Recently, the World Bank team visited the rural area near Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh, to oversee and understand the living condition in the villagers, basic facilities available, and the livelihood opportunities linked with tourism, mainly Khajuhi, Singhpur and Chhahi villages.
Stephinia Martin, who led the team was in the city to take part in the three-day workshop organised by the Department of Tourism. The workshop completed after the field visit to Sarnath.
The issues related to Rural and Sustainable Tourism, livelihood linked with local handicrafts and Dr. Rajani Kant, Director, Human Welfare Association raised women entrepreneurship, on the second day of the workshop. The team visited three villages and talked to the villagers, as per a report in The Times of India.
In Singhpur village, the villagers displayed their metal handicraft production process and shared the marketing problems they were facing. In Chhahi, the team saw the process of Banarasi saree weaving and tried to understand the troubles of weavers.
In Singhpur village, the villagers displayed their metal handicraft production process and shared the marketing problems they were facing. In Chhahi, the team saw the process of Banarasi saree weaving and tried to understand the troubles of weavers.
According to Kant, they tried to know how the decline started in the traditional silk weaving sector, and in future how it could be linked with the Buddhist Tourism. The team was interested to build a proper handicraft environment in the surrounding villages with basic facilities for the tourists to see the production process and learn more about the tradition and culture. The whole concept is related to pro-poor tourism development in the Buddhist circuit, as Sarnath is one of the most important places for Buddhist tourists.
