History of the site
The Chairman of The Braj Foundation met the newly elected Chief Minister of UP, Sh. Akhilesh Yadav and urged the new CM, to take-up the issues related to the lack of infrastructure at various sites of tourist importance such as Braj, Agra, Varanasi etc. as this will give impetus to the economy and employment in these areas. Considering the limitation of resources available with the State Govt., Mr. Narain emphasized the need to adopt Public Private Partnership model (PPP) to develop these areas. He expressed confidence in the success of this model if the UP government is receptive and forthcoming. Not just the profit driven Corporate Sector but also several well-established NGOs or Foundations will be more than happy to associate with such ventures. He also met the Chief Secretary and other senior bureaucrats of UP Govt. in his visit and updated them on the efforts by TBF.
During the course of restoration of various sites it was felt that there are many hindrances which are needed to be tackled by ensuring proper policy guidelines from the State Govt. hence the Braj Foundation did hectic lobbying with the UP Govt. and finally succeeded in this effort on many fronts.
A policy guideline to facilitate the restoration of groves in Braj with the help of NGOs has already been notified through gazette and the next to revive traditional water bodies of Braj is also being issued by the Government of Uttar Pradesh shortly.
The foundation provided the complete research, legal and networking base for the crusade to protect the sacred hills of Braj and finally ensured relevant declaration from the Govt. of Rajasthan.(details in our hill section of the website).
It was on the initiative of the Braj Foundation that UP Govt. decided to get the Tourism master planning done of Braj, which incidentally was also done by the Braj Foundation for the Govt.
The Braj Foundation has participated in a detailed professional study of the Goverdhan Hill with the Faculty of Illinois University and is also advocating it’s case with UNESCO to declare Goverdhan as world heritage site ( Details in our section on Goverdhan Hill).
The Foundation is now working seriously with the PM’s office and some Members of the Planning Commission of India to ensure generous support for the environmental issues of Braj.
We are a non-profit organization, established in December 2005 to restore and revitalize the environmental and cultural heritage of Braj Bhoomi (land of Braj)
