Inaugurates Showroom cum Interpretation Centre at Govt Woolen Mill Bemina
STATE TIMES NEWS
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Friday that the security situation in the union territory was totally under control and nobody will be allowed to disrupt peace in the valley.
“The security situation is totally under control,” Sinha told reporters after visiting Bemina Woolen Mills here.
He also said the security forces have an upper hand and “nobody will be allowed to mess with the security” in Jammu and Kashmir.
Making cities of J&K sustainable, structured & supportive
LG e-launches City Livelihood Centre Jammu
Srinagar: Taking a step forward to make cities of the UT more sustainable, structured for optimum resource utilization and sensitive & supportive towards the marginalized sections of the society, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha on Friday e-launched City Livelihood Centre (CLC), Jammu and laid e-foundation of Rs 80 Crore worth Integrated Solid Waste Management facility at Kot-Bhalwal, Jammu.
Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor remarked that “There is a deep link between economic development and urbanization. The growth and expansion of cities not only contributes more to the GDP, but is also the engine of our progress. Therefore, the way urban population is increasing; new measures will have to be taken to deliver facilities to them.”
The strength of any city is measured by its economic prosperity and the power behind it comes from connectivity, environment, workers group, waste management, culture etc. We have to make all the big cities of Jammu and Kashmir competitive, while effectively managing them, besides securing the livelihood of the people. The two new projects are the important steps taken in this direction, added the Lt Governor.
“I believe that we have to explore multiple factors for effectively managing our cities in the coming times so that we can move towards developing Quality Cites, People’s Cities and bring Jammu and Srinagar in top 30 Non-Metro Cities of the country”, said the Lt Governor.
Highlighting the key features of the newly inaugurated City Livelihood Centre, the Lt Governor observed that the new intervention is aimed at strengthening National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) Outcomes by unleashing the capabilities of marginalized sections of the society living in urban areas to generate meaningful and sustainable livelihood.
“Cities need to be structured and developed in such a way that it should provide an ecosystem to facilitate the marginalized to channelize their skills, support their livelihoods and enable them to lead a dignified life in the society”, the Lt Governor asserted.
Formation and functioning of CLC, a specialized skill centre is the extension of Government’s efforts for reaching out to the people in need providing sustainable source of income through vocational training and business development support under single roof, the Lt Governor added.
Underscoring a host of features of the City Livelihood Centre and how it will extend handholding to the targeted beneficiaries, the Lt Governor said that the new centre will help in finding a viable market for goods produces by the members of Self Help Groups; providing business information and support services to the poor as and when needed by them, besides creating an understanding of the market by studying the needs of demand and supply chain of the market.
It will also act as information dissemination centre with respect to skill training, bank credit, social security benefits, besides providing space and other necessary facilities to the institutions imparting skill trainings through designing skill training programmes/conducting seminars/ holding meetings with training providers and training seekers, he added.
The chair was informed that the CLC shall be set up as permanent service providing centre offering a gamut of services to all residents of the area by engaging local urban poor for generating sustainable livelihood.
The Centre, initiated by Jammu Urban Development Agency and Housing (JUDA) of Urban Development Department (H&UDD) will also extend support assistance required to access bank loans; preparation of project proposals, registration of business units and legal help etc.; providing market linked information to prospective and existing micro enterprises; assistance to new micro enterprises for obtaining license and registration; Supply of skilled manpower to city dwellers as per their demand.
Meanwhile, the Lt Governor also laid the e-foundation of Rs 80 Crore worth Integrated Solid Waste Management facility at Kot-Bhalwal, in collaboration with NAFED.
The project will be very useful for the city of Jammu and will contribute significantly towards achieving the goals of Swachh Bharat Mission of the UT, said the Lt Governor.
Waste Management Plan is key component for developing sustainable cities. There is a need to implement waste management plan, sewage treatment, and biodigester as a mandatory rule in all upcoming colonies.Expansion of cities while taking care of the ecology needs to be an integral part of our development process, maintained the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor directed the officials to explore all possibilities to establish a similar Integrated Solid Waste Management facility in Srinagar also.
He also instructed the JMC functionaries to conduct a 15 day long campaign ‘Plastic Free Jammu; Say No to Plastic’ to curb the use of single-use plastic.
The Lt Governor also asked MD NAFED, Sh. SK Chadha and officials to ensure 100% recycling of inert waste, besides ensuring that all the objectives of the projects that have been planned to be implemented on ground for visible impact.
The upcoming Integrated Solid Waste Management Project shall have a Capacity of 350 TPD including major components viz. Segregation of mixed waste that will be done by machine scientifically in dry and wet stream; Segregation of dry waste at Material Recovery Facility to recover any useful material; a Bio-CNG plant that will produce Bio CNG gas through the wet waste, besides a Sanitary Landfill, where final rejects including sanitation waste will be scientifically dumped.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lt Governor, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary; Dheeraj Gupta, Principal Secretary, H&UDD; Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor; Deepika Rana, CEO JUDA; senior officers of Housing and Urban Development Department(H&UDD) were present on the occasion at Civil Secretariat.
Chander Mohan Gupta, Mayor Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) and Avny Lavasa, Commissioner JMC attended the launching ceremony through virtual mode.
Earlier, while inaugurating the Showroom cum Interpretation Centre at Government Woolen Mill, Bemina, established under the World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTRFP) to give a determined push to the growth of Woolen industry in the UT, the LG stressed on providing viable market opportunities to those associated with the wool production. He asked the officers to work put in committed efforts and formulate a comprehensive strategy to promote local woolen products at the national and international market.
In the 1st Phase of the project, Showroom cum Interpretation Centre was completed at a cost of Rs 4.25 crores. The sub-project was undertaken as part of the Restoration & Strengthening of Livelihood component of the JTFRP project. In Phase II, upgradation of machinery and ancillary work – shall be completed by August, 2021 end at a cost of Rs 4.00 crores.
Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor observed that the new Showroom cum Interpretation Centre will greatly impact the livelihood opportunities of people working in the mill, besides providing market opportunities for the thousands of wool-producing farmers in J&K. At the same time, the new facility will give a massive revamping to Woolen industry of the region, he added.
While ensuring the improved and better quality product range, the new centre will provide direct Market for 80,000 Kgs of locally produced wool annually, thus benefitting 1600 sheep rearing families, said the Lt Governor.
This will further improve the economic viability of Government Woolen Mills, Bemina, besides increasing annual fabric production from locally procured wool by 1,60,000 meters, he added.
J&K is the 2nd largest producer of wool in the country, producing approximately 70 lakh kgs of wool per annum. The reformative policies of the UT Government is providing economic growth opportunities to around 50,000 families associated with sheep rearing in J&K, the Lt Governor maintained.
The Lt Governor was informed that the J&K Industry has tie-up with e-commerce platform ‘Amazon’ through Silk Mark Organisation of India (SMOI) as e-marketing channel.
Registration on GeM portal was completed. Trade name JKIL stands accepted with formal notification to be issued by Registrar by end of August, 2021. Professional catalogues and brochures were also developed. Reputed designers are being roped in to develop new product range in line with present market trends and fashions, it was informed.
The project is executed as part of the massive revamping of the Government Woolen Mill Bemina which was badly impacted during the floods of 2014 and had caused extensive damage to the building and equipment installed in the mill.
To reinvigorate the functioning of the Government Woolen Mill Bemina, a comprehensive revamping project was undertaken under the World Bank funded Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project which included the rehabilitation of the mill, as well as the providing of the latest textile weaving equipment to enhance the production of wool manufactured at the factory.
It was informed that the New Government Silk Factory, Rajbagh with state-of-the-art preparatory, weaving and finishing machinery will be completed soon, thus providing economic benefit to 3000 cocoon- rearing families.
Pertinently, Experience Centre cum Sales Outlet was already made operational at Jammu for promotion and marketing of JKI products.
Baseer Ahmad Khan, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor; Ranjan Thakur, Principal Secretary Industries; Pandurang K Pole, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir; Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir; Abid Rasheed Shah; Chief Executive Officer, JKERA/JTFRP and other senior officers were during the inaugural ceremony.