NEW DELHI, 10 July 2020: Indian minister of state (Independent Charge) development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Dr Jitendra Singh said that bamboo will propel the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan in the North Eastern Region.
Addressing a webinar with various clusters of Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) and persons associated with bamboo trade, the minister also said that bamboo sector will be one of the important components of India’s Post-COVID economy and it is going to be an important vehicle of trade for India and the sub-continent.
The minister said that bamboo is not only vital to North East India's Post- COVID economy but it will also herald a new momentum for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call of “Vocal for Local”.
Dr. Jitendra Singh gave the mantra of “Create, Curate and Coordinate” for the Bamboo sector for its full exploitation, branding, packaging and marketing in India and abroad.
Underlining the unexpected potentials of this sector and being neglected for the last 70 years, he said that the present government has the capacity and the will to unlock its potential to the highest level as 40 percent of all bamboo resources lie in North-Eastern Region in the country.
He lamented that despite India being the second largest producer of bamboo and cane in the world, it’s share is only five percent in global trade.
The Minister said that the sensitivity with which the Modi government views the importance for the promotion of Bamboo is evident from the fact that it has amended the century old Forest Act by taking home grown bamboo out of the purview of the Forest Act, in order to enhance livelihood opportunities through bamboo.
Speaking on the occasion, Kiren Rejiju, MoS, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Minority Affairs said that DoNER Ministry has done well to promote the Bamboo sector and now the onus lies on all the 8 North Eastern States to make it a vehicle of prosperity for the whole region.
He also advocated that the Centre must do a hand-holding for the same as the sector has not realized its full potential.
In his address, Rameshwar Teli, MoS, Food Processing Industries said that apart from huge employment opportunities, the Bamboo sector can be a main pillar of ecological, medicinal, paper and building sectors in India.
He said that through right policy interventions, India could capture substantial chunk of Asian market in bamboo trade.
Secretary, Ministry of DoNER, Dr.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.
