SURREY – Many Punjab politicians have been visiting Canada on personal visits lately, including the somewhat high profile visit of senior Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira last week.
It continued this week with Punjab Jail and Tourism and Stationary and Printing Minister Sohan Singh Thandal dropping by in Surrey after attending a wedding in the US.
Thandal, who was formerly the Chief Parliamentary Secretary to SAD Akali government and a politicians with not such a rosy past, said agriculture-farming has been in decline in Punjab for years due to its rise in other states in India, the state is currently focusing on transportation and infrastructure improvements on a grand scale to lure more tourists to its growing tourism industry with such high in-demand destinations as Amristar for the Golden Temple and other attractions and the newly created Viraset-e-Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib, which the LINK columnist Promod Puri profiled in our last week’s edition after his recent visit to the landmark marvel of Sikh history and culture.
“In the past, Punjab was known for agriculture but now other states have taken that over our government under Prakash Singh Badal has decided to focus on tourism in a very big way,” Thandal told the LINK.
“We have seen a huge increase in tourism and it is the reason we are working hard to improve roads and other transportation systems as well as spending crores on improvement to existing landmark buildings in Punjab as well as creating brand new attractions for our visitors.”
Thandal, who hails from village Thandal, Thana Mahilpur of Distt. Hoshiarpur, said another tourism section that the government is looking to boost is the eco-tourism that is very popular with westerners as well as NRIs and Indians.
“Last month, a survey stated that Punjab is the most aggressive state in India in promoting tourism. It is a focused effort as we really see this sector as being one of the most flourishing sectors that can help to fuel the economy,” Thandal said.
But there has been some criticism that the Punjab government hasn’t done enough to preserve roads leading to such eco-tourism places like Keshopur Chamb, an ornithologist’s delight.
The Punjab Tribune newspaper reported this week that the area, which is considered to be one of Asia’s largest wetlands, now lies abandoned with almost all approach roads leading to the area in a dilapidated state, forcing the flow of tourists virtually drying up at the wetland.
The Asian Development Bank had recently announced a grant of Rs 8 crore to establish a Tourist Interpretation Centre (TIC), to be spread over an area of 3.5 acres, at the wetland. However, till yet, only a boundary wall has been built on the area.
Thandal said they are focusing on improving such eco-tourism areas and he is pushing to get things done quickly.
Aside from road and tourist destination improvements, Punjab is also focusing on cleaning up the site along the route to any particular destination, like improving the look of dhabas (roadside eateries), creating man-made lakes as well as digital maps of everything available along the routes so people can get maximum enjoyment and exposure to things worth seeing in Punjab.
Asked what is the Punjab government doing in promoting Punjab travel to NRI Punjabis, who Thandal acknowledged were the key to increasing in flow of tourists, he said they are currently working with travel agents abroad to tell them to put together special tourist packages for single or group visits.
“We first and foremost invite Punjabis to come visit their homeland and bring their children so they can see what their parents and grandparents homeland looks like,” he said. “It will be great for kids and parents alike to experience their heritage and culture as a family.”
Thandal, who has been an MLA from Mahilpur constituency of Punjab Vidhan Sabha since 1997, was first elected in 1997 and was inducted in to the cabinet as Minister of State for Food & Supplies in the SAD-BJP coalition Government.
Seen as his party’s “face of the Dalit community, Thandal has been elected three times in a row as a MLA from Mahilpur, winning consecutively in 1997, 2002 and 2007.
