NEW DELHI, June 14 (MIC): Union Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Shri Bijoy Krishna Handique here today announced the launch of a programme called ‘Youth on the Edge’ by Ministry of DoNER through the North Eastern Council for encouraging adventure activities in the North Eastern Region.
Shri Handique said, “We have devised -‘Youth on the Edge’ with the primary objective of encouraging movements of youth from the rest of India to the Border Areas of the North Eastern States to participate in structured adventure activities thereby furthering the cause of national integration and mainstreaming. The participants would get a chance to learn about the cultural heritage and local traditions of the Region. In addition Intra-North East exchanges of youth will benefit the local youth who will also be involved in the process”.
“As part of the programme, we also plan to send selected representatives from the Region to visit the rest of India. A talent scouting process will be done to identify prospective talents in adventure tourism who will be sent for specialised training in the National Mountaineering Institutes. This year we plan to start a Pilot Project and subsequently from the next year we will try to bring the programme under the 12th Plan,” he added.
This is the first time that the Ministry of DoNER has taken up a programme to attract youth from other parts of India.
In the Pilot Project, three trekking trails, two from Arunachal Pradesh and one from Mizoram will be finalized after consultation with the State Governments and necessary ground recee. The types of adventure activities are of Land Based like Mountaineering, Skiing, Trekking, Rock Climbing; Water Based like Sailing, Rowing, Water skiing; and Aero Based like Para Gliding, Hand Gliding, Microlite Flying. Each of these trails will be used to organize activities for 15 batches consisting of 555 youths during the three months. The batches will consist of 37 youth including seven representatives from the North East and National Service Scheme volunteers.
As part of the programme, around 200 youth from the North Eastern Region along with 6 escorts will also be sent to visit the rest of India. Also, to create skill development and self employment opportunities in future for local youth from NER, a few selected ones having an aptitude for adventure tourism will be sent to different National Mountaineering Institutes for specialized training. The total beneficiaries under this programme will be 1885 youths.
The Ministry of DoNER will fund Rs.2.86 Crores for this pilot programme and subsequently the programme will be put up for inclusion as a full-fledged scheme under the 12th Plan. The pilot scheme will be implemented by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports under the aegis of the Ministry of DoNER in coordination with respective state governments.
The North Eastern Region has attractive Himalayan mountain ranges with Sikkim and Arunachal having popular peaks like Kanchenjunga, Kabru Massif, Kangto, Nyagi Kangsang and Gaurichen. A number of wild unexplored rivers like Siang, Syom, Subansiri, Dibang, Lohit etc., are a big attraction for adventure seekers.
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