The Central Govt has decided to hand over the Kaziranga National Park to a private firm. Along with the park, the government has also decided to hand over other historical monuments of the state to private firms under a scheme called 'Monument Mitra.'
'Monument Mitra' is the term coined for an entity partnering with the government under the 'Adopt A Heritage' project. The idea of giving a heritage monument up for adoption is the brainchild of Ministry of Tourism, along with the Ministry of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India.It was launched on World Tourism Day last year by President Ram Nath Kovind. The project aims to develop monuments, heritage and tourist sites across India by inviting corporate entities, public sector companies or individuals to 'adopt' them
The scheme has been prepared by the Central government for handing over the important monuments and reserved forests/ wildlife sanctuaries etc to private/ public sector firms.
The move has drawn sharp reactions from various organisations of the state since Tuesday last.
The Union Tourism Ministry has reportedly planned to hand over world heritage site Kaziranga National Park (KNP) and three Sivasagar based archaeological sites — Rang Ghar, Kareng Ghar and Shiva Dol — to the Jungle Travels India (JTI) group under Central Government’s Adopt a Heritage scheme to maintain them.
The selected heritage sites and buildings were selected on the basis of their annual tourists’ footfalls and visibility, the report said.
