Will open 25 heritage sites for weddings, says Sidhu

Jalandhar, October 29
The state government is likely to unveil its tourism and cultural policy by next month. The announcement will be made at a function to be held at Moorish Mosque in Kapurthala.
Sharing the plan, Tourism and Culture Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said many new projects would be introduced, including converting nearly 25 heritage sites such as serais in Doraha and Shambu into wedding destinations. “Why should a Punjabi who wants to wed in style have to travel to Rajasthan or other states?” he said, while on a visit to the city to attend a doctors’ conference.
Further outlining the plan, Sidhu said: “The Kapurthala court will be vacated and we will convert its heritage structure into a five-star or three-star hotel. We have sanctioned Rs 10 crore for a new building of Sainik School in Kapurthala. If they agree to the proposal, we will acquire the Jagatjit Palace building built on the pattern of Versailles.”
On his idea to include Kapurthala in the proposed maharaja circuit and spiritual circuit, he said: “We intend to interconnect various religious places like Sultanpur Lodhi gurdwaras with the Takhts and Rauza Sharif dargah in Fatehgarh Sahib. In all these places, we will have a good landscaping, cafeteria and other facilities so that the tourists can relax and spend some time there. We also intend to inaugurate the second phase of Jang-e-Azadi memorial in Kartarpur on January 26.”
The minister said: “Tourism has not been marketed in Punjab. Amritsar alone gets 12 million people everyday whereas only nine million tourists visit the rest of the country in a year. Even if we manage to get 70,000 of these visitors to stay overnight, our economy will see a boom and there will be no dearth of employment opportunities.”
On municipal corporations, he said the third party audit being brought by the government would be started in 15-20 days for 165 civic bodies.