Role of Bamboo Trade to make North East Atma Nirbhar

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a meeting said that the growth of the Bamboo sector will help the North-Eastern states in being self-sufficient and propel the Atma Nirbhar Abhiyaan.

The minister addressed a video meeting in which senior officers from the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) and North Eastern Council (NEC) Shillong were also present while Secretary, Ministry of DoNER, Dr. Inderjit Singh, Special Secretary Sh. Indevar Pandey, Secretary NEC, Sh. Moses K Chalai and other senior officers of the Department attended the meeting through Video Conferencing.

He further said that the sector will assume even more importance post-COVID as the Prime Minister class for Vocal for Local. He also praised the government for allowing bamboo trade to resume as an essential activity through an order dated 16th April.

He also congratulated the MDoNER for achieving 100% output even when the country was in lockdown. This can be attributed to the fact that the ministry had promoted e-commerce trading in the sector before the pandemic hit India. The Ministry was also able to achieve 100% expenditure and was also working on creating an infrastructure for COVID-19 while also coordinating efforts between the North Eastern States and various Central Ministries/Department.

The minister has also emphasised the need for online trading as it had helped the industry to reduce the losses during the pandemic and thus directed the department to collaborate with the Department of Tele Communication(DoT) to develop infrastructure for uninterrupted high-speed internet.

The officials also informed the Minister of the role played by the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) in promoting local talent by promoting start-ups in the North Eastern Region. The organisation has also prompted local entrepreneurship by providing funds to the entrepreneurs in the MSME sectors while also providing domestic as well as foreign investment from other countries.

Lt. General Harpal Singh Director General, Border Roads Organisation also attended the meeting and talked about issues faced by the organisation in the North-Eastern region that was addressed by the Minister.