CM Sarbananda Sonowal lays foundation for Industrial Park at Jamugurihat

Government taking steps to make women important stakeholder in economic development: Sonowal

OUR CORRESPONDENT

TEZPUR: Taking forward the State Government's initiatives for boosting the industrial ecosystem, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation of an Industrial Park and permanent campus for ITI, Sootea at Jamugurihat in Sonitpur district on Tuesday. The foundation stones were laid during a Mahila Samaroh organized by Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission in association with Sonitpur district administration and Sonitpur Zila Parishad at Jamugurihat. The Industrial Park will be built over a sprawling 315 bigha of land and the permanent campus of ITI, Sootea will be built with financial outlay of Rs. 25 crore.

Chief Minister Sonowal also presented 153 Scootys to women beneficiaries under Jivika Sakhi Express Scheme and presented financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 50,000 to each of the Self Help Groups (SHG) from Sonitpur district.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Sonowal termed women as the source of supreme energy and said that the BJP-led government in the State, through its commitment to the empowerment of women, had been taking a series of steps to make women an important stakeholder in the process for economic development of the State. He said that during the last several months, women Self-Help Groups had earned several hundred crores by selling the products produced by them across the country and outside. Chief Minister Sonowal, while hailing this effort of the women SHGs, said that this had helped the State to expedite its economic growth. Chief Minister Sonowal also said that true to the spirit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for Aatmanirbhar Bharat, this achievement of the women SHGs would definitely help the State towards achieving Atmanirbhar Assam.

Chief Minister Sonowal also said that to strengthen the edifice of self-reliant Assam, the people would have to work diligently with self-confidence. He said that the BJP-led State Government, immediately after coming to power, took several steps for qualitative and quantitative development of the State. As a result of this, for the last four-and- half years, the State witnessed unprecedented growth stories with no incidence of any violence from any part of the State, he said. Citing a stark contrast between the erstwhile Congress government and the present BJP-led State Government, Chief Minister Sonowal said that because of good governance, peace and tranquility and harmonious coexistence of the State were founded on a strong pedestal.

Chief Minister Sonowal also said that the Congress during its last 55-year rule, kept the north bank of the Brahmaputra in complete darkness with no significant development initiatives for the people. However, contrary to the Congress rule, the present BJP government hads unleashed never before development initiatives for the entire State. Highlighting the development initiatives undertaken by the State Government, especially for the north bank of the Brahmaputra, Sonowal said that the Jonai campus of Tezpur University, Indian Agriculture Research Institute at Gogamukh, Engineering College at Dhemaji, Medical College at Lakhimpur, Sri Sri Madhab Dev University at Narayanpur, Nursing Training College at Gahpur, Engineering College at Bihali, Medical Colleges at Biswanath, Nalbari, Dhubri and Kokrajhar were some of the institutions established by the State Government to develop the human resources of the State. He also said that during the rule of the present State Government, dwelling houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana were built to enable the poor and underprivileged of the society to live with dignity.

Deputy Commissioner of Sonitpur, Manabendra Pratap Singh gave the welcome address in the programme, which was also addressed, among others, by MP Pallab Lochan Das and MLA Padma Hazarika. MLAs Brindaban Goswami, Pramod Borthakur, Ganesh Limbu, chairperson of Sonitpur Zila Parishad, Dolly Suren, Mission Director ASRLM, Krishna Baruah, and a host of other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

Earlier, Chief Minister Sonowal visited the milk pasteurization centre of Kanyaka and had a look at different equipment installed for giving value addition to the milk products. He also interacted with the entrepreneurs and members of women SHGs and hailed their contributions towards achieving Atmanirbhar Assam.

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