BACKGROUND

● India’s rich cultural, historical, religious and natural heritage provides a huge potential for development of tourism and job creation in the country.

● There is a great scope and need to develop tourist circuits on specific themes to attract the tourists having special interest in visiting such places.

● This can be achieved only through an integrated approach by providing engaging experiences for distinct categories of tourists i.e. Domestic and International.

● Various themes which are unique and specific to the area can include beaches, culture, heritage, wildlife etc.

● Such theme based tourist circuits should be developed in a manner that supports communities, provides employment and fosters social integration without comprising upon the environmental concerns and provides unique experiences to the tourists.

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● In due recognition to this the Government of India, Ministry of Tourism (MoT) launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme (Central Sector Scheme)– for integrated development of theme based tourist circuits in the country in 2014-15.

SYNERGISM WITH OTHER SCHEMES

Swadesh Darshan Scheme is envisioned to synergise with other Government of India schemes like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Skill India, Make in India etc., with the idea of positioning the tourism sector as a major engine for job creation, driving force for economic growth, building synergy with various sectors to enable tourism to realise its potential.

OBJECTIVES OF SWADESH DARSHAN SCHEME

● To position tourism as a major engine of economic growth and job creation.

● Develop circuits having tourist potential in a planned and prioritized manner.

● Promote cultural and heritage value of the country to generate livelihoods in the identified regions.

● Enhancing the tourist attractiveness in a sustainable manner by developing world class infrastructure in the circuit /destinations.

● Follow community based development and pro-poor tourism approach.

● Creating awareness among the local communities about the importance of tourism for them in terms of increased sources of income, improved living standards and overall development of the area.

● To create employment through active involvement of local communities.

● Harness tourism potential for its effects in employment generation and economic development.

● To make full use of the potential and advantages in terms of available infrastructure, national culture and characteristic strong points of each and every region throughout the country by development of theme based circuits.

● Development of tourist facilitation services to enhance visitor experience/satisfaction.

WHAT IS A TOURIST CIRCUIT?

● Tourist Circuit is defined as a route having at least three major tourist destinations which are distinct and apart.

● Circuits should have well defined entry and exit points. A tourist who enters should get motivated to visit most of the places identified in the circuit.

● A Circuit could be confined to a State or could be a regional circuit covering more than one State/Union Territory. These circuits may have one dominant theme and other sub-themes.

● Projects under the scheme shall be under the following identified themes; Ecotourism, Wildlife, Buddhist, Desert, Spiritual, Ramayana, Krishna, Coastal, Northeast, Rural, Himalayan, Tribal and Heritage.

THEMATIC CIRCUITS

Fifteen thematic circuits have been identified for development under the Swadesh Darshan scheme-

1 . The Himalayan Circuit

2 . The Coastal Circuit

3 . The North-East India Circuit

4 . The Buddhist Circuit

5 . The Desert Circuit

6 . The Krishna Circuit

7 . The Tribal Circuit

8 . The Ramayana Circuit

9 . The Spiritual Circuit

10 . The Eco Circuit

11 . The Heritage Circuit

12 . The Wildlife Circuit

13 . The Rural Circuit

14 . The Sufi Circuit

15 . The Tirthankar Circuit

FUNDING PATTERN

The Scheme is 100% centrally funded and efforts are made to achieve convergence with other schemes of Central and State Governments and also to leverage the voluntary funding available for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of Central Public Sector Undertakings and Corporate Sector.

SWADESH DARSHAN 2.0

● Now, the Ministry of Tourism has revamped its Swadesh Darshan scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) for development of sustainable and responsible tourist destinations.

● Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme was launched in January, 2023.

● The objective for the Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme envisage increase in private sector investment in tourism & hospitality.

● It may help in increasing Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in the field of tourism and operation and maintenance of the created assets under the scheme.

● As many as 30 cities from across 15 states are being shortlisted to be developed as sustainable and responsible destinations under the Ministry of Tourism’s Swadesh Darshan 2.0 programme.

● This is a part of the country’s new domestic tourism policy which moves away from theme-based tourist circuits and focuses on destination management.

External link: https://tourism.gov.in/sites/default/files/2023-04/Swadesh%20Darshan%20%20Guideline%20Booklet.pdf