Khotang. Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality has started the production and promotion of bamboo products. Entrepreneurs are excited after the municipality started the promotion work with a plan to increase the income of the city dwellers by producing and marketing various types of household items made from bamboo.
The three-day ‘First National Bamboo Conference-2081’ was organized at Diktel Bazaar in February last year with the objective of promoting bamboo products. A total of 713 participants, including bamboo entrepreneurs and bamboo-related researchers from across the country, participated in the national conference held at Matikore Playground in Diktel from March 15 to 27.
The conference has decided to take initiative to establish a bamboo museum in Diktel Bazar to identify Khotang as the ‘bamboo capital’. The decision has been incorporated in the 35-point ‘Khotang Declaration’ issued by the first National Bamboo Conference organized by the municipality. It has also been decided to set up a bamboo study and research centre at Diktel, take initiative to observe February 15 every year as ‘National Bamboo Awakening Day’, the day the first national bamboo conference began, and organize a national bamboo conference every three years.
The conference, titled ‘Where bamboo is life, where there is life bamboo’, it is believed that bamboo can contribute significantly to sustainable livelihood, promotion of cyclic economy and environmental protection in Nepal, considering it as a fast growing, multi-useful and renewable resource. Mayor Tirtha Raj Bhattarai said that the number of entrepreneurs should also be increased as the demand for bamboo products has increased in the municipality after the successful completion of the first National Bamboo Conference in Diktel Bazar and the establishment of the processing center.
“The demand for bamboo products has started coming from different parts of the country and the US, as it is in the initial stage, it has been difficult to meet the demand, so we have organized training to increase the number of entrepreneurs, the municipality buys all the materials produced by them from the production place,” he said, adding, “Entrepreneurs have no concern about the market, the municipality markets the materials purchased from entrepreneurs, we have created an environment for entrepreneurs to produce materials confidently by making them self-employed in their own place. । ’
The municipality has been conducting training on tanka Bahadur Magar of Morang and Prabhat Shakya of India to make bamboo materials for skill development of entrepreneurs. The training has been conducted in two phases in the current fiscal year to produce furniture, household and decorative items. The first phase of training costs Rs 900,000 and the second phase rs 1.2 million, said Shanta Acharya, enterprise development facilitator of the municipality. In the first phase, 30 people participated in the three-month training from November 28 and 15 in the refresher training held from March 1.
According to the municipality, the Changunarayan Foundation, supported by the Netherlands, has provided a monthly allowance of Rs 75,000 each to the trainers participating in the training conducted at the bamboo processing center set up at Ward No. 6, Nerpa. Apart from this, changunarayan foundation will also provide choya cutting machine, said Facilitator Acharya. The municipality has provided an allowance of Rs 500 per person per day to the participants for lunch and food. The participants said that they were excited after the municipality conducted training to connect the unemployed city dwellers with income by making them entrepreneurs.
Narayan Prasad Rijal of NERPA, who participated in the training, said that after the training, he planned to become professional by adopting this profession. “We have learned to make attractive items of household and furniture from bamboo in the training, this training has encouraged us to become professional,” he said, adding, “I am planning to professionalize this profession after the completion of the training. ’
Locals have also become optimistic after the municipality started the work of production and promotion of bamboo products. They are hopeful that they will become a source of income as they have started producing attractive materials by processing the wasted bamboo in their own place.
Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality, the largest municipality in the district, has started using furniture made of bamboo. Furniture made of bamboo has been kept in the offices of Mayor Bhattarai, Deputy Mayor Bishan Rai and branch chiefs. Mayor Bhattarai informed that preparations have been made to gift chairs and tables made of bamboo to six high-ranking people demanding the implementation of the policy decision to use the materials made using local resources and resources.
President Ram Chandra Poudel, Vice President Ram Sahai Prasad Yadav, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut, Speaker of the House of Representatives Devraj Ghimire and National Assembly Chair Narayan Dahal will be presented a chair and table made of bamboo.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्