Nainital: Soon the dreams of the youth will fly with colorful wings in the sky of Uttarakhand. In fact, to give new heights to tourism in the state, district-wise paragliding training programs will be started from September. The special thing is that experts from the Association of Paragliding Pilots and Trackers (APPI) of Switzerland or Turkey will come to Uttarakhand to give training.
Tourism Secretary Dhiraj Singh Garbyal said that there are immense opportunities for paragliding in the high peaks and beautiful valleys in the state. Under the scheme, there will be training of 20 days each in two phases. In the first phase, 141 such youth will get a chance, who already have experience or knowledge of paragliding. After the training, the Tourism Development Department will issue licenses, so that they can become tandem pilots and establish paragliding centers even in remote mountain areas. At present, in the first phase, the training of the youth will be done in Champawat.
The Tourism Secretary said that till now the youth had to go to Himachal Pradesh for this training. But now this facility will be available in the state itself. Garbyal said that the scheme will be implemented as soon as the monsoon ends. In the coming time, the youth of Uttarakhand will not only touch the heights of adventure, but will also be able to find new skies of employment in their villages. Due to which the migration from the villages of Uttarakhand will also be stopped.
Secretary Dheeraj Singh Garbyal said that the youth will not have to turn to any other state or district to get training. Everyone will be given training in their home area. After this, they will get a chance to promote paragliding tourism in their area. Due to which the youth will get employment sitting at home. For this, the government is also going to help about one crore rupees.
Commercial licenses have not been received yet: Let us tell you that as per the need, the youth have not been able to get commercial licenses for paragliding till now because after doing the course of P1, P2, after doing the course of SIV, 100 hours of flying is mandatory, which the youth were not able to complete. The second issue is that as per APPI standards, one has to pass an exam after completing 50 flights. Only after that they get a commercial license. This system has not been implemented in Uttarakhand yet.
