Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday called on Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum to him to implement Swadesh Darshan scheme in Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills to tap tourism potential of Meghalaya.
The Chief Minister was accompanied by state Tourism Minister Metbah Lyngdoh and Sports Minister Banteidor Lyngdoh.
“As part of the North East Circuit, which has been taken up by the Ministry of Tourism, we have submitted a proposal to put adequate thrust on popular tourism circuit of Meghalaya to enhance infrastructure and build better amenities to facilitate tourism”, Sangma said.
The Ministry of Tourism has taken up thirteen thematic circuits to promote tourism in the country, including North East India Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Heritage Circuit among others.
“Meghalaya boasts of unique and rich cultural diversity. We have emphasized the urgent need to develop popular tourism destinations of the state”, the Chief Minister said.
He said under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the state government has chart out an ambitious programme to create better infrastructure and amenities for the tourists in Meghalaya.
“The Garo Hills region of Meghalaya also needs to be projected and marketed as a tourism destination. The situation in Garo Hills has improved a lot and we are trying to create better infrastructure in different destinations of Garo Hills”, the Chief Minister added.
He further said the state government will emphasize on capacity building among the youth and interested entrepreneurs to create a pool of human resources to cater to tourism and hospitality sector.
