Rules stopping jobless youths from becoming tourist guides - The Hindu ‘Government preparing plan to ensure well-trained guides in tourist circuits’ Jahangir Kudgi, a graduate in History and Archaeology, has been struggling for the last three years to get a tourist guide licence from the Department of Tourism to become an official tourist guide. Like him, several graduates are facing tough times because of certain government norms. According to the norms, the Tourism Department offers free training for tourist guides and issues licence but only to those from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Terming these norms “absurd”, Mr. Kudgi said that there are many educated youths without jobs. These youths are interested in taking the job of a guide and, therefore, they should be given an opportunity, irrespective of their caste. He wondered why the government cannot consider giving free training to those who want to become tourist guides, as it does not fall upon the government to give them salaries. “All that the government could offer is free training and then issue licence; the earnings of such guides are completely dependent on what tourists pay. When such is the case, the government can offer training to any one, including those from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes,” he said. Sources in the Tourism Department here said that the last training session, when 26 Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes aspirants attended, was held in 2009-10. However, only five are now working as full-time guides. The sources said that in July, Bijapur city received 1.14 lakh visitors, of which nearly 75,000 went to the historic Gol Gumbaz. “The number of visitors is increasing every year but the number of guides is not,” the sources added. The sources said that they have received applications from guide-aspirants from different communities for training. “We have brought this matter to the notice of the government,” they added. Meanwhile, when contacted, Minister for Tourism R.V. Deshpande told The Hindu that the government was preparing a plan to ensure that the tourist circuits in the State had well-trained guides. He said that the Ministry wants to select jobless youths with potential, for free training. It would also help them learn foreign languages for interacting with tourists from abroad. Stipend would be given during training, he added. thehindu/todays-paper/rules-stopping-jobless-youths-from-becoming-tourist-guides/article6340377.ece
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 03:09:25 +0000
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