CM honours home stay operators at Silver Jubilee event in Doon
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 10 Nov: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today honoured the winners of the photo exhibition competition and, also, felicitated outstanding home stay operators from all the 13 districts of the state. He also awarded Astro Tour Guides and Tour Managers from across the state as well as honoured the mountaineers selected by the Tourism Department along with the 13-member ITBP team for successfully scaling the Kala Nag Peak.
He was participating in the Uttarakhand @25 ‘Festival of Thrill, Spirituality, and Unique Culture’ programme organised by the Tourism Department at the Himalayan Cultural Centre, Garhi Cantt, here today.
On the occasion, Dhami expressed gratitude to all departments, officers, and employees for the successful organisation of the Silver Jubilee celebrations across the state and credited their hard work for the event’s success. He emphasised that, in the past 25 years since its formation, Uttarakhand has made remarkable progress, which stands as a tribute to the sacrifices of the statehood activists.
The CM claimed that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the State Government is working for the all-round development of Uttarakhand. He added that infrastructure is being strengthened in key sectors such as tourism, education, health, drinking water, and connectivity. Where once road construction was a challenge, All-Weather Roads are now being built, and where communication seemed a dream, Digital Uttarakhand is taking shape.
Reminding about the ‘growing self-employment opportunities’, Dhami said that startups and enterprises are emerging from villages and homes, supported by numerous tourism schemes in the state. The Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Tourism Self-Employment Scheme and the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Homestay Scheme have enabled thousands of youths to become self-reliant. Over 8,000 young men and women have been trained through tourism and hospitality skill development programmes.
He said that specialised training in fields such as tour guiding, tour management, and street food vending is creating employment avenues for the youth.
The CM shared that, with the implementation of the new tourism policy, more than 207 investor projects worth over Rs 5,500 crores are currently in progress across the state. Initiatives have also been launched to promote winter tourism, including the winter Char Dham Yatra and activities in high Himalayan regions such as Jadung, Darma Valley, and Panchachuli Base Camp.
Dhami said that Uttarakhand is emerging as a major centre for adventure tourism along with pilgrimage. From Chamoli to Tehri Lake and from Mussoorie to Munsiyari, adventure sports and activities such as paragliding, trekking, river rafting, and mountain biking are creating new employment and self-employment opportunities for youth. The CM said that Astro Tourism, Wed-in-Uttarakhand, and Spiritual Destination Development are also giving a new dimension to the state’s tourism.
He recalled the Prime Minister’s words that Uttarakhand’s true strength lies in its spiritual power. He said that pilgrimage centres such as Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Haridwar, and Rishikesh are not only the sources of faith for Uttarakhand but also the spiritual energy centres of India.
Dhami further said that the state’s local economy is being strengthened through initiatives such as the ‘One District, Two Products’ scheme, the ‘House of Himalayas’ brand, the State Millet Mission, the Farm Machinery Bank, the Apple Mission, the new Tourism and Film Policies, Homestay development, the Wed-in-Uttarakhand campaign, and the Solar Self-Employment Scheme. He stated that in the last four and a half years, Uttarakhand has achieved remarkable milestones that have earned nationwide recognition.
The CM said that Uttarakhand’s consistent progress in the tourism sector has received appreciation at both national and international levels. Villages such as Jakhol, Harsil, Supi, and Gunji were chosen among the Best Tourism Villages in 2023 and 2024. In 2024–25, Uttarakhand received a special honour from the International Centre for Responsible Tourism in the category of Skill Development in Responsible Tourism.
Recalling PM Modi’s vision, Dhami said that for India to become a developed nation by 2047, Uttarakhand needs to chart its roadmap for the next 25 years. He expressed confidence that if every citizen of the state works with sincerity, dedication, and honesty, Uttarakhand will certainly emerge as a developed, self-reliant, and prosperous state.
The recipients of the first prize for the best home stay at the district level were Harendra Singh Bisht from Almora, Mohan Chandra Kandpal from Bageshwar, Sarita Devi from Chamoli, Neelam Chauhan from Dehradun, Sunita Singh from Haridwar, Neeraj Joshi from Champawat, Kailash Pushpwan from Rudraprayag, Tribhuvan Uniyal from Pauri, Mathura Dutt Colony from Pithoragarh, Umang Vasudev from Nainital, Jitendra Singh from Tehri, Akhil Pant from Uttarkashi, and Deepak Chaturvedi from Udham Singh Nagar.
Also present on the occasion were MLAs Khajan Das and Savita Kapoor, BKTC President Hemant Dwivedi, Tourism Secretary Dhiraj Singh Garbyal, Additional Secretary Abhishek Ruhela, and several other dignitaries.
