Prasad Scheme 2023: The government of India has launched one of its best schemes PRASAD under the Ministry of Tourism to develop pilgrim tourism in India. The word “PRASAD” stands for “Pilgrimage Rejuvenation & Spiritual Augmentation Drive.” Under this scheme government of India planned to develop all the heritage pilgrim sites of India for religious tourism, and spiritual tourism spots.
As we all know that India is the land of different religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Sufism, Islam, etc. Every religion has its major pilgrimage sites in different sites or cities of India. The scheme PRASAD was launched by the Ministry of Tourism in 2015. The government of India aims to develop all those pilgrims or spiritual sites as religious tourist sites with world-class infrastructure and facilities for pilgrims.
There are lots of opportunities for developing tourism on the spiritual site in India. The vision launching behind the PRASAD scheme is to put tourism at the top of the economic growth of the country. Below in this blog post, we brought brief information about What is PRASAD Scheme and Cities/ Sites List.
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About PRASAD Scheme
The growth of the Indian economy largely depends on domestic tourism. We all know that religious and spiritual tourism is the biggest part of domestic tourism in India. The government wants to tap the growth opportunity by tapping the pilgrim site of the country. Spirituality and religion are common intents for travel. PRASAD Scheme was launched to leverage the growth opportunity behind this motivation. Over the years the Tourism Ministry has changed its name to National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive. Below are the details of the PRASAD scheme for your reference.
| PRASAD Scheme “Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Augmentation Drive” Details | |
| Name of Scheme | PRASAD Scheme |
| Full Form of PRASAD | Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Augmentation Drive |
| Updated Name | National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive |
| Launched on | 2014-2015 |
| Launched by | Government of India |
| Governing Body | Ministry of Tourism |
| Benefits | Economic Growth and Employment Development |
| Purpose | Social and Economic Welfare |
| Official Website | https://tourism.gov.in/ |
What is Prasad Scheme?
As we all know, there is a difference between sacred tourism and leisure or holiday tourism. The requirement of the facilities for religious tourism is different. Just because there is a huge difference between the number of aged travelers for religious tourism in India. This is what the government of India will focus on to develop selected pilgrim sites across India.
Below are the key points of the PRASAD- Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Augmentation Drive scheme:
- National mission to rejuvenate the sacred sites of India for pilgrims.
- Making Religious tourism a major power engine for economic growth.
- Providing the perfect sacred tourism experience by developing the destination in an attractive manner.
- Managing and bridging the infrastructural difference of the selected destination.
- Providing the best security and safety for the pilgrims at the sacred destinations
PRASAD Scheme Cities and Sites
There are lots of pilgrim destinations in India. The government started focusing on all the destinations to develop for religious tourism. We aim to tap the potential for growth at the pilgrim site in India. Under this scheme, all the selected cities will be developed on a priority basis. As we know, these small steps will take an important part in the economic growth of India.
The Ministry of Tourism has identified 12 cities in the first phase of rejuvenation. Developing these sites will increase employment for local residents of the area. according to the sources, the government will redevelop all the infrastructure like road, rail, and air transport of the sites. Below is the list of cities and sites selected till now by the tourism ministry.
| PRASAD Scheme Cities and Sites-List | ||
| S/No | Name of the City/ Site | State |
| 1 | Amritsar | Punjab |
| 2 | Ajmer | Rajasthan |
| 3 | Amaravati | Andhra Pradesh |
| 4 | Dwarka | Gujarat |
| 5 | Gaya | Vihar |
| 6 | Kanchipuram | Tamil Nadu |
| 7 | Kedarnath | Uttarakhand |
| 8 | Kamakhya | Assam |
| 9 | Mathura | Uttar Pradesh |
| 10 | Puri | Odisha |
| 11 | Varanasi | Uttar Pradesh |
| 12 | Velankanni | Tamil Nadu |
Objectives of the PRASAD Scheme
This is one of the schemes to develop employment in India. here we can say that this scheme will play an important role in the economic growth of the country. There are plenty of opportunities lying behind the development of religious sites in India.
Below is the list of objectives behind launching this scheme:
- Development of the pilgrim sites
- Employment generation
- Community-based development of religious Cities/ Sites of India.
- Leverage best out-of-public expertise.
- Make a safe and secure journey and stay at a religious tourism destination.
- Developing world-class infrastructure at the destination.
- Developing awareness of the importance of the sacred site among local communities.
- Promotion of local arts, crafts, & culture for economic growth of the area.
