Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Aug 28: Jammu region will have three mega Bamboo Clusters, a Bamboo Technology Park and a Bamboo Training Centre, all of which will be set up by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) through its Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC).
Disclosing this here today after the monthly review meeting of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), 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 said, to begin with, three Bamboo Clusters will be set up in areas around Katra, Akhnoor and Samba respectively. While the first cluster will be devoted to the making of “Bamboo Agarbatti’, the second cluster will be dedicated to ‘ Bamboo Basketry”, that is making of bamboo baskets and the third cluster will be devoted to the making of ‘Bamboo Charcoal’, he said.
In addition, Dr Jitendra Singh said, simultaneously, the work will also be started on the setting up of a Bamboo Technology Park and a Bamboo Training Centre in the region.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, around 25,000 people are likely to get livelihood opportunities from the three Bamboo Clusters. The timeline for completing the work of setting up all the three, that is, Bamboo clusters, Bamboo Technology Park and Bamboo Training Centre will be around two years from the date of the allotment of land by the UT administration.
Further steps will be taken for augmenting infrastructure and promoting entrepreneurship in the Bamboo sector in Jammu and Kashmir after the signing of the MoU, he said and this will be pursued as a major priority in coming days.
Dr Jitendra Singh disclosed that there are huge reserves of bamboo spread across Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, which have remained unexplored and largely unutilised. He said that as part of the initiatives taken at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to replicate good practices of all Ministries in the newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Ministry of DoNER through Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre(CBTC) has decided to carry its technical knowhow and experience in the field of Bamboo sector to Jammu & Kashmir. A Workshop cum Exhibition in collaboration with the Government of Jammu & Kashmir was held on 11th & 12th January, 2020 at Convention Centre, Jammu, he recalled.
The Minister said that the workshop threw light on the significant presence of bamboo green in the Jammu, Samba and Kathua region, and also there exist bamboos based micro level enterprises and entrepreneurs. He said, in the light of this, the CBTC shall take up technical collaboration and partnership with the Government of Jammu and Kashmir (UT) for setting up of common facility centres, cane and bamboo technology parks, cane and bamboo industrial parks, FPO, clusters & hi-tech nurseries on BOT (Built-Operate-Transfer), turnkey basis with their funding support as the case may be.
Secretary, Ministry of DoNER, Inderjit Singh, Special Secretary Indevar Pandey, Secretary NEC, Moses K Chalai, MD, CBTC, Shailendra Chaudhari and other senior officers of the Department attended the meet through Video Conference.
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