Parliamentary Panel Finds Slow Progress in Tourism Ministry's PRASHAD Scheme

A parliamentary panel expressed concern about the sluggish progress of the Ministry of Tourism's PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive) scheme, highlighting that only 20 out of 45 sanctioned projects are complete.

The committee, in its report presented to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, noted that several projects face significant delays, some exceeding four years. Additionally, they recommended the ministry develop its own system for collecting tourism data, encompassing both foreign and domestic arrivals.

The panel recommended that the Ministry of Tourism establish its own data collection mechanism to track the arrival of foreign and domestic tourists and other pertinent tourism sector data.

The report detailing the panel's findings on the Action Taken by the Government regarding its observations on the Ministry of Tourism's Demands for Grants (2023-24) was presented in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Launched in 2014-15, the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) scheme, along with the Swadesh Darshan scheme, aimed to enhance infrastructure at tourist destinations nationwide, including religious sites.

Regarding the PRASHAD scheme, the panel noted that while 20 projects have been completed, nine are still pending with progress levels not exceeding 60%. Additionally, 16 projects have yet to commence development, signaling significant delays since the scheme's inception.

The panel expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of progress, particularly considering the scheme's initiation nearly a decade ago. Delays of at least one year were observed in all projects, both completed and ongoing, under PRASHAD.

Furthermore, specific projects such as the Development of Mathura-Vrindavan, UP as Mega Tourist Circuit (Phase-II), and the development of basic facilities at Vishnupad temple, Gaya, Bihar, have faced delays of up to four years.

According to the committee's report, the Ministry of Tourism bears the sole responsibility for ensuring the accuracy of data published in their publications, regardless of the data's sources. The report emphasizes that the Ministry should refrain from publishing data in the public domain until it is fully satisfied with its correctness.

The committee suggests that the Ministry of Tourism develop its own data collection mechanism to gather information on foreign and domestic tourist arrivals and other relevant tourism sector data.

Furthermore, the panel recommends that the Ministry of Tourism take necessary steps to verify the accuracy of data received from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and state governments.

The committee's report also expresses surprise at the fact that although the Ministry of Tourism has proposed 17 destinations as iconic destinations, the government has not yet approved these proposals.