Overcome challenges through aggregation: FM Nirmala Sitharaman to Northeast
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Northeastern states have much to offer but cannot do much due to gaps in aggregation, logistics and connectivity to the last mile. Bridging these three gaps can pave the way for sending produces from the Northeast to the South East Asian countries, including Bangladesh.
The Union Finance Minister said this at the post-Budget interaction with stakeholders from trade and industries of the Northeast here today.
She said the small amounts that come from the centralized budgets are not adequate for warehousing in the region. "The local entrepreneurs need to come forward to bridge this gap and ensure the last-mile connectivity," she said.
Replying to a local entrepreneur raising the problems of the bamboo industry in the Northeast, Sitharaman said that the incense stick entrepreneurs of South India made her know that they had to import bamboo sticks from abroad. "Why do not incense stick entrepreneurs in the South know that Northeast India produces bamboo? There is certainly a communication gap. If we can bridge this gap, the bamboo growers in this region can get a market in South India," she said.
An entrepreneur from Lower Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh said, "Lower Dibang Valey does not have any branch of scheduled banks, and hence no ATM facilities. It is a roadblock for the digitalization movement."
Responding to it, she said, "I will take it up with bank authorities. Till the opening of scheduled bank branches there, we need to use the core-banking facility through post offices."
North East Tea Association (NETA) said, " Assam can become a tea export hub by using the waterways through Bangladesh. To achieve it the tea industry needs handholding by the Government for at least five years through a scheme under the Act East Policy." The NETA also urged for re-planting and rejuvenating schemes, besides an irrigation scheme to boost the tea industry in the region.
The Union Minister said that the Union Government has taken up various futuristic steps in the Union Budget by focusing on development through enhancing and establishing digital infrastructure in the country. "The Government ensures that India gets ready in the next 25 years to be on the top of the curve by using technologies in various sectors and making India digitally ready," she said.
The Finance Minister said that digital infrastructure would bring education to the people in far-flung areas through a digital university currently in the pipeline.
On the banking sector, Sitharaman said that the Government was making sure that India would have at least 75 digital banking units in near future.
On natural farming, the minister said that the government was enabling better natural farming by the use of digital technology and at the same time making it sure to have a better mapping of farmyards. She highlighted natural farming by using drone technologies and urged for technology adaptation.
The Finance Minister also urged the participants to pitch proposals helping the businesses run by women in the region.
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