Rural Tourism

Last year when Vivek Sherode from Pune told his children that he was taking them for a holiday, they were more than excited “Will their father take them to Mumbai or Goa?”They started guessing among themselves? But Vivek had some other plans this time. He had heard about village tourism and this time he wanted to give his children the taste of village life. The children were disappointed when they first came to know about it. But the moment they landed in a village they fell in love with the place.  For them it was a different world altogether. Vivek said he had never seen his children so happy as they ran about, sometimes climbing the tree to pluck chikoos or riding a bullock cart or a tractor  or simply playing with water  at the village well. Vivek said that he had never seen his family enjoy the holiday so much as in this village.  He said   at night   the local dance and music with rustic flavor was organized, something they would never had the chance to see in a city.

 

Living in high rise buildings amidst noise and coping with the fast paced life, people want to get away from the daily hustle and bustle for a quiet holiday and breathe fresh air.  Rural tourism as a concept was envisaged in the National Tourism policy in 2002. It was defined as a form of tourism that showcases village life, art, culture and heritage at rural locations, thereby benefiting the local community economically and socially as well as enabling interaction between the tourists and the locals for a more enriching tourism experience.

 

Rural Tourism Scheme

 

The Rural Tourism Scheme was formulated with a focus on developing tourism related infrastructure that would help promote   village tourism. This was later supplemented by a pilot project Endogenous Tourism Project (ETP) in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) by building and strengthening tourism livelihoods-linked capacities of local communities. The project also aimed at convergence of issues like sustainable livelihoods, gender equality, empowerment of women, youth and other disadvantaged sections of the community, and working towards cultural sensitivity and environmental sustainability.

 

Since 2006 the funding of the capacity building activities has also been going on under the capacity building scheme of the Ministry of Tourism.

 

Panduranga,  who is into rural tourism  says that in  Maharshtra, village tourism  took birth in  Baramati district  in 2004 as a pilot project  spread over 110 acres of land.  There is horticulture plantation in the 65 acre area. He says when they urban tourists come, they are also able to see silk processing units, milk dairies and fruit plantations.  Another objective of encouraging rural tourism was to curb migration from rural to urban areas. Since 2004 more than 200 centres of rural and farm tourism have been developed in Maharashtra and more than a lakh of tourists have had the taste of village life. In addition extra income to the farmers, the unemployed youth in villages have also been roped into the activities connected with rural tourism.

Rajasthan is another state where rural tourism has developed fast over the years. Rajasthan  is not only famous  forhistorical monuments and places of worship but also for its rich culture  be its performing arts or crafts  or dance and music. According to Vijay Deep Singh of Murarka Foundations they have developed several packages  not only for  the Indian tourists but tourists from place like America, France, England and even Switzerland. He says that many tourists want to stay with villagers in their homes to get first hand flavour of local life, cuisine and culture. Under one such  packages  the tourists are charged 1200 rupees  per day  for one day and night  of which  850 rupees are paid to the farmers family.  For the tourists it is not expensive and the farmer too is able to earn extra money.

In Punjab it is farm tourism that has become the favourite. One can walk along the golden mustard fields, take a ride on the tractor, take the cattle for grazing or feed them, get to drink  fresh buttermilk in the green fields with Makki ki Roti and Saag, enjoy  the folk dance Bhangra and get to see the making of the local craft  phulkari  and also meet the village community and the Panchayat. The tourists also get to participate or simply watch local games like wrestling, Gilidanda , kite flying. Children too can experience the joy of jumping on the hay and taking bath in the tube wells.

Many other states too are now giving encouragement to rural tourism.

 

12^th Plan Strategy to Boost Rural Tourism

 

The working group on   tourism for the 12^th plan observed that due to several reasons, the rural tourism projects have achieved only limited success.  It has suggested a strategy that can exploit the full potential of rural tourism.

 

The strategy for developing rural tourism is focussed on phased development of cluster of villages for tourism instead of individual villages.

It says that the concentration of tourism facilities or opportunities in a cluster of villages in a geographically compact area, rather than in a number of individual villages spread across vast areas, is likely to provide better tourism attraction.

 

Another advantage is that marketing of local products can be facilitated by holding Craft Bazars or Haats, a concept which has been in vogue throughout the country for a long time.

Also it is more practical and cost effective for tour operators to take a busload or a group of large number of tourists to a rural tourism cluster, which offers more variety and opportunities of shopping, and exposure to customs, lifestyles, local arts and artisans/ artists, including performing arts.

Financial Inclusion

Financial Inclusion is meant to extend financial services to the large hitherto un-served population of the country to unlock its growth potential. In addition, it strives towards a more inclusive growth by making financing available to the poor in particular. The Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech this year had announced that “it will be our endeavour to ensure that all households benefit from bank accounts in the next 2 years”. Keeping in view the banking facilities being extended under “Swabhimaan” and the campaign launched that every household has at least one bank account, it is expected to achieve the target by August, 2014.

 

Bank Branch Network

 

There are 93,659 branches of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) functioning in the country as on 31st March, 2012, out of which 34,671(37.02%) branches are in rural areas, 24,133(25.77%) are in semi-urban areas, 18,056(19.28%) in urban areas and 16,799(17.93%) are in metropolitan area.

 

Opening of Bank Branches

 

In view of the continued need for opening of branches in rural areas for increasing banking penetration and financial inclusion, the Government had issued detailed strategy and guidelines on financial inclusion in October 2011, advising banks to open branches in all habitations of 5,000 or more population in under-banked districts and 10,000 or more population in other districts. By end of June 2012, 1,237 branches (including Ultra Small Branches) have been opened in these areas.

 

Branch Expansion Plan of RRBs

 

With a view to make Financial Inclusion Plan effective and expand the outreach of banking services in unbanked/under banked rural areas, the RRBs were required to work out branch expansion plan for 2011-12 and 2012-13 with 10% increase over previous year. The RRBs had fixed targets of 1247 branches to be opened during 2011-12. RRBs opened 913 branches against this target. This was short of target but was a sharp increase compared to 521branches opened during 2010-11 and 299 in 2009-10. For 2012-13, a target of 1845 new branches has been fixed.

 

Policy For Opening RRB Branches Liberalised

 

Reserve Bank of India vide its circular dated 1st August, 2012 has liberalised the Branch Licensing policy of RRBs and has allowed RRBs to open branches in Tier 2 to, 6 centres (with population up to 99,999 as per Census 2001) without the need to take permission from the Reserve Bank in each case, subject to reporting, provided they fulfil the certain conditions. RRBs not fulfilling the conditions will have to continue to approach RBI / NABARD, as hitherto. Opening of branches by RRBs in Tier 1 centres (centres with population of 100,000 and above as per Census 2001) will also continue to require prior permission of Reserve Bank of India.

 

“Swabhimaan” – The Financial Inclusion Campaign  

 

In order to further extend the reach of banking to the rural hinterland, banks were advised to provide appropriate banking facilities to habitations having population in excess of 2000 by March, 2012 using various models and technologies including branchless banking through Business Correspondent Agents (BCAs). This Financial Inclusion Campaign named “Swabhimaan” was formally launched by the Government in February, 2011. Banking facilities to 74,194 such villages have been provided and about 3.16 crore financial accounts have been opened under this Campaign by end of March, 2012. Further, in terms of Finance Minister’s Budget Speech 2012-13 it has been decided to extend the “Swabhimaan” campaign to habitations with population of more than 1000 in North Eastern and hilly States and to other habitations which have crossed population of 2,000 as per census 2011. Accordingly about 45,000 such habitations have been identified to be covered under the extended “Swabhimaan” campaign.

 

Establishment of Ultra Small Branches

 

Considering the need for close supervision and mentoring of the business correspondent agents by the respective banks and to ensure that a range of banking services are available to the residents of such villages, it has been decided that Ultra Small Branches(USBs) be set up in all villages covered through BCAs. These USBs would comprise of a small area of 100-200 sq. feet where the officer designated by the bank would be available with a lap-top on pre-determined days. While the cash services would be offered by the BCAs, the bank officer would offer other services, undertake field verification and follow up the banking transactions. The periodicity and duration of visits can be progressively enhanced depending upon business potential in the area.

 

Banking Facilities in Unbanked Blocks

 

With a view to provide banking facilities in unbanked blocks, the Government in July, 2009 identified 129 unbanked blocks, of which 91 blocks were in North East States and 38 in other States. With the persistent efforts of the Government, the number of unbanked blocks were brought down to 71 as on 31.3.2011, and by March 2012, banking facilities have been provided in all the unbanked blocks either through Brick and Mortar Branches or Business Correspondents Model or mobile banking, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Opening of One Bank Account Per Family

 

 

 

In order to ensure electronic transfer of cash subsidies directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries under the various Schemes of the Central Government and State Governments, it is important that the beneficiaries have an account in the service area bank. Accordingly, banks have been advised that the service area bank in rural areas and banks assigned the responsibility in specific wards in urban area ensure that every household has at least one bank account.

 

Advisory Committee

 

The Reserve Bank has constituted a high level Financial Inclusion Advisory Committee (FIAC) to spearhead the efforts toward greater financial conclusion.  The collective expertise and experience of the members of the committee is expected to explore issues, such as developing viable and sustainable banking services delivery models focusing on accessible and affordable financial services, developing products and processes for rural as well as urban consumers presently outside the banking network and suggest appropriate regulatory framework to ensure that financial inclusion and financial stability move in tandem.  The Committee is to be chaired by Dr. K.C. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India and will comprise eleven members, from banking and finance sector, including Shri D.K. Mittal, Secretary Department of Financial services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

 

 

The Committee, if necessary, would call other market players like corporate business correspondents, technology vendors etc., as special invitees to the meetings.  Since the financial inclusion model selected in India is primarily bank-led, the Financial Inclusion Advisory Committee may also invite the chairperson managing directors of banks to each of its meetings to gather the perspective of banks.

 

 

There has been a significant, albeit slow, progress towards greater financial inclusion.  However, ensuring accessible and affordable financial services in all the 6 lakh villages in India is a herculean task and given the enormity of the task, a lot of ground still needs to be covered.  This calls for a partnership of all the stakeholders-the Reserve Bank, other sectoral regulators like the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development; banks; governments; civil society and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) etc.