Kerala to get Rs 152 cr under 'Growth Pole' project

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 5 (UNI) Kollam district in Kerala will get Rs 152 crore under the 'Growth Pole' project, for the improvement of the economic and social status of the unorganised workers in the cashew, fishing and coir sectors.

Talking to newspersons here today, Arjun K Sengupta, Chairman, National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector, said the project was aimed at integrating various schemes and developing clusters to enhance the income generation of the work force in these sectors.

He said the project will conduct a study on required technology interventions, entrepreneurship and latest trends in various major sectors in the district.

In the cashew sector, the project would look into research and development capacity building, efficiency improvement and a lot more.

He said the focus in the fisheries sector among other things would be on improvements in value addition, integration of landing centre, pre-processing and other activities along the value chain.

Mr Sengupta said the objective was to revive Kollam as a preferred production centre.

Apart from Kerala, the project was being planned in West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Assam and Rajasthan, he said, adding the project would be implemented within eight months.

He said the project was aimed at integrating the unorganized units with the mainstream through the creation of markets and the use of market-related incentives.

UNI PN DS SR RK2056