Twelve cities namely Amritsar, Ajmer, Amaravati, Dwaraka, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Mathura, Puri, Varanasi, Vellankani, Kedarnath and Kamakhya have been identified for development under Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) by the Ministry of Tourism. This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Culture (Independent Charge), Mahesh Sharma in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today.
The National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme aimed at preserving and revitalizing heritage cities in India, has been approved by the Ministry of Urban Development for the twelve cities under the scheme in the first phase, namely; Varanasi; Amritsar; Ajmer; Mathura; Gaya; Kanchipuram; Vellankani; Badami; Amaravati; Warangal; Puri and Dwarka.
To implement the PRASAD scheme a Mission Directorate has been set up in the Ministry of Tourism. The Budget provision of Rs.15.60 crore has been made in Revised Estimate (RE) 2014-15. For Development of basic facilities at Vishnupad Temple, Gaya in Bihar under this Scheme first installment of Rs.85.78 lakh has been released.
For the HRIDAY scheme under the Ministry of Urban Development the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) will act as National Project Management Unit (NPMU). National Advisory Committee (NAC), HRIDAY National Empowered Committee (HNEC) and City Level Advisory and Monitoring Committee (CLAMC) have been constituted at National level and District level respectively to advise, guide and review all components of the Scheme. For the first phase of 27 months, Rs.500 core has been allocated to the HRIDAY scheme for implementation and development works.
