Museums for Sachin, Bollywood; Rs375 crore for religious tourism

Mumbai will soon have a new tourist destination, a museum showcasing the career of Sachin Tendulkar. The state government in its budget for 2010-11 announced a museum for the cricketing great stating that his contribution to the country is incomparable.

The announcement by finance minister Sunil Tatkare drew a reaction from former cricketer Milind Rege, who said that every country has a museum to honour its famous players, and now finally we have woken up too.

“In fact, the museum should not only focus on one player,” Rege added. “Tendulkar has no doubt done a lot for the country and he needs to be honoured, but we should also try and set up a museum for all famous players.”

Also announced in the budget was a museum depicting the history of Indian cinema. “Taking advantage of the popularity of the film industry, the government intends to improve facilities for tourism in the state and accordingly a scheme will be implemented to construct a magnificent museum depicting the history of Indian cinema,” said Tatkare.

The budget has also given an extra impetus to the growth of arts and culture in the state. The National School of Drama (NSD) plans to set up a branch in Mumbai and the state has promised to extend all possible help for the same. The government feels that the NSD would give a major boost to Marathi theatre.

Also announced in the budget was an increase in grant, from Rs50 lakh to Rs1 crore, for the International Film Festival in Pune. Also in the pipeline is an Rs5-crore performing arts university in Pune, which will impart knowledge in dance, drama, music, sculpture and drawing.

The government has also approved an Rs315-crore master plan to establish Tuljapur development authority, which will develop infrastructure at the religious places in the state. A provision of Rs200 crore has been made in the budget for development of Paithan and Apegaon. The later to get a major chunk as it is the birth place of Sant Dnyaneshwar. Also proposed is a fund of Rs140 crore for development work at Dehu, Alandi, Pandharpur, Bhandara Dongar and Palkhi Tal. An amount of Rs1 crore has been allotted to scan and preserve historical documents and archives.