Karnataka government will come out with a new tourism policy in a few months to address long-pending issues in the sector, H.K. Patil, Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs and Tourism, said in Vijayapura on November 22. It will include measures to end disputes between departments, and some between State and Central Government departments, he told stake-holders, historians and officials.
The Department of Tourism has begun a survey of monuments in Karnataka. “In the first stage, we have identified over 25,000 monuments and places of historical or heritage importance and inscriptions in just 38 taluks. Of these, 5,000 have been identified as having significant tourism potential. We are sure that when the Statewide survey is completed, the number of identified monuments will be several times more,” the Minister said.
He said a technical committee was being constituted to look into issues like seeking UNESCO heritage tag for some monuments, cities and circuits.
“We are looking forward to greater public participation in tourism promotion. The government can not do everything by itself. It needs the active participation of citizens, civil society groups and NGOs,” he said. The success of Mysuru Dasara is due to public participation in the planning and execution of the festivities, he said.
A lot of work needs to be done towards tourism promotion. “For example, we visited Shiraval village in Yadgir district. We were surprised to find that only one of the 100 temples in the village has been notified. Most of them are neglected. We found, for example, that since independence, only around 844 temples were notified by our department. We have speeded this up and have ensured notification of 180 temples in the last three months,” he said.
“In some important monuments, there is no power supply. We need to address these issues,” he said.
A digital platform has been built for 270 monuments in Karnataka. This will be extended to all monuments, the Minister said. 3D maps of all monuments will be prepared and presented to groups that want to adopt monuments.
“They can take up first level of adoption that includes protection, cleaning and providing infrastructure facilities, or second level of adoption that includes restoration, maintenance and conservation. Vijayapura based SECAB group of institutions had agreed to adopt Anand Mahal monument,” the Minister said.
The Minister later told journalists that the redrafted tourism policy would include focus on education tourism, agriculture tourism, and weekend tourism for families with meagre means.
The State Government will not only promote tours for school children, but will also build dormitories for them.
