Happy Diwali A.S.I.!

[Venkateswara Rao Kesaraju]

I agree . The fee structure is really discriminatory.
I never really understood why the Indian government
let this happen.

No Sir,this is not a us Vs Them issue. Thanks for
raising this issue.

Let us all put some pressure on ASI to stop this
nonsensical fee structure.

Venkat

--- "Steven E. Lindquist"
<s-lindquist at THE-FOUNDRY.NET> wrote:
> To the list:
>
> I have not posted in the last four years of watching
> this list.  Given the
> last month, the reasons should be obvious.  Please
> do not let this email
> devolve into us/them nonsense.  My concern is simply
> as a
> "educator-in-training" of Indian history.
>
> --
> ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) has recently
> changed its entrance fee
> for ASI regulated sites.  As of late Oct., fees for
> sites are now Rs. 5 for
> Indians, and U.S. $5 (Rs. 250) for foreigners.
> World Heritage sites are $10
> (Rs. 500) for foreigners.  The Taj Mahal is over Rs.
> 1000.
>
> I am posting this so that those concerned with the
> fee structure,
> particularly educators of Indian history, religion
> and art (foreign and
> local), are aware of these changes.  Personally, I
> find the change abhorrent
> for the following reasons:
>
> (1) because most foreigners seeing the purchasing
> power of Rs. 250 will
> often not pay this to enter these sites,
> particularly the sites that are
> less known.  For example, at the early Buddhist
> site, Bhaja, every foreigner
> I saw left in anger (a friend has told me he saw the
> same at the Red Fort in
> Delhi).
>
> (2)  Determination of "foreigner" status is based
> simply on skin-color (and
> not on passport, for example).  Thus, the policy is
> ill-managed at best and
> certainly unethical.
>
> And most importantly
>
> (3) ASI's goal should be the promotion of the
> heritage of ancient India.
> While, of course, this institution needs money
> (something I fully support),
> I do not support its means of discriminatively
> placing its financial
> problems on foreigners.  Baldly put, it "looks bad"
> -- it creates a hostile
> environment at the site (Indians horrified at
> foreigners who would pay such
> a price, foreigners horrified at the extreme price
> difference), does not
> encourage foreigners to visit (most tourists in
> India are not businessmen --
> particularly those visiting ASI sites -- and do not
> have the money to spend
> especially if they want to see 5 or 10 sites!), and
> such fees will make the
> smaller sites even less known.
>
> I ask anyone concerned with this change to contact
> ASI directly (I have
> emailed and snail-mailed them, but have not received
> a response).  I, like
> many foreigners, am used to paying higher prices for
> most things in India,
> however, ASI should be principally concerned with
> education and the
> promotion of Indian archaeological history, and not
> how to "get the fast
> buck," with a lack of concern of how this is viewed
> by the rest of the
> world.
>
> ASI Contact information:
>
> Director General
> Archaeological Survey Of India
> Department of Culture
> Government of India
> Janpath, New Delhi - 110011
> email: asi at del13.vsnl.net.in
>
> Truly,
>
> Steven
> --
> Steven E. Lindquist
> In the US:
> Doctoral Student
> Dept. of Asian Studies
> University of TX at Austin
>
> In India:
> AIIS Junior Fellow/Associated Research Scholar
> Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
> Pune, India
> --


=====
VENKAT KESARAJU
1708 Knollwood Dr
Middletown, NJ - 07748
Phone: 732-796-7264 (H)
       201-804-7231(W)
E-mail:kevenkat at yahoo.com,kevenkat at hotmail.com
       vkesaraju at axc.com

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