KATHUA: The State Office of KVIC, MSME, Jammu, organised a Beekeeping Awareness Programme under the Honey Mission at Village Flote, today. The event aimed to educate rural communities about the benefits and economic potential of beekeeping and related industries.
The programme was inaugurated by Member, KVIC (North Zone), Ministry of MSME, Government of India Nagendra Raghuvanshi, as the Chief Guest. He highlighted the importance of initiatives like the Honey Mission in empowering rural masses, fostering self-reliance, and discouraging migration to urban areas by creating sustainable livelihoods in villages.
Nagendra Raghuvanshi shared that KVIC is committed to boosting rural economies by extending financial and technical support to farmers. He elaborated on how KVIC facilitates entrepreneurship through schemes providing loans ranging from ₹1 lakh to ₹50 lakh without margin money, coupled with a 35% subsidy for setting up ventures in rural areas. He also underscored KVIC's efforts in marketing rural products, thereby connecting artisans to larger market bases.
The Chief Guest urged women to take advantage of MSME schemes, emphasizing their role in transforming rural economies through activities such as food processing, hosiery, khadi production, and papad making etc. He expressed optimism that such initiatives will generate success stories from Jammu & Kashmir, aligning with the Prime Minister’s vision of a Developed India.
The event began with a welcome address by State Director, KVIC Rajesh Kumar, and featured an insightful session by Suresh Kumar, a beekeeping expert, who detailed the lucrative prospects of beekeeping and its by-products. Ex-Sarpanch, Falote and President of the Brick Kiln Association, also spoke at the event, emphasizing the importance of harnessing KVIC's schemes to foster rural self-reliance.
Incharge KVIB Kathua Surender Sharma, encouraged participants to avail benefits under the PMEGP schemes of KVIB and the Department of Industries. He explained the procedures for accessing subsidized loans to establish income-generating units and urged attendees to apply online to benefit from these government initiatives.
Later, the Member alongwith team of KVIC State Office visited Shankar Rural Women Development Society and interacted with its members. He hailed the Society members for working diligently with the spirit of self sustenance.
