Makar Sankranti: MoU signed to develop Ram city

New Delhi, Jan 09: The Ayodhya municipal corporation and the Indian Institute of Management Indore have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop the Uttar Pradesh city as an international tourist centre in view of the construction of the Ram Temple there, an official said on Friday.

The MoU, which was signed by IIM Indore director Himanshu Rai and Ayodhya municipal corporation commissioner Vishal Singh, aims to beautify the city by incorporating the best practices that have made Indore win the cleanest city award under the Centre's 'Swachh Survekshan' drive in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Under the MoU, a scheme for information, education and communication (IEC) will be formulated on the lines of the Swachh Bharat programme and training will be imparted to civic staff in Ayodhya to encourage religious tourism, the official added.

"We wish to develop Ayodhya as a world class city from the religious point of view. The MOU with IIM Indore will help us achieve this goal. The MOU will start getting implemented in Ayodhya from January 14, coinciding with Makar Sankranti" civic chief Vishal Singh told PTI over phone.

Officials said Indore's cleanliness model is based on the '3R' formula, which is reduce, reuse and recycle, and it has helped the MP city handle 550 tonnes of wet waste and 650 tonnes of solid waste every day.