Steena Joy – Srinagar
Punjab Tourism wants to get out of its agricultural image and promote tourism especially heritage tourism. Speaking to Express TravelWorld, Sohan Singh Thandal, minister of tourism, jails, cultural affairs and printing and stationary, Government of Punjab, said, “The Golden Temple in Amritsar gets more than one lakh visitors daily. We want to increase these numbers. More tourists mean a better economy and more employment. At the same time we also want to preserve our cultural heritage. We are planning to build a War Memorial at Jallianwala Baug. We are also setting up a Heritage Village.”
The Punjab government will also be allotting funds for the maintenance and repair of heritage sites and historical monuments in the state.
Amritsar is one of the 11 heritage cities chosen for HRIDAY – Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India. A city of historic walls and impressive gateways, Amritsar gained importance under the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, one of the most resplendent figures in Sikh history. The city lies on the Grand Trunk road, Asia’s one of the oldest and longest major roads connecting eastern and western parts of Indian sub-continent, built by King Sher Shah Suri in 1539.