Ranchi, Aug. 5: It’s a me-too idea, but one that promises big revenue, feels state tourism minister Vimla Pradhan.

Ranchi Haat and Apna Haat, on the lines of the high-profile indigenous handicraft market hub Dilli Haat in New Delhi, will soon come up near the scenic Kanke and Hatia dams to showcase indigenous culture, handicraft and traditional Jharkhand cuisine.

Though Jharkhand’s forerunner to Dilli Haat is Hazaribagh’s Urban Haat, the twin hubs in the capital will make a big splash, feels the tourism department.

An action plan to turn Pahari Mandir, Tagore Hill, Jagannath Temple and similar sites in and around the capital into impressive tourist spots also have been worked out.

At Pahari Mandir, bamboo sheds and laminated corrugated sheets will be put up and railings of stairs to the shrine installed. The boundary wall of Tagore Hill would be repaired and its entrance renovated, with similar plans for Jagannath Temple, Pradhan said.

A queue centre at Deoghar to accommodate over 15,000 visitors, an open-air theatre at Ramrekhadham (Simdega), a multi-purpose hall at Amareshwardham, Khunti, a hotel management institute at Brambe and cultural fests are also proposed during this fiscal.

During the current fiscal, the department intends to set up nine tourist complexes and 11 information centres and build 50 km of approach roads.

“We also intend to promote rural tourism. We have identified villages in East Singhbhum district that figure frequently in folklores. We intend to develop these sites as rural tourist hubs to introduce the charms of Jharkhand better,” Pradhan told the media today.

Replying to another question, she said the tourism potential in the state was enormous and needed over 2 lakh trained hands.

“That’s why we are looking at a hotel management institute. It will admit 100 students every year,” she said.

Pradhan, who also heads the social welfare and women and child development departments, added that the state’s new policies on women and the physically challenged were steadily inching towards the final draft. “It is likely to be placed before the cabinet for approval very soon,” she said.

She also highlighted the status of current status different schemes run by the departments under her command. “All schemes have been linked to panchayati raj bodies. Under Sabla Yojana, girls aged between 11 and 18 years will be given supplementary diets at the anganvadi centres. Pre-school education for children aged between three and six years will available at anganvadis,” she added.