New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that after Independence, the new development was for only a few families in Delhi, but today the country is leaving behind that narrow thinking and is building new places of pride and giving them grandeur.
Prime Minister Modi was speaking after virtually inaugurating the new Circuit House in Somnath, Gujarat via video conferencing. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel, state ministers, MPs, Temple Trust members were among those present on the occasion.
The Prime Minister said that after Independence, the new development was for only a few families in Delhi. But today the country is leaving behind that narrow thinking and is building new places of pride and giving them grandeur.
"It is our own government that built Babasaheb Memorial in Delhi, the APJ Abdul Kalam memorial in Rameshwaram. Similarly, the places associated with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Shyamji Krishna Varma have been given due stature. Adivasi museums are also being built across the country to bring forth the glorious history of our tribal society", the Prime Minister said.
Elaborating on the potential of the newly developed places, the Prime Minister said that despite the pandemic 75 lakh people have come to see the Statue of Unity and such places will take our identity along with tourism to new heights.
The Prime Minister pointed out that tourism plays a major role in the economy of many countries of the world. "We have infinite possibilities like this in every state and in every field", he said.
The Prime Minister mentioned that in the last seven years, the country has worked relentlessly to realise the potential of tourism. "Today, the development of tourist centres is not just a part of the government schemes, but a campaign of public participation. The country's heritage sites and development of our cultural heritage are great examples of this," he said.
He listed measures like 15 theme based tourist circuits in the Ramayana Circuit, places related to Bhagwan Ram can be visited and a special train has been started.
The Prime Minister informed that a special train is being started from Delhi for the Divya Kashi Yatra Saturday. Similarly the Buddha Circuit is making it easier to visit places related to Lord Buddha and visa rules have been eased for foreign tourists and tourist destinations were given priority in the vaccination drive.
The Prime Minister narrated a virtual Bharat Darshan of spiritual destinations and said, "These places represent our national unity and the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat. Today, the country also sees them as a strong source of prosperity. Through their development we can catalyse development of a big area."
The Prime Minister said today the country is looking at tourism in a holistic way and in today's time, four things are necessary to develop tourism first cleanliness. Secondly, the scope of facilities should not be limited to tourist places only, time is the third important aspect of increasing tourism and the fourth and very important thing to increase tourism is our thinking.
The Prime Minister advised against taking a narrow interpretation of his call for 'vocal for local' and said that the call includes local tourism. He reiterated his request for visiting at least 15-20 places of India before embarking on any tourism abroad.