Employment
Tourism benefits the people living in the fringe of the park and helps in empowering the local people. About 35 hotels or lodges of various kinds located just outside the park, out of these, four are run by the government.[3] A total of 299 local people are actively employed in these hotels. But, a very few hotels/lodges are owned by the local people. However, some families are offering home stay facilities just outside the park, so that the tourist may get a taste of the local life. People from the adjoining areas own 70 vehicles, which are allowed to be taken into the park, and most of them act as the driver cum guide.[3] On the highway 37, which cuts across the park, 12 local community members own and run public phone booths. There are also 26 shops selling souvenirs etc. that are owned and/or managed by local community members.[3] Many local women also regularly perform traditional dances at some of the larger hotels. Many sell locally handmade woven cloth to the tourist, which act as a money churner. There is tremendous scope for the sale of handicrafts in and around the park. Existing Self Help Groups (SHG) could very well provide a platform for such mechanisms. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India along with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are jointly supporting rural tourism in village of Durgapur, which falls in the periphery of the Kohora range of Kaziranga along with other initiatives at 31 sites across India.[3]
Local people do get some amount of employment from the park in the form of labour and allied activities. Labour requirements for the park include, labour for anti poaching activities and construction of bridges, culverts, etc. Approximately 100 to 200 people are hired per range for removal of Mimosa, a weed which is harmful for the herbivores.[3] The park authorities have also hired15 local people as security guard to protect the tourist jeeps inside the park. The park has developed a very good network of intelligence throughout the villages surrounding the park. There are key informants in every village, which reports about the movement of poachers and are monetarily compensated for information they provide to the park authorities
