Minister for Tourism, Nawang Rigzin Jora, accompanied by the ministers for Health and Roads & Bridges, visited Zanskar on October 25th. During their visit they laid a foundation stone for the new Zanskar Development Authority complex and they announced a bundle of funding packages to improve medical facilities, tourist facilities and the road link between Padum and Kargil. They announced a figure of Rs. 4.65 Crore (Rs. 4,650,000,000) for the "beautification" of Padum. That's a lot of beautification!

Personally I think the funding for the hospital and the maintenance of the road link is long overdue. I'm not sure about the beautification of Padum, in fact old Padum is still quite reasonable for a road-head town, it's Mane Ringmo that needs urgent attention. I'm not entirely sure what beautification entails but I am pretty sure a lot of the remediation could be avoided (and a lot of Rupees saved) if someone in charge came up with a plan to regulate the construction of inappropriate buildings and get the desired infrastructure right first time. It might even help if certain Government staff were not permanently out-of-station.

Zanskar's economy is moving with apace (contrary to the impression portrayed by films such as Journey from Zanskar). Discussing Rupees in Lakhs and Crores no longer prompts wide-eyed wonder. I'm not surprised that the current price of land in Padum is comparable to many parts of the UK.

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