Life Saving Technique Water Sports Operator (Uttarakhand)

What is the Life Saving Technique Water Sports Operator course?

Life Saving Technique Water Sports Operator is a training course run by the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB), the executive arm of the Department of Tourism, Government of Uttarakhand. The board lists the stated benefit of the course in one line: the trainee becomes a water life saving instructor, a water life saving ka prashikshak. It is one of a set of twelve adventure tourism activities and courses the board administers, which also includes the Basic Kayaking Course, Rafting Course and Internship, Special Basic Mountaineering Course, High Altitude and Low Altitude Guide Courses and the Skiing Course.

The course exists because Uttarakhand's river tourism is large, regulated and inherently risky. The Ganga at Rishikesh, the Tons, the Alaknanda and the Kali all carry commercial rafting and kayaking, and the same Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board that licenses rafting and kayaking firms and issues river guide licences also has to make sure there are enough people in the state who are trained specifically in water rescue and life saving, not just in paddling. Training local youth as instructors, rather than importing safety staff, is the point of the scheme.

Key facts as published by the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board

• Benefit: qualification as a water life saving instructor.
• Intake: 15 beneficiaries.
• Applicant must be a young person of Uttarakhand.
• Applicant must swim 100 metres within 3 minutes.
• Minimum age 18 years.
• Applicant must be educated and mentally and physically fit.
• Applications are screened practically by National Institute of Water Sports (NIWS), Goa instructors.

Who is eligible for the Life Saving Technique Water Sports Operator course?

You can apply if:

• You are a young resident of Uttarakhand. The course is reserved for the state's youth.
• You have completed 18 years of age.
• You can swim 100 metres in under 3 minutes. This is a hard, tested standard, not a self-declaration.
• You are educated, with a certificate to show it.
• You are mentally and physically fit for water rescue work, supported by a medical certificate.

You cannot apply, or you will not be selected, if:

• You are under 18 on the date of application.
• You are not a resident of Uttarakhand, this is a state-youth course, so applicants from outside the state are not eligible.
• You cannot meet the 100 metre swim standard within 3 minutes. The NIWS Goa practical assessment is where most applications fall away.
• You are not medically fit for open-water rescue training.
• The 15 seats for the cycle are already filled, in which case you must apply in the next cycle.

There is no published reservation quota, income bar or upper age limit for this particular course. Where the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board does set an age band for a course it says so. The P1 to P4 and Guided Flying paragliding courses are 18 to 30 years and the Skiing Course is 18 to 25 years — and for Life Saving Technique Water Sports Operator only a minimum of 18 is stated.

What documents are required?

Keep photocopies of all of these, plus passport-size photographs, in one file. District Tourism Development Officer offices handle several adventure courses from the same counter, and an incomplete file is the most common reason an application is not carried forward.

How to apply for the Life Saving Technique Water Sports Operator course

1. Contact the District Tourism Development Officer (DTDO) of your district, or the Tourist Welcome Centre attached to it, and ask when applications for the Life Saving Technique Water Sports Operator course are being invited.
2. Collect the prescribed application form from that office.
3. Fill the form and attach the required documents; age proof, Uttarakhand residence proof, educational certificate and medical fitness certificate.
4. Submit the completed form with the documents at the District Tourism Development Officer's office. This is the board's stated route; there is no separate online application for this course.
5. Appear for the practical assessment. Instructors of the National Institute of Water Sports, Goa, examine the applications on a practical basis, which in effect means demonstrating the 100 metre swim and basic water competence.
6. If selected within the 15 seats, report for the training on the dates the board notifies through the district office.

How is the selection actually made?

Selection for this course is unusual among Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board courses because an outside technical body does the screening. For the guide, rafting and skiing courses, the District Tourism Development Officer scrutinises the applications and forwards a list of selected applicants to headquarters, where a committee makes the final choice. For the Life Saving Technique Water Sports Operator course and the Basic Kayaking Course, the board records that NIWS Goa instructors examine the application records on a practical basis.

That single line matters for anyone preparing. Time spent in the pool before applying counts for more than an extra certificate, because the person deciding your application is a water sports instructor watching you swim.

What can you do after the course?

The qualification is a water life saving instructor credential, and it feeds directly into the rest of the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board's adventure tourism ladder:

• Basic Kayaking Course. The board's own eligibility condition for this course, which also has 15 seats, is that the applicant has already received life saving technique water sports operator training from a recognised institution, along with the same 100 metre in 3 minutes swim standard and minimum age of 18.
• River guide work. The board licenses river rafting and kayaking firms and issues river guide licences. The published conditions for a river guide are age not below 18 and not above 50, minimum qualification High School (class

10. pass, ability to swim, and a valid first aid certification from the Red Cross, St John Ambulance or another relevant body. A life saving instructor qualification sits naturally alongside that licence.

• Employment with licensed operators. Rafting and kayaking firms must show the department the details of their staff and their rafts, kayaks and safety equipment when applying for permission, so trained safety personnel are a requirement of their licence, not an optional extra.

Key dates and how the cycle runs

The Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board does not publish a single fixed last date for this course. Applications are invited course-cycle wise through District Tourism Development Officers, so the practical answer is to register your interest at the district office and ask to be told when the cycle opens.

For context on how tightly the board runs its calendar for related activities: applications for a river rafting or kayaking licence on the Ganga are accepted only between 1 July and 31 July, while applications for other rivers are accepted through the year, and paragliding applications are accepted between 16 July and 30 August. Decisions on adventure licences are communicated within a maximum of 45 days after the technical committee's inspection.

Help, contacts and grievance redressal

• Department of Tourism, Uttarakhand: Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Paryatan Bhawan, near ONGC Helipad, Garhi Cantt, Dehradun; telephone 0135-2559898; email tourismkarmik[at]gmail[dot]com
• District Tourism Development Officer of your district. The office that issues and accepts the form and answers questions about the current cycle
• CM helpline: 1905, for a complaint that the district office has not resolved

No fee is published for applying to this course, and no agent can secure a seat. Selection rests on the practical assessment by NIWS Goa instructors and on the 15 seats available in the cycle.