Inauguration of Kesri Kunj, a mega tourist complex at Rajrappa in Ramgarh district, is caught in departmental divide.

Standing complete for over six months now, the 25-room facility, sprawling over an area of 15,000sqft, has not been thrown open to tourists because of what seems sheer lack of co-ordination between the finance and tourism wings of the state government.

Ramgarh deputy commissioner Sunil Singh conceded two major hurdles in the opening of Kesri Kunj. “First, the complex has not been handed over to Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC). Second, modalities of its operation have not been finalised,” he said.

According to rules, the complex, which is half a kilometre away from the famous Rajrappa Temple, needs to be officially handed over to the JTDC through a Cabinet notification. Now, the same can happen only after the finance department clears the necessary file.

For six months, tourism officials are said to be seeking clearance and their finance department counterparts are allegedly not obliging them.

The bone of contention? Finance wants JTDC to specify whether it will run the complex on its own or outsource it to a private agency or enter into public-private-partnership mode. But, the latter, it seems, hasn’t provided a satisfactory reply.

Principal secretary (tourism) Sajal Chakraborty expressed surprise over the charges. “How come nobody in my department drew my attention to the matter? If the complex is ready, it needs to be thrown open at the earliest,” he said.

Chakraborty, who actively shoulders the responsibility of clearing tourism project bottlenecks in the state, promised to throw Kesri Kunj in December.

“I believe the facility should be opened first. We can clear the files later,” the senior tourism official said. “The Ramgarh DC is in touch with us. We are working out operational modalities,” he added.

On whether Rajrappa devotees will be seen at Kesri Kunj by this year-end, Chakraborty once again replied in the affirmative.

The mega tourist complex, which was conceived in 2008, was built at a luxurious cost of Rs 8 crore.

It is divided into two sections. One is a guesthouse on the left side of the road approaching the main Rajrappa Temple and the other is a commercial hub, which is on the right side.

Guesthouse Mandakini has 25 rooms, two dormitories, a yoga centre, an amphitheatre and a sprawling lawn. The commercial segment has shops, public toilets and a cafeteria.