Ruling BJD and Congress members in odisha Assembly today expressed resentment over the non-inclusion of any of the tourists place of Odisha in the list of iconic tourism destinations prepared by the central government.
The members, irrespective of party affiliation, said although the Union Government had announced 17 iconic tourism destinations for development as world class destinations in the Budget, but surprisingly not a single tourist place from Odisha has found place in the list even though Odisha has many tourist destinations of world importance.
Pramod Mallick, kishore Chandra Mohanty, Bhupinder Singh , Nrusingh Sahu(All BJD) urged the Speaker to pass a unanimous resolution in the house to apprise the central government about it and to request the central government to include at least two or three tourists place of Odisha in the list.
Tara Prasad Bahinipati (Cong) said the a committee should be formed which would meet the Union Finance Minister and request her to include the tourists places of Odisha in the list.
The issue was first raised by Mr Mr Pradip Maharathi (BJD) during zero hour and was supported by his party colleagues Amar Prasad Satpathy, D P Mishra, Ananta Das, Arabinda Dhali, Bhupinder Singh, Kishore Mohanty, Dr Nrusingh Sahu and Tara Prasad Bahinipati (Cong).
Raising the issue Maharathi said though Odisha has major tourist destinations like Puri and Sun temple Konark but unfortunately it did not find a place in the list and demanded the Speaker to initiate steps for their inclusion.
Amar Prasad Satpathy, D P Mishra and others said the state is endowed with rich cultural heritage, beautiful mountainous regions, Chilika lake, the largest brackish water lake of Asia, the mangrove forest ‘Bhitarkanika’, Gupteswar temple in Koraput, Buddhist circuit- Ratnagiri- Udaygiri and Lalitgiri, Bikramkhol, Gopeswar temple, Talsari, Nilagiri yet unfortunately not a single site has been selected by the Central government for the inclusion in the list of Iconic Tourism Destinations.
Satpathy said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the Tourism Minister had already written to the central government about it and requested the Speaker to direct the government to apprise the house about the response of the central government.
