Asr to have 50-to-100-acre celebration point: Mann

Chandigarh: Projecting Punjab as the global tourist destination of future, chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday said holy city Amritsar would have a 50-to-100-acre celebration point comprising various banquet halls. The per day average footfall of devotees in Amritsar is 1 lakh.Addressing a gathering at the inaugural three-day ‘Tourism Summit and Travel Mart’ at a private university in Mohali, the CM claimed that Punjab could also have eco-tourism sites such as Chamror Pattan in Pathankot along with a Filmcity for shooting, post-production, and release, for which he requested Amritsar-born celebrity comedian Kapil Sharma, who was with him on the dais, to put in a good word with Mumbai’s film industry. Mann claimed that his government had several tourism policies tailored to the needs of this industry. On Tuesday, Mann will lay the foundation stone of the Saragarhi Memorial at Ferozepur. Mann said that to bring youth out of the clutches of drugs, he wanted to create jobs for them, for which tourism could be a catalyst.T he CM, meanwhile, said some people had problem if one refers to the country as India. “Bharat hai wang mundri, wich nagg Punjab da (If India is like a ring then Punjab is its shining jewel),” he said, adding, “Yeh India jo desh hamara, chalo India kehta main...aitraz hota hai kayiyan nu (India, which is our country...I say India, some people have objections to this).”