HRIDAY Scheme

National Level City Stakeholder Consultation held to finalize guidelines for HRIDAY Scheme; Shri Venkaiah Naidu emphasizes that the future development of any city must take into consideration its nature, history, and culture

In an effort to finalize the guidelines with respect to the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) to be launched by the Ministry of Urban Development, a National Level City Stakeholder Consultation was organized today here. The Consultation Workshop was presided over by the Minister of Urban Development Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, and the Minister of State for Urban Development, Shri Babul Supriyo. Shri Venkaiah Naidu emphasized that the future development of any city must take into consideration its nature, history, and culture, thus capturing its unique heritage. He also elaborated on four thrust areas for holistic development, namely, Physical Infrastructure, Institutional Infrastructure, Economic Infrastructure & Social Infrastructure and suggested that they should be included in the Guidelines. These, he stressed, are essential for reviving and revitalizing the ‘soul’ of our Heritage Cities. Shri Babul Supriyo stressed upon the significance of developing and incorporating intangible heritage, such as performing arts, local cuisines, and craftsmanship into every aspect of the cities’ functioning. The joint consultation included Municipal Commissioners, District Magistrates and other representatives of the Heritage Cities. Other participants included, representatives of institutions and organizations like INTACH, UNESCO, CEPT University, Indian Heritage Cities Network, SAHAPEDIA, India City Walks and Cities Alliance. Participants agreed that the HRIDAY Scheme should focus on engagement with the entire city ecosystem including citizens, tourists and local businesses. It was jointly agreed that 85% of the total outlay will be earmarked for project formulation and execution. The remaining 15% shall be utilized for other critical components, such as capacity building, establishment of Project Management Units, preparation of Heritage Management Plan (HMP), stakeholder engagement. Based on inputs from the consultation, the Ministry finalizes the guidelines for the HRIDAY Scheme with a total outlay of Rs 500 crores. The Scheme is set to be launched shortly. Scheme HRIDAY will focus on development of 12 heritage cities namely: Amritsar, Ajmer, Mathura, Gaya, Kanchipuram, Vellankanni, Varanasi, Puri, Dwaraka, Badami, Warrangal, Amrawati. Additional cities may be explored after consultations.