Shillong, May 17 (Representative) With the view to exploit the employment generation potential of tourism and boost tourism infrastructure in the state, Meghalaya tourism on Monday launched the ‘Meghalaya Homestay Scheme’. Under this scheme Tourism Department would allocate upto Rs 10 lakh for promoting homestays in the north eastern state. In order to encourage people of the state to operate homestays as a source of livelyhood the subsidy and loans would be extended. Under this scheme, a 35 pc front end subsidy would be given to those who wish to start homestays. 70 pc of the financing would be done for the rural areas. People interested in seeking loans under this can apply by visiting kviconline.gov.in. Once a person has applied for the loan then a joint inspection is carried out by DCIC officials and Tourism department officials within 45 days of reciept of the application.
Once the investigations are done the application is forwarded to the financing bank who will process the application withing a period of 30 days. On acceptance of the application by the financing bank, it would issue a sanction letter to the applicant who undergoes EDP training before the release of the fund. Those interested in availing this scheme can WhatsApp or call at 7640003050 for assistance. Homestays have becoming very popular with travellers as these provide not only a cheaper option to them but staying at a homestay one gets to experience the local culture first hand. Homestays also require much less investment compared to hotels.