TravTalk India Online Magazine
Under the Vibrant Villages Programme, the Union Ministry of Tourism recently organised an interactive session in New Delhi for more than 300 Sarpanches and Gram Pradhans from border villages of the country.
Janice Alyosius
More than 300 Sarpanches and Gram Pradhans from border villages of the country participated in a session, organised by the Ministry of Tourism at Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi recently as part of the Vibrant Villages Programme. V Vidyavathi, Secretary, Tourism, Government of India (GoI), led the session, which focussed on different aspects of tourism, challenges faced by different villages, and potential solutions for tourism development. The participants discussed various topics, including infrastructure, community engagement, skill development, and environmental conservation.
Emphasising on the Vibrant Villages Programme, said, “The vibrant villages hold immense potential for adventure tourism. The Ministry of Tourism will soon arrange a meeting with the defence authorities to engage the youth from these villages in training them as adventure tourist guides.” The secretary said that the expenses associated with the training would be borne by the ministry. Informing about further plans, she said, “We have to celebrate the tourism festivals, and for that, you (participants) do not have to come to Delhi; we will reach your villages to celebrate the festival with you. Adventure tourism is an important segment for tourism ministry, and it has huge potential in vibrant villages.”
Elaborating on the objective, Rakesh Verma, Additional Secretary, Tourism, GoI, said, “Our primary objective is to understand how they look at the development of their villages, their uniqueness, what tourism attractions do they have. We also shared an overview of what tourism ministry is doing for the development of vibrant villages and how we can work jointly in development of these villages as vibrant villages, leverage their tourism potential, and create opportunities for local youth.”
