New Delhi: With an aim to promote an inclusive environment in and around tourist spots in various cities, the Center has envisaged setting up destination management authorities, 100 to start with, across the country, which will be managed by state-level officials, Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said.
In an exclusive interview with PTI Videos on Wednesday, he also said that the aim of the move is not only to build a sense of ownership of the heritage and other tourist sites among all stakeholders associated with the destination, but also to enhance the feeling of ‘Jan Andolan’ and ‘Jan Bhagidari’ among the local community.
Historical cultural sites in India, other than centrally protected monuments, despite their enormous tourism potential, often fail to attract tourists in large numbers due to encroachment, congestion and/or lack of civic amenities in the vicinity of these sites.
Centrally protected monuments maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India have a 100 meter restricted zone around these sites, and another 200 meter regulated zone of restricted boundary.
For ASI sites, from the famous Hampi ruins in south India to the Mughal-era marble marvel, the Taj Mahal in the north, it is the Centre’s responsibility to preserve their sanctity.
The Military Intelligence Agency, headed by a Director General, falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture. However, the maintenance of state-protected monuments is primarily the responsibility of states. Shekhawat, who is also Union Culture Minister, said that since there is no legal regulation of such sites to protect the areas around their perimeter, cases of encroachment such as human habitation and urban agglomerations are emerging.
He stressed that even in Western countries, such issues appear, despite the presence of a sense of social awareness among their citizens, and a social awareness that “this memorial is an economic generator, an economic strength for our city.”
“Therefore, it is our responsibility to ensure that the surrounding environment is better. The entire ecosystem is working towards that,” the minister added.
Shekhawat stressed that India, as a society, must also move forward in this direction.
“This kind of awareness is emerging across the country as well. But now, it is not just the responsibility of the government to maintain the destination. Managing the destination is the responsibility of the destination. That is why the Prime Minister has given us a new vision, a new path, proposing to create destination management authorities, which would help in synchronizing and synthesizing the entire ecosystem related to the destination,” he said.
The minister said that perhaps the best example of the management of these destinations is the authority associated with Ekta Nagar, the site of the Statue of Unity near Kevadia in Gujarat.
He added that the built environment in Ekta Nagar is different from other inhabited places, but having learned from that experience, “we have urged states to set up such destination management organizations for their major destinations.”
“Two weeks ago, we had a meeting in which we sat with state ministers, and detailed presentations were made. Why it is needed, how it can be done, what will be the roadmap for it, what will be the implementation strategy, what kind of powers they should have, what kind of quasi-judicial powers they should have, all these points were shared with the state representatives,” the Union minister said.
He added, “I am happy that the countries accepted it with great enthusiasm because it will reach its destinations. I believe that when it is done, it will be comprehensive.”
He cited the example of Indore, where all stakeholders came together and resolved to make their city the cleanest city in the country.
Asked how many DMOs would be set up in the country and who would head or manage them at the local level, Shekhawat said: “States have to set up these DMOs. Each state has envisioned it in a different way. Some have decided to appoint an independent senior bureaucrat for that city.”
“I think once we start with the 100 or so travel destinations in the country, in some places, if we start with most of the travel destinations, in such places, senior bureaucrats are independently appointed as such officers. In some places, the district magistrate has been empowered by making him/her the authority to administer tourism destination management. Every state has implemented such a framework in its own place,” he said.
Shekhawat said that in a diverse country like India, it is not possible to have the same system everywhere and hence each state will set up DMOs for the destinations of its choice as per the local framework.
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