Title - Kak, Dhankar in royal RoW over rail route

Tourism minister Bina Kak is in favour of removing Varanasi and Khajuraho from the itinerary of Royal Rajasthan on Wheels. She wants local places, Bundi and Bikaner, to be added to its new route.
RTDC chairperson Randeep Dhankar is against any change in the train's route for now. Travel agents and industry experts feel that Bundi and Bikaner are poor choices when compared with Varanasi and Khajuraho.
Minister wants to add C-grade towns to itinerary, Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation chief raises red flag
Harshit Singh l Jaipur
If the Royal Rajasthan on Wheels (RROW) had a mind, it would be very muddled by now. Every now and then, the super luxury train is splattered with a new fancy shade and asked to run on a whimsically different track.
In the latest of such about-turns, tourism minister Bina Kak wants the RROW to pass through the backyard of her hometown. She wants tourists who travel on the train to forget places like Varanasi and Khajuraho and instead roam the streets of Bundi and Bikaner.
The Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) chief Randeep Dhankar, however, feels there's no need for any route tampering. The result: A royal RoW.
"There is a proposal to add Bundi and Bikaner to the train's route. Varanasi and Khajuraho may be deleted," Rakesh Srivastava, principal secretary (tourism), said.
Insiders say Kak is interested in adding Bundi to promote the Hadoti sector for various reasons. Dhankar is opposing the proposal as he feels it would be unwise to add these C-grade towns  at the cost of big tourist draws, Varanasi and Khajuraho, informed sources. When DNA asked Kak about the benefit of adding Bundi district she replied, "It is a silly qu estion. The benefit of adding Bundi will be similar to adding other destinations," she said.
Dhankar, on the other hand, said there was no question of changing route of the train. Tej Singh Rathore, state president of RTDC employees' union said RROW was already running losses. "Its route should be changed only if there is scope for profit. The decision should not be motivated by political interests," he opined.
The sudden change in destination could also affect the image of RROW, feel travel agents. "We have booked a number of tourists on RROW and the agreement has been signed according to the route map of the government .If the destination is changed then we will have to suffer a lot as the tourists will make claims against us in consumer courts and it will adversely affect our market image," said Bahadur Singh Rajawat of Forts and Palace Tourist Limited.
Rajawat added that Varanasi holds its own identity and Khajuraho is a UNESCO world heritage site. "If these des tinations are removed from RROW, then obviously there will be decline in tourists, as along with adventure they also prefer to visit the religious places. Tourists are least bothered about distance as they are prepared for it," he said.
"Monuments and temples of Bundi are not properly preserved and tourists in this train are of luxury class and don't prefer to go there. Bikaner only has a museum which tourists anyway visit at Jodhpur and Udaipur. The luxury class travellers also prefer to go Jaisalmer to enjoy the sand dunes, and not Bikaner," he said.
The train has already been a victim of the whims and fantasies of the ministers and babus who run the tourism department. Between 2009 and 2010, Jaisalmer and Bharatpur were on the itinerary of the train. They were removed to make way for Varanasi and Khajuraho. The colour of the train has also been changed twice-from majestic golden to sand yellow and then to royal blue.