Rajasthan government is contemplating to hand over two of the state’s historical forts to private firms for upkeep. This is because recently the Red Fort was allowed to be adopted by Dalmia Bharat Ltd by the Union Tourism Ministry and sparked a controversy.
The government is planning to develop both Amber Fort and Nahargarh Fort on PPP (Public Private Partnership) model with an aim to generate general tourist interest in the monument and preserve the heritage beauty. Besides, the state has also shortlisted 10 other monuments under the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ scheme. For this, the upkeep of the monuments will be assigned to the private entities.
Amber Fort
However, this decision of the government to develop the aforementioned forts on PPP model has received criticism and opposition from some historians and former officials of the archaeological department. For them, the private firms’ participation would only mean personal profit for these companies. As performer Deputy Director of the Archeology department Jodharam Baber, the two monuments are already developed and don’t need any upkeep.
On the other hand, the state government doesn’t find any merit in the criticism and is rather focused on preserving the heritage. According to State Panchayati Raj Minister Rajendra Rathore, the move is aimed to prevent the rich culture and history of the state from being erased. He said, “I see nothing wrong in the move to develop historical monuments on PPP model.”
The ‘Adopt a Heritage’ project is aimed at assigning the select historical monuments to private firms which, in turn, will develop necessary infrastructure around those monuments and would be responsible for the upkeep and maintenance.
