RAIPUR: In a bid to alleviate the human trafficking tag attached to Jashpur district in Chhattisgarh, the collector took to his passion of cycling on an "awareness drive" to accomplish it. His drive is also aimed at harnessing the tourism potential of the district that boasts of green hilly landscapes.
Nilesh Kumar Kshirsagar, IAS officer of 2011-batch, who covered 100 km in six hours on a bicycle, felt there is a greater need to jointly put up a big fight to end human trafficking and give tourism a much-needed boost in the region. The 100-km route was specifically chalked out as it touched areas that have earned disrepute on human trafficking but also boast some of the best tourist spots in Chhattisgarh.
“The cycling offers better opportunities to achieve noble goals”, asserted the collector. Jashpur is around 300 km north-east of Raipur.
"Apparently the human trafficking and tourism promotion are unrelated, but for Jashpur it's very much linked. It's often said the lack of employment is among the leading causes of human trafficking. So if existing tourism potential is exploited we can create sustained employment opportunities", he further added.
His mission got encouraging support from around the country, the students from reputed institutes including National Law University, IIT, and the professionals from various backgrounds who bicycled their way to raise awareness on human (child) trafficking and highlight the potential of Jashpur as a key tourist centre. The UNICEF came forward to extend its cooperation in jointly be the part of the show named as ‘TourDeJashpur’.
Interestingly, those who participated in Jashpur earlier completed their cycling expedition in places like New Zealand, Australia, Scotland and other countries of Europe. They were left spellbound watching the captivating beauty of the district.
“It’s amazing to see this part of India is better suited to take advantage of eco-tourism and adventure trip. Jashpur is far more beautiful, scenic and picturesque than several other places, even abroad, I had visited before,” said a cyclist Narendra Singh.
With a plan to put Jashpur on the radar of Indian tourism as one of the favoured destinations, the district hopes it will not only augment revenue but create scope of employment too. Tourism really matters as Jashpur with a predominantly tribal population has several untold spectacular spots to visit. "The bicycling initiative will hopefully do away with the human trafficking, that has long plagued the district and now is on a decline,” said Kshirsagar.