Dehradun, 05 October (HS). Tourists will soon see the daughters of Uttarakhand going rafting on the waves of river Ganga in Rishikesh. For this, the Tourism Department has trained 14 women as white water river rafting guides, who are now ready to start their career as professional rafting guides after the completion of the registration process.
Rishikesh has emerged as a major center for rafting in recent times. Every year more than five lakh tourists come here for rafting. In this way, rafting activity is becoming a source of business as well as employment. Till now the work of rafting guides was being done entirely by men. On the instructions of Chief Minister Dhami, for the first time, Uttarakhand Tourism Department has given training to women as river rafting guides. After this, the Tourism Department gave three months of free training to selected 14 women between April and June. In this, along with training, the expenses for accommodation and food were also borne by the Tourism Department.
Priyanka Rana, resident of Siransu village in Pauri district, is currently pursuing BBA. Priyanka is a kayaking athlete. Priyanka tells that a large number of rafting takes place near her village. So, when he got information about training of rafting guards to women under Uttarakhand government, he registered himself in it. Expressing gratitude to Dhami government for this, Priyanka says that now she wants to make her career as a rafting guide.
Kamakshi Goyal, resident of Ramnagar, is currently working in the Nautical Company of Goa. Kamakshi tells that she was already working in the white water field. So he took rafting training to improve his skills. For this, three months of training along with free boarding and lodging facilities were provided by the Uttarakhand government. Kamakshi is calling it a big effort towards women empowerment.
Rishikesh resident Muskaan has also received training in the first batch. Muskaan is currently pursuing her graduation from Rishikesh. Muskaan tells that for three months she was trained in river rafting by foreign trainers. During this period, he also did rafting in the Ganga from Devprayag to Rishikesh for a week. This campaign, run entirely by women, was wonderful. Muskaan now wants to pursue her career in this field. She is expressing her gratitude to the Chief Minister for this.
This will prove to be an important step towards empowering the daughters of the state: Chief Minister Dhami
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that there is immense employment potential in the field of adventure tourism in Uttarakhand. Now a large number of women tourists are also coming for rafting. In such a situation, efforts are being made to train women as raft guides. The good thing is that women have shown interest in this. This will prove to be an important step towards empowering the daughters and women of the state.