Chairman KVIC distributes 800 Bee Boxes among artisans of border belt of Kathua, Samba

KATHUA, APRIL 30(RNA) : Chairman, Khadi Village Industries Commission, Vinai Kumar Sexena distributed 800 Bee Boxes among trained artisans of Kathua and Samba district during a brief ceremony held in the premises of Khadi Sewa Sadan, Hiranagar today. The programme started with offering of Floral tributes to Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi by the Chief guest and special invitees. As many as 80 trained artisan families hailing from border belt of Kathua and Samba including 23 women and 65 artisans belonging from BPL families were given Bee Boxes under Honey Mission programme of Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Ministry of MSME, Government of India While speaking on the occasion, KVIC Chairman said self employment generation in Jammu and Kashmir and increasing the income of farmers has been the key focus of the central government. "The beekeeping inititiave in Jammu and Kashmir is aligned with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's call for 'Self- Reliance' by promoting local self employment. He added that because of its geographical location, J&K has the potential of producing high quality honey including high altitude honey that can be sold at premium price. Further, products such as Bee Wax, Pollen, Propolis, Royal Jelly and Bee Venom are also marketable and hence, a profitable proposition for the locals", Sexena Said. VC, SKAUST, J.P Sharma said it is scientifically proven fact that Bee Keeping also increase Agriculture productivity due to cross pollination besides a good produce which have ample market demand. He said efforts are being made to help farmers in its value addition, Branding and market linkage. The beneficiaries shared their success stories and also expressed hope that this initiative will encourage self employment in the area and also inspire others to take up beekeeping as a lucrative source of livelihood. It was informed that KVIC has distributed nearly 7500 bee boxes in Jammu & Kashmir and created nearly 1500 employment including a World Record of distribution of 2330 boxes on a single day with the support of Indian Army in Kupwara District in 2018. KVIC has so far distributed 1.70 lakh bee boxes across the country under Honey Mission.