Analysis Of Kurukshetra Magazine: Potential Of Rural Tourism

Table of Contents

Kurukshetra is a Monthly Magazine which is issued by the Publications Division of the GOI.

Kurukshetra Magazine is one of the most important and indispensable source for UPSC Civil Services Exam Preparation. Keeping this in mind, here, we come with ”Analysis Of Kurukshetra Magazine” on daily basis, which covers the monthly Kurukshetra Magazine in easy and smooth pointed form, keeping in mind the demand of UPSC aspirants.

Introduction

Rural Tourism can give a tremendous fillip to economic, cultural and political benefits as a large part of India is rural.
68.84 % of India’s population resides in rural India.
According to the census 2011 data, approximately 450 million of India’s total population migrated within the country.

The Concept of Rural Tourism

Rural Tourism as a concept was launched in 2002.
In the tenth five year plan(2002-2007) UNDP(United Nations Development Programme) launched a pilot initiative to develop rural tourism in India through the planning commission.
Rural Tourism was the key concern throughout the 11th five year plan(2007-2012).
According to the report of the working group on tourism(2011), the 12th FYP envisioned the development of 70 rural tourist clusters across the country.

Potential of Rural Tourism

Rural India is rich in arts, crafts, religion, rituals and culture and has tremendous potential to become a tourist hotspot.
It has the potential to revitalise local arts and crafts while preventing viable traditional occupations from being displaces.
The National Tourism Policy recognises rural tourism should be given special attention.
Rural Tourism also on the rise as a result of the experiential tourism culture among tourists.

Key initiatives by GOI to promote Rural Tourism in recent years

In 2015, coinciding with the timeline of the draft National Tourism Policy 2015, the Swadesh Darshan Scheme was launched. Under the scheme 15 thematic circuits were identified.
In 2017, the ministry of culture launched the ”National Mission on Cultural Mapping.” Under this the cultural mapping of India is done via a running nationwide cultural awareness programme called ”Hamari Sanskriti Hamari Pehchaan Abhiyaan” for the development of all art forms and artists.
In 2020, the GOI launched ”Dekho Apna Desh”, a scheme that encourages Indians to travel across the length and breadth of India.
About a year ago, in june 2021, the ministry of tourism launched a ”Draft National Strategy and Roadmap for Developing Rural Tourism in India.”

Draft National Strategy and Roadmap for Developing Rural Tourism in India

The draft identified rural tourism as a means of fulfilling the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
It aims to prioritise rural tourism at national level.
It further aims at the convergence of various schemes addressing issues such as poverty, empowerment of women and strengthening the economic status of the rural people.
The strategy is based on six strategic pillars:

1. Benchmarking of state policies and best practices
2. Digital technologies and platforms for rural tourism
3. Developing clusters for rural tourism
4. Marketing support for rural tourism
5. Capacity building of stakeholders
6. Governance and Institutional Framework

Conclusion

The sustained development of rural tourism holds the key to India’s occupancy of prime spot in the list of countries with a treasure trove of rich and diverse cultural heritage.