The first phase of the ‘Swadesh Darshan 2.0’ will be kicked off in January 2023. With the mantra of ‘vocal for local’, the revamped scheme seeks to attain “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” by realizing India’s full potential as a tourism destination.
Key points
- 15 States across the country will be promoted as part of this imitative which moves away from theme-based tourist circuits and focuses on revving up destination tourism.
- Fifteen States are part of the first phase which include Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
- Two destinations from each State have been identified.
- Some of the prominent places identified are Jhansi and Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, Gwalior, Chitrakoot and Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh and Ajanta and Ellora in Maharashtra.
- The destinations had been zeroed in on after consultations with the State Tourism Departments.
- The Government has launched “Dekho Apna Desh”, a major campaign for promoting domestic tourism. The Scheme will focus on developing Tier-II and Tier-III destinations to create more opportunities for domestic travellers.
- The Swadesh Darshan scheme is 100% centrally funded.
- The scheme has been revamped with the mantra of “vocal for local”.
- The Swadesh Darshan Scheme was launched by the Centre in 2014-15 for the integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits.
- Under the scheme, the Ministry of Tourism provides financial assistance to State governments, Union Territory Administrations or Central Agencies for development of tourism infrastructure in the country.
- According to the third Tourism Satellite Account for 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20, the contribution of tourism to the employment is 14.78%, 14.87% and 15.34%, respectively.
