TTT NEWS NETWORK
BHOPAL | 27 MARCH 2025
Madhya Pradesh is the fifth most populous state and the second largest by area in India, has emerged as a national leader in sustainable waste management. It is the onus of every stakeholder to therefore take responsibility to achieve sustainable development through tourism. It added the responsibility for doing so cannot be outsourced. Through innovative practices and robust policies, Madhya Pradesh has transformed its waste management landscape, achieved numerous accolades, and set benchmarks for other states. For the past seven years, Madhya Pradesh has consistently ranked among the top three cleanest states in the country in the ‘Swachh Survekshan survey’.
To experience what has been mentioned above, it is important to keep these places safe, friendly, and beautiful along with preserving their culture and traditions. All these responsibilities are being done by the natives for ages. Hence, Madhya Pradesh understands its responsibilities not only to its tourists but also to the local people who have been preserving the beautiful ancient culture of the state.
Madhya Pradesh Tourism is intensely working on its Responsible Tourism Mission, which is being run with an aim to preserve the natural and cultural heritage of the state. The mission aspires to provide an additional income and a better livelihood to locals, traditional artisans, and marginalized people along with creating social and environmental stability. Responsible Tourism is a vital part of a state to maximize the benefits to local communities and minimize negative social or environmental impact, helping local people to preserve fragile cultures and habitats.
To accelerate tourism development, the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board signed six MoUs during the Global Investors Summit (GIS) in the presence of Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav, Union Tourism Minister Mr. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Tourism, Culture and Religious Trust & Endowments Minister (Independent Charge) Mr. Dharmendra Bhav Singh Lodhi. The agreements focus on women’s safety, cleanliness, cultural preservation, adventure tourism, and enhanced tourism infrastructure. Actor Shri Pankaj Tripathi, Principal Secretary Tourism, Culture, Religious Endowment Department and Managing Director Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board Mr. Sheo Shekhar Shukla, and MD of MP State Tourism Development Corporation, Dr. Ilayaraja T, were also present at the event.
For this, the state tourism department has signed MOU with Responsible Tourism mission- Kerala, International centers for responsible tourism UK and UN women. The United Nations Women Organization (UN Women) will conduct awareness programs and workshops at key tourist destinations in Madhya Pradesh to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.
The major components that taken under the umbrella of Responsible Tourism Mission are, community development, economic development, cultural protection and exchange, conservation of environment, promotion of arts and crafts, empowering human capital and building talents through skilling and training, public health and hygiene, peace building and happiness, stakeholders promotion programs etc.
There are many projects being implemented under this:
- Rural Tourism
- Safe Tourism Destinations for Women in Madhya Pradesh
- Responsible Souvenir
- Solid waste management- clean destination
- Project Humsafar – Accessible for all
- Skilling of youths
Madhya Pradesh Tourism (MPT) brought together gram stays, farm stays, and homestays as safe and culturally rich stay options. It is being run with the objective of economic development and social development of the local community associated with the tourism sector. Get a flavor of authentic, traditional rural life by staying in one of the homestays developed by the tourism board with the help of local communities. A hundred villages across six cultural zones located near tourist circuits have been adopted to promote rural tourism, which also includes setting up homestays, and tented camps, promoting local cuisine, developing arts and crafts, preserving forgotten cultural traditions and celebrating festivals and conservation of eco-sensitive regions. The focus is on providing employment to local communities and also training and developing skills as well.
Next time you visit Orchha, stay in one of the six homestays in Ladpura Khas in the Bundelkhand region or if you are in Khajuraho, then choose to stay in Madla near Panna National Park. Set in idyllic locations with picturesque views, you can lose yourself in verdant landscapes and adopt a slow, mindful life. Erickshaws driven by women will take you around tourist destinations like Orchha while you can experience the local cuisine and traditional hospitality. You can also enjoy picnics and excursions and explore hidden sunset spots like we did or visit local temples and markets and lose yourself in conversations or meditate on the songs of birds.
The homestays have been designed by architects based on the personal taste of the hosts under the guidance of the tourism board and their team on the ground. Simple, sustainable and comfortable, the homestays are also provided with modern amenities, including clean bathrooms. In addition to developing rural tourism, the focus is also on safety and public health, infrastructure, and waste management while there are projects that focus on accessibility as well. As responsible travelers, by choosing to stay in homestays, we can get immersive cultural experiences and soak in the rural setting, while also exploring tourist destinations and finding a way to contribute to the rural communities as well.
The department is also focused to benefit the rural communities by holding their hands for agri-based tourism. The aim of this project is to provide direct and indirect livelihood opportunities to 10 thousand families. Six villages have already started hosting the guests.
This vibrant state offers destinations where travelling alone is not just comfortable but one can also get to taste of freedom and fun without fear. With an aim to create women-friendly environment especially at the tourism destinations with the support of the local community, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board is implementing the project ‘safe tourism destinations for women in Madhya Pradesh’. The main objectives of this project are coordination among stakeholders for developing women-friendly public infrastructure, community participation and awareness of women safety and building community-based institutions. As many as 50 districts are being focused under this project. To make tourist destinations women friendly, the state tourism body is maximizing women participation through trainings in e-riksha or taxi driving, scout leader, city explorer, location manager, security guard, cook etc. You can go for picnics arranged by women to see sunsets on a hillock near Orchha, or walked with the Pardhis, a forest community along Panna National Park, bought responsible souvenirs from young artisans. We even explored Gwalior Fort with young Shikha Dhakad who has been trained by the team at India City Walks and has lived all her life in Gwalior.
Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board has taken a significant step towards women empowerment and creating a safe tourism destination by launching State’s first craft-based cafe- “Handloom Café” in Pranpur, a village located 4 kilometers from the renowned tourist destination of Chanderi in Ashoknagar district. This cafe is entirely operated by women making it a pioneering initiative in the Madhya Pradesh. Additional Managing Director Tourism Board Ms. Bidisha Mukherjee visited Pranpur to inspect the cafe and boost the morale of the women staff.
Additional Managing Director Ms. Mukherjee said “Handloom cafe is a crucial step towards empowering women and fostering a safe tourism environment. The cafe will be entirely run by women, from security guards and welcome staff to chefs, receptionists, cashiers, and even front office managers. To ensure smooth operations, all women have undergone specialized training at the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) Bhopal. A women’ group has been registered as ‘Sakhi Saheli Lok Kalyan Sangh’ to manage the cafe.”
Madhya Pradesh is not only a state to explore its heritage, culture, adventure, wildlife, spiritual, food, rural, and wellness destinations but it is also a hub to experience amazing arts and crafts. To prepare such beautiful souvenirs, MPT is promoting the local artisans by developing handloom and handicrafts through responsible souvenirs development projects. MPT has also hand-hold the artisan for designing and is developing market linkages for them. Two art and craft centers have already been started in Madla and Dhamna villages, where the community learns and produces new crafts at fair prices.
Souvenirs are a part and parcel of every trip, but it adds value when you can buy them straight from an artisan or even learn from them.Madhya Pradesh Tourism is also focused on developing and promoting local handicrafts, training artisans, and designing and developing souvenirs, As mentioned earlier, Savini’s PashooPakshee is one of the initiatives supported by Madhya Pradesh and she trains local artisans in skills like pottery, block printing and other techniques to create responsible souvenirs.
Besides PashooPakshee, Madhya Pradesh tourism is also working on reviving many arts and crafts, like Mandana, a folk art created by Meena, one of the oldest tribal communities and paintings. Social enterprises like Ragini Foundation have been training women as a part of women empowerment projects besides also working on other initiatives. From pots and pans to paintings, there are many more arts and crafts that make for great souvenirs. Having said that one of the responsible tourism initiatives of MPT has been focused on solid and liquid waste management and they have been working with Saahas mainly in and around Panna National Park. 30 villages have been selected while the project is at Madla. Creating awareness with the locals has been the key focus, however, as responsible travelers the onus is on us to not litter the landscapes.
While trying to learn about new traditions, we must understand that the living traditions of people are not museum exhibits. We can’t just poke a camera at their faces without permission or just barge into their homes. I am reminded again of Dr Harold Goodwin’s presentation when he quoted this line with reference to Cultural Tourism, “Your everyday life is someone else’s adventure”. We need to learn to be culturally sensitive and respect boundaries. These are just some of the ways to be a responsible traveler and support the initiatives on the ground. Little changes can go a long way in making a difference. But it’s also important to understand that every traveler has a responsibility toward tourism.
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