Pakyong’s Yakten unveiled as Digital Nomad Village boosting rural tourism

AJAY THAMI

PAKYONG, : India’s First Digital Nomad Village - Yakten under Pakyong district in East Sikkim was officially inaugurated on Monday by Gnathang-Machong MLA Pamin Lepcha here.

The inauguration was donein the presence of Pakyong DC Agawane Rohan Ramesh, ADC (headquarters) GL Meena, ADC (development) Robin Sewa, Pakyong Yakten GPU panchayat president Sarita Bhusal, ward panchayat Ramesh Gurung, Yakten Village Tourism Homestay Owners Association president Gyan Bahadur Subba and local dignitaries. This is an initiative taken by District Administrative Centre Pakyong in collaboration with Nomad Sikkim - Sarvahitey NGO.

Area MLA Pamin Lepcha thanked the District Administrative Centre Pakyong and Nomad Sikkim - Sarvahitey NGO for providing a global platform to the Yakten village under Gnathang-Machong constituency in Pakyong district. In order to facilitate villagers with such facilities, we need good governance and I want to thank our Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang-Golay for his vision and leadership, she added.

The rural tourism - homestays which was started here in Yakten back in the year 2015 under my father DT Lepha’s tenure are now flourishing and local people are availing the benefits, and I feel blessed to see such things happening in this region, she added.

Pakyong DC Agawane Rohan Ramesh shared on the district administration’s initiative of Nomads Sikkim. Under this initiative we have chosen Yakten Village under Pakyong district and worked to upgrade 19 rooms belonging to 8 homestay owners with 24 hours - 100 Mbps internet supply so that any digital nomads/tourists visiting to this village may enjoy their stay with 24 hours Internet supply along local organic food, he said.

“We also provided training to the homestay owners to deal with the tourists, provide their needs and serve local organic foods. We have planned to increase the inflow of tourists throughout the calendar so that the income of the homestay owners may increase,” said the DC.

He added that the initiative is to strengthen the Chief Minister’s vision of ‘One Family One Entrepreneur’.

“We have tried to make a complete ecosystem here at Yakten, so that new entrepreneurs may come, local youths may get new jobs, revenue boosts to local homestay owners and digital nomads may get a good place to stay with all basic facilities. The charges of 24 hours Internet supply are included in the room rent,” said the DC.

Nomads Sikkim - Sarvahitey NGO member Prem Prakash said: “We have taken an initiative in this Yakten village to build India's first Digital Nomad village at Pakyong, few kilometres away from Pakyong district bazaar in East Sikkim. We have provided all the basic facilities which are needed for digital nomads to have a comfortable stay. For instance we have provided 1100 Mbps Wifi, backup Wifi, power backup in all the rooms, just like the visitor values water, we have made internet available in all rooms.”

For providing basic training to the homestay owners, we have tied up with the District Administrative Centre Pakyong and some CSR agencies and very soon this Yakten Village will turn into a digital hub and established as a digital nomads village internationally, said the member.

Satyajeet Dahiya, a solo traveler from Haryana, also shared his experience and suggestions regarding how visitors/tourists expect from the homestay owners and the local people.

Yakten Village Tourism Homestay Owners Association president Gyan Bahadur Subba thanked the District Administrative Centre Pakyong and Nomads Sikkim-Sarvahitey NGO, for their initiative to make Yakten a digital village. He also thanked MP Rajya Sabha DT Lepha under whose tenure in the year 2015 as the area MLA, homestays were built in the area through the help of the government. He expressed gratitude to present area MLA Pamin Lepcha for her initiative in supporting the village in every need.

On behalf of all the homestay owners of Yakten village, Subba placed demands of drinking water supply in the village to the area MLA.

The homestay owners who were experiencing seasonal inflow of tourists are now expecting to get tourists throughout the year with the initiative of India's first Digital Nomads village, Yakten.