(a): whether the Government proposes to expand the activities of Coir Board in North
Eastern Region including Sikkim and also upgrade the branch office at Guwahati to a full fledged Regional Office; and
(b): if so, the details thereof alongwith the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SHRI MAHABIR PRASAD)
(a) & (b): Some of the programmes being carried out in the North Eastern Region
(NER) for development of Coir Industries by the Coir Board are as follows:
I. Entrepreneurship Development Programme with special emphasis on marketing of
coir products and exposure tour.
II. Seminars on application of coir geo-textiles.
III. Participation in fairs and exhibitions.
IV. Publicity programme through electronics and print media.
V. Demonstration of the use of new products like coirply, coir composites (wood substitute)
etc. relevant to NER.
VI. Research and Development Projects in collaboration with local institutions.
VII. Providing Coir Matting to Schools without adequate seating facilities for children.
As compared to outlay amounting to Rs. 1 crore for 2006-2007, an amount of Rs.1.30
crore has been provided for the implementation of existing schemes in North Eastern Region
and Sikkim in the Budget estimates for 2007-2008. As a result there would be increase in
activities of Coir Board during 2007-2008 in this region.
Further, under the “Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industriesâ€
two coir clusters [ Manas (Guwahati) in Assam and Agartala in Tripura] have been identified
in the NER.
There is a no proposal at present to set up Coir Board’s regional office at Guwahati.