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NEW DELHI: Heritage walks, weekly literary and cultural events at historical sites, special chapters on Delhi’s contribution to Indian freedom struggle in the curriculum, regular poetry writing workshops and programs to develop theme-based circuits to promote tourism in clusters of ancient buildings to several proposals to mark the state capital as a tourist and cultural center.

Deputy Prime Minister Manish Sisodia, at the presentation of the 2021-22 budget in Delhi last week, proposed two programs: “Delhi Heritage Promotion” and “Delhi Tourism Circuit” to achieve the goal. He also announced an allocation of Rs 521 crore for the implementation of the twin plans.

The projects are carried out by Delhi Tourism in collaboration with the Department of Arts, Culture and Language (AOL) and the Delhi Archives. Plans are underway to fund Mehrauli and other heritage sites linked to the Indian freedom movement on a large scale, according to senior officials.

“A committee was also set up last year to plan and develop programs to promote the city’s heritage in tourism. The idea was to develop circuits modeled on the centre’s Swadesh Darshan program involving places like Mehrauli, Jaunti, Neela Hauz or Mutiny Circle, for which Delhi Tourism can raise funds from the trade unions’ Ministry of Tourism.

Another plan was to include the history of the city in the curriculum, which was searched for archival material. Students should know about places related to important historical events such as the Quit India movement or Salt Satyagraha in Delhi, ”said a senior government official.

In order to put “neglected” or lesser-known historical structures on the tourist map and also to better preserve them, the government plans to hold weekly performances and exhibitions in these places. Aside from heritage walks, the tourism department is considering holding musical performances hosted by traditional artisans, live performances and workshops in historic buildings, the official said.

“One of the suggestions made during the deliberations was to organize workshops to improve writing skills. how to write a Ghazal or Doha. It is important to promote culture so that it becomes part of life. We want to teach students or aspiring poets and writers what is chaupai or chhand (quatrain verse according to medieval Hindi poetry), ”added the official.

Qudsia Bagh can host special events
According to government officials, meetings to plan a series of events marking the 75th anniversary of independence have already begun. Major events are likely to take place in Qudsia Bagh near the Kashmere Gate, and lighting historic buildings is one of the proposals. “Events in places associated with the uprising of 1857 and later developments are a suggestion. Most of the action took place around the Kashmere Gate. Hence, Qudsia Bagh is an ideal location which is close to several other significant places like the North Ridge and St. James Church. We will also train guides to conduct heritage tours, ”said an official who attended the meetings.

Government sets up Ambedkar Interpretation Center
The Delhi Government will set up an Interpretation Center to review Dr. BR Ambedkar for drawing up the constitution of India. It has allocated 10 crore in budget for programs to showcase Ambedkar’s works and visions. The government may also plan a similar initiative for the life of Bhagat Singh. “The land for the Ambedkar Interpretation Center has yet to be identified. We will certainly be doing various activities on Bhagat Singh as we already have a center in his name in the Delhi Archives, ”one official said

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