‘Festivals of India’ beyond ASEAN

The Ministry of Culture will organise similar shows in Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar in the next leg after its huge impact in ASEAN countries, says Ravindra Singh, Secretary-Culture, Government of India.

Identifying areas of convergence between tourism and culture, the Ministry of Culture, Government of India is looking at taking its Festivals of India programme to more overseas destinations this year. According to Ravindra

Singh, Secretary-Culture, Government of India, the department will organise similar shows in Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar in the next leg after its huge impact in ASEAN countries such as Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, China and Japan. Regarding the number of cities to be covered this year, he replied, “We have earlier covered as many as 22 cities in some countries as well. Thus, the number of cities to be covered in each country will be determined by the size of the country.”

Taking a cue from Swachh Bharat, the Ministry of Culture has also now launched its Swacch Bharat Swacch

Smarak initiative for protecting and preserving the sanctity of monuments of national heritage. Singh who was speaking at the Good Governance Day celebrations organised by the Union Ministries of Tourism and Culture in Delhi also emphasised on the need to promote important museums as tourist destinations by integrating the activities of both departments. The Ministry also launched an e-booking portal for Taj Mahal and Humayun’s Tomb. Regarding the new initiative, he revealed, “There are around 100 ticketed monuments in the country. All the ticketed monuments will be brought under the e-booking system by April 2015.”

Another programme called the ‘Adarsh Smarak’ programme will also be implemented on a public-private partnership mode, Singh said. “The Ministry of Culture plans to rope in corporate entities for this programme under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. We want to involve all stakeholders, including tour operators, tourist guides, transport operators, etc., for this programme,” he added. The Ministry of Culture has identified 25 monuments in the country to be elevated as ‘adarsh’ (model) monuments.

There are around 100 ticketed monuments in the country. All the ticketed monuments will be brought under the e-booking system by April 2015 Ravindra Singh Secretary-Culture Government of India