Morung Express News
Dimapur | September 18
With the North East region home to almost 60% of the country’s bamboo reserves, Nagaland State Chief Minister, TR Zeliang today called for re-orientation of approach to realize the vision of building up the region’s economy through development of bamboo as a primary resource.
“Our outlook on bamboo and its uses still remain largely traditional, localized and unorganized. We therefore need to re-orient our approach…With boundless availability of raw materials just by our backyard, if scientifically exploited with required back-up support, I am confident that it will not only provide gainful employment to many but will also go a long way in giving us the much needed boost to the economy of the region”, the Chief Minister said.
Zeliang said that to harness the true worth of the ‘Green gold’ or bamboo, the approach has to be on a “participative mission mode” involving the Government of India, the different states, concerned organisations and agencies and all stake holders.
Addressing the ‘World Bamboo Day’ programme here at Nagaland Bamboo Resource Centre, Zeliang said Nagaland was the first state in the country to adopt the Bamboo policy way back in 2004 and also the state had the privilege to host the first World Bamboo Day in 2010 at Kisama, which saw participation both from within India and abroad.
“I can say without doubt that over the years we have made laudable strides in development of bamboo as a resource. Yet the fact still remains that much more needs to be done”, the Chief Minister said.
Zeliang noted that falling back on the experiences gained during the past one decade, there are major areas of concern which need to be urgently addressed if bamboo is to fulfill its true potential of being an effective vehicle for bringing sustainable development to the region.
These include the need for studying the species of bamboo and identifying its appropriate uses, rationalisation of the huge existing technological gaps and adaptation of appropriate technology for processing bamboo, detailed study of markets and providing proper linkages, identification of potential investors, insuring steady and reliable supply of raw materials and skill upgradation.
He said the Government of India through the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Tribal Affairs and by involving other international agencies can play a key role as part of programme convergence. Zeliang also said the North East states would continue to look forward to the Ministry of DoNER and the North Eastern Council (NEC) for providing the required technical, financial and pro-active (interventional) support.
The Chief Minister also highlighted some notable achievements of the Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency (NBDA) including signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) for yearly supply of two Lakh Metric Tonnes of bamboo for production of bio-ethanol by NRL and 30 Metric Tonnes of bamboo shoot to Holyland Pvt. Limited, New Delhi.
Further, Zeliang thanked the DoNER Ministry for upgradation of NBDA to that of a Regional Bamboo Research Centre (RBRC).
Secretary, DoNER, Naveen Verma, who declared formation of the North East Bamboo Development Council (NEBDC) on the occasion, in his address highlighted on the vast potential of bamboo to transform the North East region into an economic hub. The DoNER Secretary said that there is reportedly 9.8 lakh tonnes of bamboo reserves in Nagaland State alone. In order to convert this vast resource into wealth, he stated that there is a need to come up with a scheme -Mission value chain for bamboo products for the North East.
Verma also informed that in the recently launched North East Venture Fund, there is a proposal, which suggests that 10 % of fund (in the form of equity) should be reserved for bamboo entrepreneurs.
He also suggested that similar to the inter-ministerial bamboo coordination group in Delhi, the North East states too should set up committees comprising of different departments and agencies. He also advocated involving the Chief Secretaries to speed up processes relating to bamboo development.
Earlier in the programme, Advisor to the Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency, Naiba Konyak, delivered the welcome address.
Several awards were also presented to villages for bamboo conservation and bamboo entrepreneurs. Nagaland State Chief Secretary, Pankaj Kumar chaired the programme and APC & Mission Director, NBDA, TImkonglemba Ao, proposed the vote of thanks.
.JPG)
