U'khand CM bats for cottage industries

Aiming to check rampant migration of youngsters from the hill state to cities, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Wednesday laid emphasis on promoting small-scale and cottage industries. He said the move would generate employment opportunities and check migration of youngsters. He also stressed on linking women to self-employment schemes.

“Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMI) have an important role to move the state towards a balanced development. It can be beneficial to check migration and poverty eradication. The state government is focusing to strengthen the role of MSMI sector to bring remarkable results,” said Rawat.

The CM laid emphasis on the need to encourage traditional handloom and handicrafts. 

“For this, we need to revamp the local Kast Kala Centre, carpet-weaving training centre and <g data-gr-id="30">shawl-knitting</g> training centre. The state government has introduced a policy for the MSMI sector and we need to work together on it on the ground level. A separate department will be set up to reinforce the MSMI sector. A roadmap for next 10 years will pave the way to realise the dream,” he said.

He added: “We should concentrate more on <g data-gr-id="27">cottage</g> and small-scale industries. They will generate a plethora of employment opportunities for the locals and discourage them from migrating.”

“The state government is working on linking women to self-employment schemes. For these, 2,000 craftswomen would be trained initially. They will then train other women to create a chain,” he said.