CM calls for support to those involved in bamboo sector

Mukul underlines the need to back North East at Global Bamboo Summit in Indore

SHILLONG: Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Saturday attended the Global Bamboo Summit which was held at Indore from April 8 to 10.
The event was jointly organized by the Indian Federation of Green Energy (IFGE), New Delhi and National Agro Forestry and Bamboo Mission (NABM), New Delhi.
Addressing the Summit as the Chief Guest on the second day during the session “Bamboo in North East Region”, Sangma pointed out that North East accounted for nearly 66 per cent of the total bamboo growing stock and 28 per cent of the bamboo bearing areas of the country.
He said that the government must incentivize the micro entrepreneurs engaged in bamboo sector and hoped that through continuous efforts the full potential of bamboo sector will be tapped thus making it the driving force of the economy, paving way for a bamboo-based, eco-friendly and green economy.
He added that bamboo plantation must be remunerative in order to ensure its sustainability.
He also felt that there is need to ensure that there is a convergence of thoughts of all the North Eastern states to overcome the issues related to bamboo growing.
The Chief Minister also recommended the need of a joint meeting of the government and the North Eastern states in this regard to be facilitated by DoNER and to have a separate summit for bamboo growers of the region as North East is the largest bamboo growing region in the country.
It may be mentioned that the focal theme of the summit was “Bamboo for Sustainable Development” and it was held with the primary objective of soliciting global cooperation in bamboo sector for making bamboo an agent for poverty alleviation and climate change.
Issues of appropriate variety of bamboo, availability, up gradation of skills in manufacturing niche products, marketing and harnessing its business potential were discussed during the three-day summit by participants from across the globe. Also present at the session was Forest Minister, Madhya Pradesh, Gauri Shankar Shejwar and Joint Secretary, DoNER, A M Singh.