and hospitality sector.
On the other hand, 10 new projects under the ‘Swadesh Darshan’ scheme have been sanctioned under the theme of Coastal circuit.
According to a Ministry official, a task force has been constituted under the chairmanship of the secretary (tourism) to harness the potential of Cruise Tourism in the country. It will be co-chaired by the secretary (Shipping). The task force consists of representatives from the ports, Ministries of Health, Home affairs, External Affairs, Customs, CISF, Coastal states and others.
The Ministry for Tourism has been promoting Coastal Tourism since the first Incredible India International Cruise Conference which was held in May this year to bring all stakeholders together.