Wednesday, 29 June 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
A proposal has been sent to the State administration for creation of 94 additional posts in the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB). This and other decisions were taken in the the UTDB board meeting presided over by the Tourism and Culture minister Satpal Maharaj.
The minister informed after the board meeting that a budgetary provision of Rs 55 crore has been made for the UTDB’s activities in 2022-23. Along with this, a proposal for creation of a total of 94 additional posts in the organisational structure of the board has also been sent to the State administration. Maharaj said that proposals for organising paragliding, mountain terrain biking, adventure summit, skiing championship, Tehri lake festival and Yoga festival among other activities were also presented in the meeting.
Further, a provision of Rs 30 crore has also been made for publicity of tourism in the state through print media, electronic media, social media, PR agencies, travel marts and road shows. The Tourism minister said that a target of training 200 persons in cooking, service, house keeping, front office and other tasks has been set under the skill to employment scheme. A decision was also taken in the meeting to facilitate training related to caravan tourism, tea estate tourism, home stay tourism and nature guide among other activities. The board also granted its approval for hosting Ganga kayak festival in Rishikesh, canoeing festival in Tehri, kayaking championship in Baur reservoir, Yoga festival, Chota Kailash mountaineering expedition, trek of the year in Pindari along with high and low altitude trekking training. A proposal for a Rs 1.50 crore master plan for conducting tourism activities at Auli was also taken up in the meeting. In another important decision, the board also granted its approval to grant rent waiver for units being operated in public private partnership mode in view of the Covid-19 lockdown. Decisions were also taken in the meeting regarding the double-laning of the road to the George Everest estate in Mussoorie, construction of car parking in Satpuli, Kanvashram reconstruction, construction of pilgrim shelter in Kedarnath, purchase of electric vehicle for the department and tender for security at the tourism headquarters among other issues. During discussion on projects on which work has been started, officials said that survey has been started under the contract with National Highway Logistic Management Limited for ropeway construction from Panch Koti to Bauradi, Balati Bend to Khaliya Top, Rishikesh to Neelkant, Auli to Gorson and from Ranibagh to Hanumangarh temple. In addition to this, work has also been started for construction of ropeway to Kedarnath and Hemkund Sahib.
