Context: Recently, a review meeting of the “Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan” project was held.
About

• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India.
• Under the scheme, government invites entities, including public sector companies, private sector firms as well as individuals, to develop selected monuments and heritage and tourist sites across India.
• Aim: To develop tourism amenities at heritage/ natural/ tourist sites spread across India for making them tourist friendly, in a planned and phased manner.

Implementation

• The sites/monuments are selected on the basis of tourist footfall and visibility and can be adopted by private and public sector companies and individuals known as Monument Mitras for an initial period of five years.

The Monument Mitras are selected by the ‘oversight and vision committee,’ co-chaired by the Tourism Secretary and the Culture Secretary, on the basis of the bidder’s ‘vision’ for development of all amenities at the heritage site.Like:

• Basic facilities such as clean drinking water facility; illumination; ease of access; aesthetics and cleanliness of site; installation of digi kiosk and ticketing kiosk; signage - descriptive and directional; Wi-Fi.
• Advance amenities such as Visitor Facility Centre; Sound and Light Show; Snack Counter & Souvenir Shop; Augmented Reality Experience and Virtual Reality (360-degree experience).

There is no financial bid involved.

• The corporate sector is expected to use Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for the upkeep of the site.