The Union Government has drafted the city of Golden Temple in its Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme under which tourism sites falling under religious, heritage and nationalism will be developed with a grant of Rs 70 crore.
As per a story published in the Tribune, Deputy Commissioner Amit Talwar held a meeting in this regard in Amritsar recently with officials of various departments of the district, representatives of the hotel industry and tour travel operators. He said under the scheme, old labyrinthine streets around the Golden Temple, Pul Moran near the International Border and tourist facilities at Attari would be developed. A grant of Rs 70 crore would be spent on promoting tourism in Amritsar. Apart from the holy city, Kapurthala is the only other district in Punjab which has been selected under the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme to receive a grant of Rs 70 crore to promote tourism.
The Deputy Commissioner said to promote tourism in the district, three themes had been set by the Tourism Department of the Central Government, which were religious, heritage and patriotic tourism.
Under the scheme, beautification of old streets near the holiest Sikh shrine, development of bridge piers, revival of heritage gates of Amritsar would be done, besides providing maximum facilities to pilgrims at the Attari border. Signboards would also be installed for the convenience of commuters on prominent roads, besides improving traffic situation at the railway station and the airport.