New Delhi, May 16: Union Minister of Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni stated in the Rajya Sabha yesterday that the Ministry has sanctioned 1160 project proposals of State Governments and Union Territories amounting to Rs.201167.50 lakh during the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007) for development of tourism in States and UTs.

The Ministry had already sanctioned a sum of Rs 1162.43 lakh for taking up 17 tourism projects in Manipur during the Plan period.

In the first year 2002-03, the Ministry sanctioned Rs 5.24 lakh for organising two projects namely Maha Rasleela and Kut festival.

During the year 2003-04, a sum of Rs 82.44 lakh was sanctioned for destination development or improvement of the surroundings of INA complex at Moirang.

During the third year of the Plan period, a sum of Rs 75.50 lakh was sanctioned for construction of Tourist Home at Sendra and a sum of Rs 2.60 lakh for publication of a pictorial book on Manipur.

During the year 2005-06, the Ministry sanctioned Rs 7.50 lakh for celebration of Winter Tourism Festival, a sum of Rs 25 lakh for design and development of dynamic and interactive website for Manipur Tourism and Rs 24.80 lakh for development of Photo CD Rom on tourist interest in Manipur under the scheme of IT.

During the 2006-07, the Ministry sanctioned nine projects namely celebrations of Lui-ngai-ni Festival, Kut Festival, Manipur Tourism Festival and Manipur Tourism Meet, Establishment of Rural Tourism at Khongjom in Thoubal district, Noney in Tamenglong district and Andro in Imphal East district, Development of Tourist Destination at Imphal under Integrated Destination Development Scheme and Development of Eco-Tourism Park at Nongmaijing in Imphal East amounting to a total sum of Rs 939.35 lakh.

Arunachal Pradesh got Rs 6087.85 lakh for 33 projects, Assam Rs 6635.61 lakh for 41 projects, Meghalaya Rs 2668.69 lakh for 20 projects, Mizoram Rs 6038.02 lakh for 30 projects, Nagaland Rs 7441.48 lakh for 36 projects, Sikkim Rs 7496.31 for 49 projects and Tripura Rs 1702.48 for 21 projects during the 10th Plan period.

Manipur gets Rs 12.50 lakhs for development of primitive tribal groups: Manipur got a sum of Rs 10.00 lakh and Rs 2.50 lakh respectively during 2004-05 and 2005-06 from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for development of primitive tribal groups.

The Union Minister of Tribal Affairs PR Kyndiah in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha yesterday stated that under the umbrella scheme of Development of primitive Tribal Groups, the Ministry provides funds to different States which have Scheduled Tribes known as Primitive Tribal Groups to provide life and disability insurance cover to the head of each primitive tribal group family under a scheme of the Life Insurance Corporation of India known as the Janashree Bima Yojana. Seventeen States have been identified as habitats of these Tribal Groups.

The States are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Manipur, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttaranchal/UP, West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The Ministry released a sum of Rs 500 lakh to these States in the year 2004-05, a sum of Rs 1000 lakh in 2005-06 and a sum of Rs 547.50 lakh in 2006-07 for Janashree Bima Yojana.

The States that received the fund during the year 2006-07 are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and West Bengal.

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