Kerala has suffered a big set back with the Union Ministry of Tourism dropping the Sree Narayana Guru spiritual circuit and the spiritual circuit linking 133 places of worship in the State under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme during 2018-19. Assistant Director General, Swadesh Darshan Division, Ministry of Tourism, has not cited any reason for dropping the ₹69.47-crore Sree Narayana Guru spiritual circuit and the ₹85.23-crore spiritual circuit linking 133 places of worship in a letter to Secetary, Kerala Tourism. The decision with the ‘approval of the Union Minister of State for Tourism’ was communicated in the letter. The two projects were approved under Swadesh Darshan — integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits — launched by the Union Ministry of Tourism in 2014-15. State Minister for Tourism Kadakampally Surendran urged the Union Tourism Ministry to cancel the decision to drop the Sree Narayana Guru spiritual circuit.

Source: The Hindu May 30, 2020 16:07 UTC