UP Govt Proposes To Build 100-Metre Statue Of Lord Ram, Releases Budget For Promoting Religious Tourism

The Yogi Adityanath government plans to build a “grand statue” of Lord Ram on the banks of the Saryu river in Ayodhya as a part of his plan to showcase “Navya Ayodhya”. The proposal was presented to governor Ram Naik as a part of the state tourism’s initiatives to promote religious tourism, said a report by The Indian Express.

Proposed project

According to a press release issued by the Raj Bhavan, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Awanish Kumar Awasthi made the presentation. The government’s slideshow put the height of the statue at 100 metres but some officials said that wasn’t final.

The statue will be built at Saryu ghat only after getting clearance from the National Green Tribunal. Also part of the plan is a Ram Katha gallery on the banks of the river, a multi-purpose auditorium in the Digambar Akhara premises and various public utility services.

For this integrated development of Ayodhya, the state government has sent a detailed project report (DPR) of Rs 195.89 crore to the Tourism Ministry at the Centre and the Ministry has so far provided Rs 133.70 crore to the state.

When asked about the statue, Awasthi said that this was a “concept proposal”, and the letter seeking clearance from the NGT was yet to be sent. Governor Naik, CM Yogi Adityanath, Union Tourism K J Alphons and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma were present during the occasion.

The presentation also included information on programmes scheduled for Diwali celebrations in Ayodhya on October 18. A Deepotsav program where 1.71 lakh diyas would be lit at Ram ki palki, about 2 km from the disputed site, a heritage walk through the site of Ayodhya, a Shobha yatra and a symbolic “Rajyabhishek” (coronation) is one itinerary list on the day of Diwali.

Later, Governor and the CM are scheduled to lay the foundation stone of various projects in development in Ayodhya. Both of them will perform an “aarti” at a new ghat of the Saryu.

Religious tourism flies high in UP

CM Yogi Adityanath has been seen to focus on developing UP along the lines of religious tourism. Addressing a seminar organised by UP tourism department, earlier in June, he had said UP had all the potential to become a tourist destination. “We need to tap the resources and promote tourism”, he had said, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.

CM Yogi’s tourism department also launched the one-stop travel solution which aimed at creating UP as the primary hub of religious tourism. This included helicopter services for the pilgrims. The service would reactivate all the 10 airstrips lying defunct in the state. It will also connect Lucknow, Ayodhya, Prayag, Varanasi, Naimisharanya, Chitrakoot, Mathura and Vrindavan.

He took pot shots at the previous government by saying, “Religious tourism can be the state’s mainstay but earlier people used to avoid taking the name of Ayodhya as it was considered to be communal.They were the band of secularism on their eyes,” according to the Hindustan Times. The CM instructed officials of the tourism department to launch advertisement campaigns in order make people aware about the tourist destinations in the state.

The Logical Indian take

In other news, 16 children including ten infants, have died at Gorakhpur’s Baba Raghav Das Medical College and Hospital in Gorakhpur, in the last 24 hours. Officials have also added that 1,470 patients have been admitted to the BRD Medical College since January this year, and a total of 310 patients have died in total.

The state of affairs in the sector of healthcare in UP evidently needs primary attention since it is leading insurmountable loss of human life. Instead of spending more to improve healthcare facilities in the state, Yogi Adityanath led UP government is constantly focussing on religious issues.

Though tourism is very important and should be paid attention to. But going along religious line is not appreciable. The Logical Indian community urges the UP government to pay more attention to the sorry state of affairs of health care in the state and ensure that no more loss is caused to human life.