Centre to develop religious and heritage cities

New Delhi: The Centre has introduced Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) and Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) for the development of religious and heritage cities, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Mahesh Sharma said that 12 cities, including Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Gaya (Bihar), Dwaraka (Gujarat), Amritsar (Punjab), Ajmer (Rajasthan), Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Kedarnath (Uttarakhand) and Kamakhya (Assam) have been identified for development under Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) by Ministry of Tourism.
In the first phase of HRIDAY scheme, aimed at preserving the heritage cities of the country, cities like Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Gaya (Bihar), Dwaraka (Gujarat), Amritsar (Punjab), Badami (Karnataka) , Puri (Odisha), Ajmer (Rajasthan), Kanchipuram and Vellankani (Tamil Nadu), Warangal (Telangana), Varanasi and Mathura (Uttar Pradesh) have been included. The criterion of the selection of these cities is their rich heritage and cultural history, the Minister added.
(UNI)