Tag Archives: Monuments

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, G Kishan Reddy, Cabinet Minister for Tourism & Culture, has shared that three monuments of Andhra Pradesh – monuments at Nagarjunakonda, District Guntur; Buddhist remains at Salihundam, District Srikakulam; and Veerabhadra Temple at Lepakshi – have been identified as Adarsh Smarak for providing additional facilities like Wi-Fi, cafeteria, interpretation centre, illumination, etc.

The state government has decided not to charge any entry fee for the first 15 days after the reopening. Rajasthan has 342 protected monuments and 32 of them are ticketed. From the third week, the monuments will open daily and 50 % discount will be offered on the ticket amount till October 31. Monuments, except those falling in curfew areas, will be open on four days a week: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday for the first two weeks.

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has decided that the increase in ASI monument fees will only be 50 per cent of the proposed hike of 300 per cent. This means that for Category B monuments, there will be an increase from Rs. 100 to Rs. 200 only instead of Rs. 300. However, a premium ticket will be introduced of Rs. 300/- with some value additions. Similarly for Category A monuments, there will be an increase from Rs. 250 to Rs. 500 only instead of Rs. 750. Premium ticket will cost Rs. 750 with similar value additions. The above new rates will be effective from April 1, 2016. The decision was taken in a meeting with the Executive Committee (EC) members of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) and officials from Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI). While the official notification from ASI is awaited, IATO has revealed that after constant deliberations with the MOT, finally the decision was taken in a meeting with Minister of State for Tourism and Culture (IC) Dr. Mahesh Sharma, in his office where Vinod Zutshi, Secretary (Tourism), Narendra Kumar Sinha, Secretary (Culture), Rakesh Tewari, DG (ASI), Navneet Soni, OSD to Minister of Culture, B. Purushottam, PS to Hon’ble Minister for Tourism & Culture, Suman Billa, Joint Secretary (Tourism) and many other senior officials were present. Also, the IATO EC was assured by Sharma that by April 15, 2016, there will be a separate counter and queue to enter at all the ASI monuments for those having ticket in category A of Rs. 500 and above and in Category B of Rs. 200 and above. Some other facilities include clean toilets and some fast food outlets …

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) launched a “Swachh Parayantan Mobile App” to flag issues related to cleanliness in and around tourist sites. To start with, 25 Adarsh Smarak Monuments protected by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have been identified for inclusion in the App. The application would be scaled up to include more monuments as the campaign expands.  Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism & Culture and Minister of State for Civil Aviation, inaugurated the App in the presence of Vinod Zutshi, Sectretary-Tourism, MOT, Sanjeev Ranjan, Additional Secretary-Tourism, MOT, Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, MOT, Dr. R K Bhatnagar, ADG, MoR, Umang Narula, CMD, ITDC, among others. Addressing on the occasion, Dr. Sharma said that since the general public and the tourists are the largest stakeholders in keeping the monuments clean, the Ministry of Tourism has decided to facilitate the general public to communicate their complaints about any unclean area/garbage piles in and around tourist destinations. Hence as a part thereof, the Ministry of Tourism is launching this Mobile App. He opined that till all stakeholders don’t contribute, such project will not succeed. This mobile App enables a citizen to take photograph of garbage at the monument and upload the same along with his/her remarks. The application then sends an SMS to the ASI Nodal Officer concerned with the monument upon receipt of which the Nodal Officer gets the garbage cleared/removed. The Nodal Officer thereafter sends confirmation about the redressal of the complaint through an SMS to the complainant.