Unfazed by the outcry over the alleged misuse of funds for construction of statues and parks in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday said the state government would project these places as tourist spots.

"To create awareness among the people across the country regarding these memorials, parks and statues developed in the memory of Dalit icons, the state government has decided to launch a major publicity campaign. The tourism department had already incorporated these places in its map," Mayawati told reporters in Lucknow.

The Chief Minister said that to popularise these places, the state government has decided that tickets will not be issued at the places for the next six months.

"It has been decided that later on, income generated from the sale of tickets would be utilised for the welfare of the people living in slums and villages," she said.

This comes in the backdrop of the Allahabad High Court asking the state government to file by July 10 its reply on a PIL challenging installation of statues of Dalit leaders.

The Supreme Court has already sought an explanation from the UP government for allegedly spending crores of rupees from the state exchequer on these memorials.

Rubbishing the opposition's claim of misuse of public money, Mayawati said that no unauthorised expenditure was done on construction of these memorials.