To provide authentic info to tourists, Kurukshetra Board to create pool of trained guides
Aimed at providing authentic information about the Tirthas to tourists reaching from across the country and preparing a pool of trained guides, the Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB) has decided to introduce an orientation course for guides in Kurukshetra.
At present, the board has only two guides for Shri Krishna museum and their services are availed in case of VIP movement to apprise dignitaries about the sites and Tirthas but no such facility is available for general tourists.
A KDB official said Kurukshetra was being promoted as a major tourist destination and every year lakhs of devotees and visitors reached Kurukshetra. The guides play an important role at tourist destinations and lack of information and incomplete information is not good for any religious tourist destination. To ensure that no wrong information about the culture, Tirthas, historic values and tales related to the Mahabharata are given to the tourists and only authentic information is provided in a professional manner, a course will be run at the museum where experts from various fields will be engaged for training the guides.
Earlier, it was decided that the course would be launched last year, but due to various reasons and due to the elections in 2024, the project was delayed. The training will also help in job generation as people can take up the job of a tourist guide as part time job, especially during the International Gita Mahotsav and other major fairs, the official said.
Honorary secretary of the Kurukshetra Development Board Upender Singhal said “Guides play a crucial role in tourism and provide proper information about the places the people come to visit. Though, some people are already working as tourist guides independently, the board has decided to create a pool of guides after providing them proper training and information about the Tirthas situated under 48 kos land spread over Kurukshetra, Karnal, Kaithal, Jind, and Panipat districts. Soon applications will be invited from the interested candidates for the orientation course.”
“People who have been working as guides can also get enrolled in the course and they will be given information. We aim to enroll the existing guides as well as the part timers in the three-month course. While in the first two months, they will be given theoretical knowledge, in the third month they will be taken to the sites for practical knowledge. They will be taught about tourism, history, culture, hospitality, mannerism and presentation skills. The prime objective behind the decision of introducing the course is to provide authentic information to the tourists about the Tirthas and also generate employment opportunities,” he added.
