Pranav Bagwe, 23, a resident of Phansad in Murud taluka in Raigad district was unemployed till the last month. However, soon after attending a "Special 5 days Guide Training" at Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary in the first week of August, conducted by the Directorate of Tourism (DoT), Government of Maharashtra, he got a call from a Thane-based tour operator for a job.
The Free Press Journal (FPJ) had carried a news article on August 1 that DoT was giving five days special guide training to 30 unemployed tribal youths at Karnala Bird Sanctuary and Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary in Raigad district between August 2 and August 6. The purpose of the training programme was to enable them to earn in their areas without going anywhere.
After reading the news piece in FPJ, Mohnish Dange, director of Le Dan Vacations private limited who also runs an NGO for underprivileged children in tribal areas in Raigad district showed his willingness to help these tribal youths.
Dange said, “I read a news article in Free Press Journal regarding training being provided by Directorate of Tourism to tribal youths of Raigad district. Through our NGO Chandrama Education Trust (CET), we are already doing various activities in the education sector to uplift the underprivileged and tribal children of remote areas of Sudagad Taluka of Raigad District.” He added that their problems are serious and beyond our imagination. In this tough time, it is very necessary for unemployed youths to get employment.
“When I read the news in article FPJ I felt I must help them by giving an employment opportunity to those trained tribal youths. One of our group companies named Le Dan Vacations Private Limited is in the business of tourism and hospitality sector and many of our clients travel to various tourist places in India and abroad through us. Since the tribal youths are trained by DoT, we can give them employment opportunities,” said Dange.
The FJP helped Dange in connecting to the Training Head of DOT Yogesh Nirgude and he agreed to share the contact numbers of few trained youths.
Following the number given by Nirgude, Dange met with Bagwe, one of the unemployed tribal youths at his office in Thane and assured him help in their work. Bagwe said that he was a part-time guide at Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary and after training, he was planning to dedicate more hours to make extra money. “This is a windfall for me as I got a call soon after I completed the training programme,” said Bagwe.
Dange assured that he would help more tribal youths from their company and he will ensure that whenever their tourists visit the Raigad area, they get toured by guides from tribal communities.
