HRIDAY Scheme: program to preserve and revitalize the country’s rich cultural history.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs announced the National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana, an HRIDAY scheme, on January 21, 2015. This program was created to preserve and revitalize the country’s rich cultural history. The HRIDAY scheme intends to promote historical conservation, urban planning, and economic growth in heritage cities. Accessibility, security, safety, livelihood, cleanliness, and speedier service delivery are all priorities under the National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana.

Focus of HRIDAY Scheme-

HRIDAY focuses on the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs developing essential heritage infrastructure for areas surrounding heritage sites that have been approved after being identified by the Ministry of Culture. The scheme’s key priority areas are the development of infrastructure such as approach roads, drainage, sidewalks, electrical wiring, landscaping, sanitation, street lights, water supply, waste management, and allied citizen services such as tourist comforts, security, and so on.

The objective of HRIDAY Scheme-

• Planning, constructing and implementing infrastructure, including service delivery and infrastructure development in historic city center districts, while keeping heritage sensitivity in mind.
• Preserve and renovate heritage so that visitors may engage with the particular nature of each heritage city.
• Create a city-wide legacy asset inventory that documents constructed, cultural, living, and natural heritage as a foundation for urban planning, growth, service planning, and delivery.
• Enhancement of basic services with a focus on sanitation, such as public bathrooms and water faucets, security, such as street lights, and tourist facilities.
• Create links between cultural facilities and tourism, as well as heritage conservation and capacity building for heritage-based local companies
• Adaptive preservation of urban heritage, involves upgrading ancient structures with modern conveniences utilizing appropriate technology. This goal also includes the formation of public-private partnerships for the preservation and maintenance of historic structures.
• Promotion of economic activities in order to increase employment opportunities for persons living in and near heritage sites. This includes developing their skills and making public and cultural areas more accessible to them.
• Using current ICT technologies to make cities more informed, and modern security systems such as CCTV to make cities more secure.
• Develop highways, implement the universal design, GIS mapping of historical locations, and create a digital record of the heritage, among other things, to improve access to heritage sites.

Principal Responsibilities-

• CLAMC will serve as a forum for the sharing of ideas, goals, and project oversight and review.
• Oversee, review, and track the scheme’s performance. It will also provide guidance on occasion.
• Provide an enabling framework for project implementation by promoting collaboration between the Center, States, and implementing agencies.
• Take ideas and proposals from local committees and communities, as well as coordinate with them.
• Recommend making mid-course modifications to the implementation tools as needed.

The following are the specific outcomes that HRIDAY aims  to achieve-

• Improved basic urban infrastructure at existing and emerging tourist destinations and gateways
• Improved sanitary standards at natural and cultural tourist attractions with visitor convenience and safety
• Heritage monuments should be properly maintained, revived, and beautified
• Local community involvement in tourism-related economic and livelihood activities
• Heritage resources should be integrated into city processes and the city economy.
• Indicators of service level benchmarking for urban service delivery have improved.
• Increase in tourist intake to cities;
• Increase in tourist stay duration in town;
• Improvement in social safety and crime reduction;
• Significant improvement in the local economy and quality of life of its communities.

Also read: Dhanalakshmi Scheme- A Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme for Girl Child