Five Dal Lake hamlets to be developed as ‘Tourist Villages’

SRINAGAR, MAY 29: The J&K administration has announced that five hamlets within Dal Lake in Srinagar, which included Kachri Mohalla, Sofi Mohalla, Tinda Mohallah, Akhoon Mohalla and Vegetable market, will be developed as ‘Tourist VIllages’. These villages will have all basic facilities for inhabitants as well as tourists and local visitors. These villages will also provide home stay facilities to tourists, according to an official statement received by Ziraat Times.

“The Tourist Villages Development Programme under Mission Youth initiative, which aims at developing 75 villages having distinction in terms of scenic beauty, adventurous terrain, art and cultural, history and archaeology, is gaining tremendous momentum with heavy tourist influx thronging the new destinations”, the statement added.

“The villages to be covered under the programme are being selected on the basis of their rural tourism potential in consultation with Tourism Department by an expert committee of Mission Youth.
The scheme has twin benefit of promoting rural tourism and employment generation for local youth. The gamut of financial assistance worth Rs 10 lakh including Rs 8.50 lakh from banking partner, Mission youth J&K will provide an amount of Rs 1.5 lakh or 15% of project cost (whichever is minimum) as special upfront incentive (subsidy) under the scheme. Moreover, the beneficiary must be unemployed and registered with the concerned District Employment and Counseling Centre.
The initiative is destined to promote home stays across the UT and will strengthen the rural economy in the region, turn youth into entrepreneurs besides empowering women by offering them numerous opportunities of employment”, the statement added.

The J&K administration through Mission Youth has embarked on a task to rejuvenate and transform more than 75 villages by promoting tourism and giving employment to youth. The government has launched this program to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of Independence under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav under the Mission Youth which will work towards giving a facelift to 75 villages that are already famous for their historical background, picturesque landscape and cultural importance.

As per officials, the initiative of Tourist Village Network has the potential and propensity to mobilize the diverse geographical and socio-economic landscape of the Union Territory.

“There are several regions in J&K which despite having greater tourism potential have not been able to garner requisite attention due to infrastructural bottlenecks. Destinations which lag behind in sphere of tourism infrastructure, can overcome the downsides by introducing home stays as a means of accommodation facilities for the tourists which do not require heavy investment”, the official statement said.