Projects galore

Ensuring that Indian Buddhist Circuit is promoted in the right way, MOT recently concluded a Buddhist Circuit train journey and conference in Varanasi.

Nisha Verma

The tour started from Delhi and went on to Bodhgaya, Nalanda, Rajgir and Varanasi. The conference was held in the Varanasi leg of the tour, which saw G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER, give a virtual address. The Chief Guest of the event was Neelkanth Tiwari, State Minister (Independent Charge) Tourism, Culture & Religious Affairs, Uttar Pradesh.

MOT has sanctioned 5 projects of Rs 325.53 crore for Buddhist circuit development in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh under the SwadeshDarsha Scheme. Works of Rs. 44.19 crore on three projects have been sanctioned under PRASHAD Scheme.

Reddy, in his address said that the Buddhist Circuit is India’s pride. “The important Buddhist sites currently receive approximately 6% of nationwide foreign tourist arrivals with Sarnath and Bodhgaya leading the pack.”

He further added that the MOT is working with various ministries and organisations. “Our aim is to improve the hard and soft infrastructure to improve the tourist and pilgrim experience to all the sites. “In this very special year, which marks the 75th anniversary of our nation’s independence we must introspect and pledge to do everything to make India the number one country for tourism. As we celebrate the various events nationwide through ‘AzadikaAmritMahotsav’, I do request your support in maximising participation,” he commented.

Dr.Neelkanth Tiwari shared that Uttar Pradesh has maximum 6 places related to Lord Buddha and rapid development work is going on at all these sites. “The international airport at Kushinagar is ready to be inaugurated. After the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the condition of Varanasi has changed and work has been done on projects worth several thousand crores,” he said and even shared details of the Buddhist Circuit and other religious tourist places.

A lot of information on ongoing and future projects on the Buddhist Circuit was shared by Arvind Singh, Secretary, MOT. “Under our flagship scheme ‘SwadeshDarshan’, which focuses on the integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits, MOT has undertaken multiple projects as part of the Buddhist Circuits in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh”, he added.

He added that under Uttar Pradesh Buddhist Circuit, Shravasti, Kushinagar, and Kapilvastu, projects have been undertaken for infrastructure development which will be completed in 2021. “The construction of a Cultural Centre at Bodhgaya, Bihar is also underway. Under the PRASHAD scheme, MOT has sanctioned multiple projects in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Sikkim. In Varanasi, projects worth Rs 9.5 Cr, focusing on the development of Buddhist structures, have been completed. These include a sound and light show at Dhamek Stupa and a Buddha Theme Park at Sarnath”, he added.

In addition, he shared that in a ministerial meeting, the Prime Minister has said that at the launch of Kushinagar airport, he would like to invite some Buddhist Circuit tour operators as well, so that they can get information about the circuit. Also, there will be 13 Buddhist countries’ ambassadors, as well as airline operators, since the idea is to promote the Buddhist religious tourism in the region.

Apart from that Rahul Chakravarty, COO, IATO, also gave presentation on potential of Buddhist Circuit and AchyutSingh,Jt. GM, IRCTC, gave presentation on Buddhist Circuit Tourist Train and facilities being provided by IRCTC in the train which includes a mini library.

Other initiatives by the MOT include, “The upcoming International Buddhist Conclave is scheduled from November 17-21, 2021. Ministry has undertaken multiple projects under branding and promotion that are currently in the pipeline including a live virtual exhibition at national museum, web portal, annual events calendar, social media marketing, campaigns in key source markets like Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, etc.”

In terms of capacity building, MOT’s projects include Linguistic Tourist Facilitator training in Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Chinese languages. 525 people have been trained in these languages between 2018 & 2020, and 600 more will be trained between 2020 & 2023. This is especially important as Buddhism, has branched out to a large part of Asia, and 97% of the world’s Buddhists are concentrated  in East and SE Asia alone. Hence it is important to develop a linguistic connect with the tourists.