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Introduction:
PRASAD Scheme is a Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive which aims at rejuvenating the tradition of Jagannath pilgrims visiting Puri during the Annual Rath Yatra and supplementing their spiritual experience. The Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive was announced on September 2, 2014 by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in New Delhi at a meeting with representatives of World Hindu Council, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other Sangh Parivar affiliates. It is spread over a period of 3 years from 2015 to 2020. It has been decided that Rs 100 crore will be set aside from the budget every year for this purpose.
What is the Prasad Scheme?
The full form of the PRASAD Scheme is Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive. Under this scheme, the government aims at developing 120 pilgrimage destinations in India in four phases by 2021. This scheme is supported by the Ministry of tourism and Culture, Government of India, through the Swadesh Darshan Scheme.
The government initially proposed the Prasad initiative with a budget of Rs 100 crore for four years starting from 2014-2015 to 2017-2018 (Phase 1). The proposal was placed before the cabinet for its approval on 1st August 2014. The cabinet approved this initiative on 20th August 2014. The Prasad Scheme is a new initiative of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, to cultivate sites of pilgrimage in order to boost religious tourism. It was launched in June 2014 and was made available for implementation in the following financial year.
The scheme’s objective is to provide long-term sustainable economic benefits to the destination by developing and marketing it as a religious destination. The focus areas are identified according to the requirements of each State government or Union Territory (Union Territories) .
In June 2014, after many months’ discussion, the government announced its ambitious plan on how it will develop thousands of religious sites within two years. This scheme focuses on one-third of the existing 33,000 sacred places across India.
Importance of PRASAD Scheme:
Prasad is the destination marketing programme which aims at promoting tourism in India. To integrate, popularise and invigorate the existing pilgrimage destinations, Prasad Scheme was launched on 13 June 2014. This scheme was announced by Mr. K J Alphons, the Union Tourism Minister, in a press meet.
In the last few years, many other schemes were launched but they were not successfully implemented due to lack of proper planning and non-availability of resources. But now with the Prasad Scheme we are expecting that it will be successful because this scheme has been directed by some young task force who are dedicated to religious tourism development in India.
Benefits under PRASAD Scheme:
1) Protection of Pilgrimage sites:
There are many pilgrimage places which are under threat from various state authorities. With this scheme, pilgrimage sites will be planned and developed so that it can also make economical growth for the concerned state government.
2) Increase in tourism flow to these destinations:
More than 20 million pilgrims visit the holy city of Varanasi every year. The government plans to develop 22 pilgrimage spots across India on the lines of Varanasi that includes Ajmer, Amritsar, Haridwar, Mathura, Shirdi, Puri and Pushkar.
3) Conservation and development of old and historic buildings:
It will help in conserving the ancient monuments, shrines and buildings.
4) Tourism traffic growth:
With the help of this scheme people can get a holistic experience as they will be able to travel across various places while visiting pilgrimage sites.
5) Employment generation: The scheme will create employment in the areas near pilgrimage sites. There are many hotels, restaurants and shops that need manpower for their maintenance therefore this scheme is beneficial for unemployed people across India.
6) Development of transportation system: This scheme will support the public transport system like roadways, railways, waterways etc which plays an important role in transportation of passengers to these destinations.
Objectives of PRASAD Scheme:
The main objective of this scheme is to make more and more Indian tourists to get the cultural, social and spiritual benefits through religious tourism.
The main objectives of Prasad Scheme are given below:
1) Improving pilgrims’ journey experience:
2) Ensuring holistic development:
3) Making pilgrimage travel seamless and hassle-free.
4) Improving quality of accommodation facilities.
5) Protect, preserve, sustain and promote India’s rich religious and spiritual heritage, culture and traditions.
6) Significant contribution to the socio-economic growth of the country by generating huge employment opportunities.
7) Promoting sustainable rural-urban linkages through employment generation in rural areas.
Conclusion:
In future, this scheme will help in increasing tourist flow in India which will help in making positive growth for all the stakeholders involved.
It will also boost up the number of people working in the tourism sector which will have a positive impact on the economy of India. Another important thing about this scheme is that; it will protect and preserve India’s rich religious and spiritual heritage, culture and traditions.
