CM for establishment of forest produce based industries
| Date :05-Oct-2020 |
Staff Reporter ;
RAIPUR,
Calling upon the industrialists to establish forest produce based industries, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has assured that State Government will extend all possible assistance to industries based on forest produce in Chhattisgarh. Chairing a meeting held on Sunday at his official residence with industrialist and office-bearers of different Industries’ Associations, the Chief Minister said that there is enormous amount of forest resources in State and establishment of forest based industries are required in State not only for proper exploitation of these forest produce but also for generating employment opportunities for local people. He assured that the State Government will be extending all possible assistance for the same.
He further added that with the establishment of forest and horticulture based industries in the state it will encourage economic development and open new avenues of employment and livelihood. The Chief Minister said that State Government is gradually making efforts towards generating employment opportunities for people residing in forested regions. In this direction community forest rights certificates are being distributed among local communities. Recently State Government has distributed community rights certificates in 1,300 forested villages giving villagers the right to use more than 5 lakh hectares of forest lands. The State Government has also decided to plant saplings of fruit bearing trees in forested regions. In this year, over 86 lakh saplings of medicinal and fruit bearing trees have been planted in forested regions with an objective to benefit local people. The main objective is to protect the forests and connect forested people with livelihood activities.
The Chief Minister further said that as per the proposal of the entrepreneurs, the State Government will promote the planting of forest plants and fruit-bearing plants, so that the raw material can be easily available for the forest based industry to be established there. On this occasion, the Chief Minister informed the industrialists about the climatic diversity of Chhattisgarh and the different forest produce and horticultural produce and said that Government will work to promote it as per the proposal of the entrepreneurs. The Chief Minister also said that lack of availability of land for establishment of forest based industries will not come in the way. He also referred to the efforts being made for the conservation of surface water in the state through Narva (drainage) treatment under the Suraji village scheme. He said that more than 1300 drains are currently being treated in the state, most of which are located in drainage areas.
Due to this, the availability of water for the industries set up in the forested areas will also be easily ensured. He said that human resources will also be readily available for industries to be set up in forest areas. The Chief Minister also asked entrepreneurs to start making necessary preparations along with making proposals for setting up forest-based industries in various zones of State. The proposal to set up forest based industries was appreciated by the industrialists. They stated that this proposal of the Chhattisgarh Government has unique and boundless possibilities in itself. The industrialists thanked the Chief Minister for the concession given by State Government in the operation of industries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Present during the meeting were Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Amitabh Jain, Principal Secretary (Industries) Manoj Pingua, Secretary to Chief Minister Siddhartha Komal Pradeshi and other senior officials.