GUWAHATI, Feb 22 - A year after announcing it in the budget, the State government will formally launch the Asom Darshan scheme on February 24 under which Rs 710 crore will be spent to develop and publicize places of tourist interest and religious importance.
The three components of the scheme include enhancement of the annuity grant given to devalayas by Rs 2 lakh, a grant of Rs 10 lakh to upgrade infrastructure of 915 religious places and Rs 615-crore road works to improve connectivity to these places.
Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the State government had acquired vast swathes of land belonging to various institutions of religious nature.
�However, the annuity grant given to them is not sufficient to maintain these places which are visited by large numbers of devotees round the year. Therefore, the government has decided to increase the annuity amount by Rs 2 lakh for each religious institution,� he said.
While the scheme will benefit 74 devalayas, a one-time grant of Rs 1 lakh will be given to these institutions for setting up CCTV cameras.
Among the 915 religious places which will get Rs 10 lakh for infrastructure upgrade are 459 temples, 186 satras, 123 naamghars, 47 mosques and 26 churches. All these institutions are more than 100 years old and according to the minister in many of these places, lack of essential facilities have been creating a huge challenge and making experiences of devotees less than desirable. The scheme will be implemented by the respective deputy commissioners.
The PWD will spearhead the initiative of improving the road network to these places at a cost of Rs 615 crore.
Ten members of each beneficiary institution have been invited for the formal launch of the scheme to be held on February 24 at the Khanapara field.
In the second phase of the scheme, the tourism department will upgrade the basic infrastructure of 316 tourist destinations, the minister added.
