Spotlight

Mission Priyadarshini: Women in tourism

The face of Incredible India is the face of the incredible Indian woman, according to the ministry of tourism. Through Project Priyadarshini the ministry intends to make women stake holders in the burgeoning tourism segment, from their current minuscule role. Neeti Mehra finds out more

The tenth five-year plan recognises tourism as having the highest employment potential as compared to any other sector, and the plan intends to harness this multiplier effect. Plus, policy makers have always considered gender equality, equity and protection of rights of women as an integral driver in policy decisions. Project Priyadarshini, deriving its moniker from Indira Priadarshini Gandhi, is based on these precepts, to bring women to the core area of tourism at all levels.

Launched late last year on women's empowerment day by the former tourism minister, Renuka Chowdhary, as a tribute to the incredible women of Incredible India. It is a step towards empowering women through vocational training and bringing them into the tourism workforce. Kicked off in collaboration with the Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation Ministry, women will be provided with all possible support for self-employment in various areas of tourism. In its current avatar, the project has a two-pronged strategy: guide training exclusively for women and training for tourist cabs. The aim being to draw out the best in the women who would be the face of India Tourism. Though the intentions are good, it is yet to be seen if the efforts are merely a drop in the ocean for integrating women into the core of the tourism sector.

Pro-active initiatives

SP Singh, Regional Director of Tourism, GOI, Mumbai (fourthfrom left) and Neela Lad, Assistant Director, India Tourism, Mumbai (second from left) with the guides at the launch of the Project Priyadarshini guide training programme, Western Region.

Project Priyadarshini had been launched with great fanfare in Delhi, the previous year, where 23 women were trained as cab drivers for nine tourism cabs, between important destinations in the capital city. Women were trained in three aspects, spread over a period of three months. The first module covered soft skills, personality and mannerisms, while the second covered their essential training and driving skills and the third covered a crucial aspect: self-defence measures. The pilot project also facilitated loans through banks, besides training in vehicle repairs and knowledge of important tourism destinations, all which would be a commonality in such future initiatives. Not only do these measures aim to make woman self-sufficient, but also in a day and age where crime figures are soaring, she should be able to defend herself.

The guide training programme is well underway in the Western region. Under the directive of the MoT, India Tourism is conducting its first ever guide-training course only for women under Project Priyadarshini, under which 32 guides will be trained, over a period of three months. "Guides are ambassadors of the tourism industry and it is necessary to have an in-depth knowledge. Traditionally, we have seen the ratio between male and female guides skewed at 20:80," said S P Singh, regional director of tourism, Government of India, Mumbai. Though the figures vis-a-vis guides is still balanced in favour of women, in other aspects of tourism, women are still lagging behind. The guide-training programme will extend across the country, with each of the five zones conducting its separate programme. Currently Mumbai has 150 trained guides, who are endorsed by the Archaeological Survey of India. The cost of guide training under this scheme has been subsidised and is fixed at Rs 500, though the regular course costs Rs 2,000. For the Western region this initiative will be taken to Ahmedabad and Goa, while it is yet to kick off in other zones.

A way forward

The aim of Priyadarshini is to involve the fairer sex as stakeholders in tourism by showing them the possibilities for growth through vocational measures. The project is to be extended to capacity building measures, constituted to train the unorganised sector which interacts with a large portion of the tourism segment. Under this, women will be trained to run art-cum-souvenir shops, small cafeterias and facilitation kiosks at tourist destinations, through its various institutes viz. Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering and also through India Tourism offices in India. These measures will be supported by the ministry of state urban employment and poverty alleviation. Already, the ministry of urban development has launched a scheme 'Sehri Rojgar Yojna' for self-employment in urban areas, which will provide financial assistance for funding these endeavours.

Once the programme runs full throttle, the tourism ministry has plans of a worldwide promotion, to be launched through India Tourism offices in the country and overseas. Till the project takes off in full swing with the vision it was conceived with, the face of Incredible India would predominantly be masculine.