Lucknow, February 16 Uttar Pradesh Tourism and Culture Minister Jaiveer Singh said on Monday that the government has divided the entire state into 12 tourist circuits under a comprehensive development strategy.
These circuits have been formed not based on any religion or caste, but by taking into account all communities and cultural heritage, Singh informed the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
Responding to questions by Samajwadi Party MLAs Kamal Akhtar and Nafees Ahmed, he said, "The government has adopted a comprehensive development strategy by dividing the entire state into 12 tourist circuits.”
These circuits include the Ramayana, Krishna-Braj, Buddhist, Mahabharata, Shaktipeeth, Spiritual, Sufi-Kabir, Jain, Bundelkhand, Eco-Tourism, Wildlife and Environment, Crafts, and Freedom Struggle Circuits, he added.
"These circuits have been formed not based on any religion or caste, but by taking into account all communities and cultural heritage," Singh said.
He further said that a total of 110 projects have been approved and completed between 2022 and 2025-26, including 43 projects related to Buddhism and 30 related to Jainism.
Facilities have also been developed at six tourist destinations of the Valmiki community, 19 for the Ravidas community, one for the Raidas community, seven for the Kabir sect, nine for Gurudwaras, and five projects in memory of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, the minister added.
In 2017, the previous government allocated only 24 projects and Rs 109 crore for the tourism sector, he said.
Under the Yogi Adityanath, Rs 1,734 crore has been allocated for the 2024-25 fiscal, an increase of 15 to 16 per cent, he told the House.
Singh said during the same period, 366 projects were approved and are being completed in a timely and quality manner.
The minister also said that Rs 1,000 crore has been separately sanctioned for the Dharmarth Kaarya (Charitable Works) Department for improved connectivity to religious and tourist destinations.
He also mentioned that development work has been ongoing in Kamal Akhtar’s constituency (Kanth in Moradabad) and Rs 50 lakh was allocated for those works in 2020-21.
Singh said that Rs 91 lakh has also been approved for the development of the ancient Shiva temple in Dhakki village.
