To clear prevailing confusion, the corporate group will not be doing any conservation work.
So has the Red Fort really been passed off to a private body?
In September 2017, the ministry of tourism, government of India launched what it called “Adopt a Heritage, Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan, Project for the development of Tourist Friendly Destinations September 2017”.
As part of it, private or public sector companies/individuals would “adopt” heritage structure for upkeep, and be called “Monument Mitras”.
Apart from the Mughal chapter of the Fort’s history, it was here that the First War of Indian Independence was started, from here that the PM addresses the nation every Independence Day. Photo: Reuters
Apart from the Mughal chapter of the Fort’s history, it was here that the First War of Indian Independence was started, from here that the PM addresses the nation every Independence Day. Photo: Reuters
The rationale given for this was that since India was a culturally rich country and tourism was on steady rise, there was a need to provide basic amenities to tourists on an immediate basis, and advanced amenities on a long-term basis.
The project
The vision statement of the project says, “Ministry of tourism in close collaboration with ministry of culture and Archeological Survey of India (ASI) envisages developing the heritage sites, monuments and any other tourist sites by making them tourist-friendly to enhance the tourism potential and their cultural importance, in a planned and phased manner.”
The objectives of the project listed on the government document are:
Develop basic tourism infrastructure in and around heritage monuments and any other tourist sites.
Inclusive tourist experience for heritage site / monument or tourist site.
Promote cultural and heritage value of the country to generate livelihoods of local communities of respective heritage site / monument/ tourist site.
Enhance the tourist attractiveness in a sustainable manner by developing world class infrastructure at heritage site / monument or tourist site.
Create employment through active involvement of local communities.
Harness tourism potential for its multiplier effects in employment generation and economic development.
Develop sustainable tourism infrastructure and ensuring proper Operations and Maintenance therein
Under this scheme, the group selected will provide tourists with amenities such as clean toilets and drinking water, illumination, signage, Wifi, multi-lingual audio guides, cloakroom, canteen, advanced surveillance system (Like PTZ based CCTV cameras), tourist facilitation cum interpretation centres (tourist multi-purpose centre) which will have facilities such as museums, shopping/souvenir shops, cloakroom, toilet, drinking water, money exchange ,digital interactive kiosk, digital (LED) screening, light and sound shows with regular cultural shows, battery-operated vehicles and advanced tourist flow management system linked with carrying capacity of the monuments.
There will be expert committees to oversee the projects, and 93 monuments based on footfall have been identified for it.
In the case of Red Fort
In the case of Red Fort a memorandum of understanding was signed between Dalmia Bharat Limited and the ministry of tourism, ministry of culture and the Archaeological Survey of India on April 9. The ministry of tourism went public with the deal on April 25, and on April 28, the general public got to know via an article in the Business Standard that the Red Fort was being adopted by the Dalmia Bharat Group.
There seems nothing objectionable to this on the surface. Yet, as soon as the news was announced, social media was abuzz with messages that the iconic Red Fort had been sold.