Patna, Oct 15: The inflow of both foreign and domestic tourists to Bihar maintained a steady growth during the last three years despite the Centre's lack of response to the proposals of the state government for promotion of tourism in the state. Minister of State for Tourism Suresh Paswan said that domestic tourists registered an increase from 55.40 lakh in 2001-02 to 68.60 lakhs in 2002-03 while inflow of foreign tourist rose marginally to 1.12 lakh in 2002-03 from 1.03 lakh during the previous year.
However, he said the desired cooperation from the Centre was not forthcoming in spite of huge tourism potential in Bihar with ancient relics, monuments and places of religious importance. As against a proposal submitted by the state government in 2001-02 seeking central assistance of Rs 24.32 crore, only a token amount of Rs 4 crore was sanctioned. Similarly, in the following year, about Rs 7 crore was made available against a requirement of Rs 17 crore, the minister said.
Mr Paswan said the demands for connecting Bodhgaya with Rajgir and hajipur with Vaishali had not been conceded. Bureau Report