Ugen Bhutia, a farmer in Kewzing village, about five hours from Gangtok, is one of those selected as a homestay operator. “On an average, my monthly income has increased from Rs 2,000-3,000. This has motivated other families in the village to apply also. But they will first have to meet the basic requirements. In the last one year, almost every house in the village has constructed a proper western toilet,” he said.

These are small villages, some with just about 15-20 households. To ensure that there is no business rivalry, village communities have formed their own rules. For example, in Kewzing, no family is allowed to take more than 10 tourists per season.

“We have been trained to use Internet to promote ourselves. This has helped us make contact with travel agents in Delhi. Some youngsters are now creating their own websites,” said Bhutia. “Ever since we started, there has hardly been a vacant period. So far, most of the tourists were foreigners, but now Indians are also coming,” he added.

The identification of families and training of villagers is being done by an NGO called Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Sikkim. “Once we select a house, we give the person training and a six-month period to create the basic infrastructure. There are periodic checks to ensure that quality is being maintained,” said Radhika Kothari, one of its office-bearers.

“The main training component includes spoken English, organisational development, cooking of varied cuisines, computer management. So, even as the tourist gets to live with the family and gets a feel of farm life including ploughing, milking cows, his basic comfort isn’t disturbed,” she added.

... contd.