KVIC Chairman Inaugurates Re-Hab Project in Nainital, Uttarakhand

Manoj Kumar, Chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India), today inaugurated the ambitious Re-Hab Project (Reducing Human Attacks Using Honey Bees) by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India) at village Chausla, in Forest Range Fatehpur, Haldwani, District Nainital, where he also distributed

On this occasion, the chairman of KVIC informed the gathering that the Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is running this project called Re-Hab in 7 states of the country, namely Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Assam, and Orissa, where elephant attacks are more common. Under this project, bee box fencing is installed in areas where elephants move toward human settlements. Bee-box fencing along elephant migration routes obstructs wild elephant movement.

Using honeybees, elephants can be prevented from attacking humans and destroying farmers' crops. KVIC will run the Re-Hab project in selected locations for a year as a new initiative.

The Chairman also stated that to realise our Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a "Sweet Revolution," and to provide self-employment opportunities to the country's unemployed youth, as well as to increase farmer income; the Honey Mission programme will be implemented across the country beginning in 2018-19 under the Khadi and Gramodyog Vikas Yojana.

The 'Sweet Revolution' focuses on scientific beekeeping and the production of high-quality honey and other beehive products. The Sweet Revolution aims to boost the income of India's small and marginal farmers. Beneficiaries of Khadi and Gramodyog Vikas scheme receive 10 bee-boxes, bee colonies, and toolkits upon completing KVIC's beekeeping training.

From 2018-19 to 2021-22, 7120 Bee-boxes, Bee-colonies, toolkits, and other equipment were distributed to 712 unemployed and farmers in Uttarakhand, with 3910 Bee-boxes distributed to 391 Scheduled Caste beneficiaries, 790 Bee-boxes distributed to 79 Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries, and 2420 Bee-boxes distributed to 242 general category beneficiaries.