Ministry of DoNER extends a helping hand to seek optimum gains for farmers of Northeastern states

New Delhi, January 30: Discussions revolving around ‘Northeast Industry’ Projects were held that entailed discussing various initiatives taken in last three years to bring in ease of business and to exploit the unexplored potential of the region. The delegation of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, led by its National President Anil Khaitan and Senior National Vice President Rajeev Talwar, called on Union Minister of State of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Dr Jitendra Singh. 

Dr Jitendra Singh updated the members of the delegation about the various steps taken in last three years to bring in ease of business and to exploit the unexplored potential of the region. He regretted that, in the past, nearly 40% of the fruit in the region went waste because of lack of storage and transportation facilities. However, he said, with improvement in connectivity and a network of road and railway being spread across all the North Eastern States, this constraint could be overcome to a great extent, he added.

 

New scientific techniques could be adopted and Government could open a facilitation centre for prospective entrepreneurs. The PHD Chambers leaders also informed the Minister about a series of events planned by them in near future which include a seminar on “Mega food Processing” at Imphal, a seminar on technologies for developing food processing at Aizawl, and a seminar on developing young entrepreneurs at Itanagar.

Dr Jitendra Singh also referred to the introduction of “Venture fund” by the Ministry of DoNER for young Start-Ups which has received an immense response from entrepreneurs.

In order to further expose the world community to the vast business potential of North East India, Dr Jitendra Singh said, a mega Business Summit, possibly the first of its kind, is being held at Guwahati on 3rd of February.

Dr Jitendra Singh assured all facilitatory support for these initiatives from the Ministry of DoNER. He said, the officials in the DoNER Ministry will coordinate with all the eight states of the region so as to seek maximum gainful outcomes from these initiatives.

The members of the delegation briefed Dr Jitendra Singh about a series of seminars organised by them on the subject of “Multiplying farmers' income: Opportunities in Animal Husbandry – the potential for export----Focus North East”.

Such seminars were held at Guwahati (Assam), Shillong (Meghalaya) and Agartala (Tripura). Among the recommendations put forward was the suggestion that farmers in the North Eastern region should follow the strategies of North and South Indian farmers who generate additional income through different activities on the farm like cattle and goat rearing, fish farming etc.