Chennai: Heritage and Tourism Village is being planned in Singapaumal Coil, 40km from Chennai, as part of an effort to add rural tourism by the trade union government.
The government has gave sanctions ₹ 25 lakh under the mission of Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban based on the suggestions presented by the state government, said Tourism Minister Kishen Reddy in a written reply at Lok Sabha about the promotion of rural tourism, on Tuesday.
The money is approved under critical gap funding where funds will be sourced from various central and state schemes.
Under the scheme to develop legacy villages and tourism, steps can be taken to prepare tourist tours for tourists to explore villages and learn about local culture and art so that urban-rural divisions can be bridged effectively.
This village will capture the art, culture and unique traditions for the district.
Skills training and economic activities related to the region will be offered to people beside the inheritance village.
Singapard coil and six nearby villages – Appur, Chettipuniyam, GuruvanMedu, Colathur, Reddiplayam and Venkatapuram – have been informed as clusters to implement `rurban ‘mission aimed at bridging the gap between urban and rural areas and physical infrastructure facilities in rural groups.
Tourism promotion is one of the project elements, the Minister said in the answer.
He also said that American countries or the United States have proposed activities related to tourism promotions under the integrated cluster action plan.
“Funding under the mission is shared in a 60:40 ratio for the United States”, he said.
An official said that ‘Rurban’ mission work occurred where women in the villages were put together and provided training for livelihoods.
The mission said that the rural-urban distribution in Tamil Nadu was 3.10%, far fewer than the national average.
This means there are rural-urban continuums in the state.
However, this scheme is expected to reduce further gap and also promote rural tourism and inheritance.
Similar efforts are made effectively in Jharkhand under SPMRM.