Team Herald
PANJIM: The State Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to collaborate with the Mineral Foundation of Goa (MFG) for implementation of Home Stay cluster by the Goa State Rural Livelihood Mission, formed by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), North.
The MFG has been working with a Self-Help Group (SHG) in Talde village of Sacorda village panchayat of Dharbandora taluka on Home Stay project. The government now intends to combine a cluster of villages on the same model.
The MFG will help the GSRLM to develop SHG based Home Stay project for the promotion of sustainable livelihoods to the SHG households in GSRLM. In collaboration with the MFG, the GSRLM will form a tourism cluster in four villages ie Talde, Dharge, Tambdi and Surla in Sacorda village panchayat. The duration of the project is three years, where both will work together in collection of baselines and SHG profiling, developing of concepts and offerings, defining client based, finalising the governance structure and guidelines for the future setting up the project, developing marketing strategy and preparing an exit strategy.
The proposal envisages that around 160-180 women linked with SHGs and their families will be involved and on completion of the project a sustainable additional income will benefit these households.
A government official said that the idea is to promote community tourism by involving SHGs in tourism related activities. The focus will be on culture, heritage and nature and the primary focus will SHGs so as to ensure benefits to them.
The total cost of the project would be Rs 36, 82,221 for three years while the MFG will invest Rs six lakh for the first year as its commitment towards community in the mining belt.