An initiative taken by Khumtai MLA Mrinal Saikia has attracted the attention of many people across the state. The MLA has not studied rocket science to launch this initiative. Rather, it is the outcome of keen observation, application of imagination to a practical scheme of things, reaching out to the people and selling them the idea, and setting examples by doing things rather than preaching about it which has led to early success of this initiative. Rural tourism is what Saikia has tried to bank upon. And, unlike big-budget tourism where one requires a Taj Mahal or a National Park or an ancient temple to draw visitors, what Khumtai has showcased is a bunch of clean villages which are typically Assamese, which visitors from urban centres have found interesting. Clean villages and clean tea gardens (Khumtai has several tea estates) – which was ensured by introducing a competition among the residents – has in turn taken the Prime Minister’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan one step forward. Inviting people from all over the state to take part in a prize-money marathon race held in five age-groups on the other hand gave an extra mileage to the rural tourism effort. Some would say Khumtai has an advantage of having Kaziranga nearby. But then, the reality is that it is not the tourists from outside Assam whom Khumtai has attracted. Rather it is the local people from nearby districts – Jorhat, Sivasagar, Nagaon, Sonitpur etc – who have flocked to Khumtai to find out what exactly is there to see. One must place on record the fact that Khumtai is not the first rural tourism initiative in Assam. What the Nam-phake village and Merbil near Naharkatiya have been doing, or what Badungduppa Kalakendra is doing in Rampur village near Goalpara and Sootea MLA Padma Hazarika has been doing at Kanyaka are also significant rural tourism initiatives. But then, the Khumtai experiment stands out because of large-scale participation of the local residents whom the MLA has tactfully converted into the major stakeholders of this initiative.