Handloom and handicrafts sectors flourish in Bangla

The handloom and handicrafts sectors of Bangla have seen a massive revival, under the guidance of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in the last seven years.

From the issuance of identity cards, to the distribution of better equipment or the training of artisans – the State Government has extended all help to the people engages with this industry.

Thanks to the various fairs and exhibitions, and the Biswa Bangla Brand, handicrafts and handloom products of Bangla have now gone global.

Handloom industry flourishes

  • 5,31,075 Weavers’ Identity Cards (WIC) distributed in 2017, against nil as in 2011
  • 66,500 credit cards issued to weavers
  • 95,000 weavers imparted skill development training
  • 75,889 looms provided to loom-less weavers
  • 44 lakh cheaper variety cotton sarees produced
  • 16 times increase in creation of additional person-days – 533 lakh between financial years (FY) 2011-12 to 2017-18 as compared to 33.18 lakh till 2010-11
  •  1 lakh weavers being provided marketing support through Tanter Haats
  • 24.15 km link road constructed for better road network for handloom clusters Mega Carpet Clusters launched covering 3,500 weavers
  • Project Baluchari being implemented, involving 2,500 weavers
    Tantuja turned to a profit-making organisation from 2014-15, after making loss for decades – Rs 204.9 crore business turnover achieved by Tantuja in FY 2017-18

 

Revival of Bangla handicrafts

  • 5,31,772 Artisan Identity Cards issued between FYs 2011-12 and 2017-18 as compared to 37,213 between FYs 2006-07 and 2017-18
    12,000 credit cards issued to artisans
  • 10 Rural Craft Hubs established (in collaboration with UNESCO), benefitting 25,000 artisans. The project has attracted about 80,000 tourists in the last 3 years.
  • 27 marketing outlets set up for artisans in the last 3 years
  • Rs 924 crore business generated from fairs and exhibitions
  • Manjusha started making profit from FY 2015-16 after making loss for three decades; over Rs 91 crore turnover achieved in FY 2017-18
  • 8 Biswa Bangla showrooms functioning in and outside Bengal, from which more than Rs 50 crore in sales generated till 2017

IT infrastructure in Bangla growing at rapid pace

From May 2011, an amount of more than Rs 600 crore has been invested by the Trinamool Congress Government in the creation of physical infrastructure in the IT and electronics sector. This includes creation of IT parks and hardware parks, facilities for equipment manufacturing clusters (EMC), etc. The Information Technology & Electronics (IT&E) Department is overseeing all of these.

Hardware park and EMCs: Two electronics manufacturing clusters are coming up in Naihati and Falta. Construction is on in full swing. A hardware park in Sonarpur is complete. An IT park in Kalyani has been planned.

Start-up Warehouse: The State Government established a Start-up Warehouse in 2015 in collaboration with NASSCOM for the benefit of new ventures and start-ups in the IT/ITeS sector. Fifty-one companies have been promoted from the centre so far. Nineteen companies have received funding from private investors and nine companies have received their second round of funding.

Capacity building and self-employment: The IT&E Department, through the training wing of Webel, is imparting IT training in the districts and in tier-II/III-level towns in an organised way. Almost 1.5 lakh students were trained and 30,000 students got employment or achieved self-employment from 2011 to 17, compared to about 74,000 students trained and 11,000 students employed/self-employed during the period of 2004-11.

Cyber Security Centre of Excellence: The Cyber Security Centre of Excellence has been inaugurated by the department and is operational from November 2017. The portal for the same was launched in March 2018. The centre is working on five verticals: capacity building and awareness generation, cyber security assurance, Security Operation Centre, cyber forensics and investigation, and research and development (R&D) and Advisory.

Promotion of emerging technologies: The IT&E Department has been holistically promoting the emerging technologies – the technologies that are going to have a significant impact in the near future. The department has already started working on cyber security, blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, animation, IoT (internt of things), Industry 4.0 (a standard), analytics, animation and e-sports. Summits are being held every month on different emerging technologies. Already summits on cyber security, blockchain and artificial intelligence have taken place.

Silicon Valley Asia: The Government is setting up a cutting-edge IT and hardware technology research and manufacturing hub at New Town called Silicon Valley Asia, on the lines of Silicon Valley in California, USA.

Capacity expansion by private companies: Several of the top IT companies in India have opened new campuses and expanded existing ones, or are in the process of doing those. More and more IT companies are showing interest in opening offices and campuses in Bengal.

Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Kalyani: The fi­rst IIIT of Bengal was started in 2014. The first batch of BTech came out in 2018.

Reaching destinations beyond Kolkata and Salt Lake: Twenty-five IT parks in tier-II and tier-III cities in different districts are either operational or at different stages of completion – 12 are fully operational, four are almost completed and nine have received sanction for construction.

Thus we see that the State Government is continuously developing infrastructure for different aspects of the information technology industry. The Government has big plans for making Bengal an IT powerhouse.

Bangla Govt announces funding for Light Hub in Chandannagar

The Bengal Government has announced funding to the tune of Rs 11.5 crore for the proposed Light Hub in Chandannagar in Hooghly district. The hub is a brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had announced its creation last year during an administrative review meeting in Tarakeswar.

Chandannagar is famous for its lighting displays. During Jagaddhatri Puja in Chandannagar and during Durga Puja in Kolkata and elsewhere, the expertise of the lighting technicians is on ample display. It has been like this for as long time. A few have spread their wings to Durga Pujas outside Bengal too.

Now the government has decided to give a structured boost to this industry by creating a special zone. The government would have a comprehensive role in the hub. From training lighting technicians and helping them market their products to enable them to bag contracts for different Pujas, everything would be overseen by the government.

This would naturally lead to more and better employment opportunities, including opportunities for the experts to spread their wings to other places in India, especially where Durga Pujas take place, and even abroad.

After Mishti Hub, Muslin Hub and similar clusters comes the Light Hub. These hubs have given a huge boost to traditional small-scale industries. They provide a steady source of income for the families involved and also help in preserving the crafts.

Source: Khabar 365 Din

Bangla Govt introduces GEM portal for more transparency

To make buying by Government departments more transparent, the Bangla Government has introduced a model called Government e-Marketplace (GEM).

GEM is in the form of a portal. Details regarding the purchase of any stationery item by a department costing more than Rs 10,000 would have to be put up on the portal. All vendors of the Government would also have to be registered on the portal.

After the details are put up, online tenders would be issued. As happens with any tender, the vendor bidding the lowest amount would get the tender. About 4 lakh items would be available through this portal.

A special training was organised at Nabanna for officials of all the departments in batches, from August 6 to 10. Officials of the Finance Department provided the training. For each department, a nodal officer and two master trainers have been identified, who were provided the training. They, in turn, would train the colleagues of their departments who deal with procurement.

This is another fruitful step by the Trinamool Congress Government in making e-governance an integral part of the governmental system. Systems like e-tender, Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS), Government Receipt Portal System (GRIPS) and Human Research Management System (HRMS) by the Finance Department are up and running for quite some time.

From January this year, the process was started to make all Government offices into e-offices, whereby all paper documents of all departments are being scanned in a step-by-step manner and stored online, and easy retrieval systems being put in place.

Source: Bartaman

Bengal Govt organising river safety training Jalasathis

The State Government has started a river safety training programme for Jalasathis – the rescue personnel who will be deployed at jetties to avert accidents. The training programme is being organised by the Transport Department, and is taking place Police Training College (PTC) in Barrackpore.
At present, 100 of them are undergoing training at the PTC. A total of 626 Jalasathis have been engaged and they will all be undergoing training at the PTC.
The main task of the Jalasathis is ensuring that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) deployed by the government at the jetties in the state is followed.
Besides keeping a tab to check overloading of vessels, they have to take necessary steps to save people in the case of any emergency. At the same time, they also have to ensure that all passengers put on safety jackets before getting on to a vessel. They would also have to inform the concerned authorities in case the area is not properly illuminated or if there is lack of any infrastructure.
It may be mentioned that the engagement of Jalasathis, two of whom are being deployed in each jetty, is running parallel to the implementation of the comprehensive Jaladhara Scheme, under which semi-mechanised vessels are being replaced by fully mechanised ones with up-to-date design made by experts. All such vessels have to be mandatorily registered with the State Transport Department.
The jetties where Jalasathis will be initially deployed include 28 in Hooghly district, 60 in North 24 Parganas district, 16 in Howrah district, 12 in South 24 Parganas and 11 jetties which are maintained by the West Bengal Transport Corporation.

জলসাথীদের প্রশিক্ষণ দিচ্ছে রাজ্য

নদীপথে যাতায়াত করার সময় কোনও দুর্ঘটনা ঘটলে উদ্ধারকাজে সাহায্য করা থেকে শুরু করে, জলপথ নিরাপত্তা নিশ্চিত করতে রাজ্য সরকার মোতায়েন করছে জলসাথী। এবার তাদের প্রশিক্ষণ প্রক্রিয়া চালু করলো রাজ্য। পরিবহন দপ্তর আয়োজিত এই প্রশিক্ষণ দেওয়া হবে ব্যারাকপুরের পুলিশ প্রশিক্ষণ কলেজে।
এই মুহূর্তে ১০০ জনকে প্রশিক্ষণ দেওয়া হচ্ছে। মোট ৬২৬জন জলসাথীকে এই প্রশিক্ষণ দেওয়া হবে। প্রতি জেটিতে দুজন করে জলসাথী মোতায়েন করা হয়েছে। রাজ্য পরিবহন দপ্তর পরিচালিত হুগলী জেলার ২৮টি, উত্তর ২৪ পরগণা জেলার ৬০টি, হাওড়া জেলার ১৬টি, দক্ষিণ ২৪ পরগণার ১২টি জেটিতে জলসাথী মোতায়েন করা হবে।
জলসাথীদের প্রধান উদ্দেশ্য হল জলপথে যাত্রার সময় নিরাপত্তার জন্য যে নির্দেশিকা জারি করেছে রাজ্য সরকার সেটা যাতে পালন করা হয়, তা নজর রাখা।
জলযানগুলি যাতে অতিরিক্ত যাত্রী না তোলে এই ব্যাপারে নজর রাখা ছাড়াও, কোনও দুর্ঘটনা ঘটলে সঙ্গে সঙ্গে উদ্ধার কাজেও লেগে পড়বে এই জলসাথীরা। এর পাশাপাশি তারা নজর রাখবে সকল যাত্রী ভেসেলে ওঠার আগে যেন সেফটি জ্যাকেট পড়েন। তারা সেই অঞ্চলে যথাযথ পরিকাঠামো ও আলোর ব্যবস্থা আছে কি না খতিয়ে দেখবে, না থাকলে নির্দিষ্ট কর্তৃপক্ষকে তা জানাবে।
এর পাশাপাশি চালু হয়েছে জলধারা প্রকল্প। সেমি-মেকানাইজড জলযানগুলিকে বাতিল করে সম্পূর্ণ যান্ত্রিক, অত্যাধুনিক ও অধিক ক্ষমতাসম্পন্ন জলযান নামানো হচ্ছে। এবং এই সকল ভেসেলকে রাজ্য পরিবহন দপ্তরে নথিভুক্ত করা বাধ্যতামূলক করা হয়েছে।

Source: Millennium Post

Advanced training for medical staff of State-run hospitals in Bengal

The Bengal Government has decided to impart high-level training for advanced critical care on a large scale to doctors, nurses and paramedical staff of the State-run hospitals. This is a part of the move to better equip all the State-run hospitals in Bengal in handling patients.

The State Health Department will impart knowledge on critical care among the doctors and paramedical staff working at different critical care units (CCU), intensive care units (ICU) and high-dependency units (HDU) of the State-run hospitals. It has been found that many of the paramedical staff lack adequate knowledge on what should be the best mode of treatment for a critical patient.

It may be mentioned that the Bengal government has already tied up with the Singapore Government to impart knowledge of advanced critical care among doctors. Singapore has the one of the best expertise in critical care management. The programme that had been started in Bijoygarh in Kolkata has started giving results.

 

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রাজ্য পরিচালিত হাসপাতালের স্বাস্থ্য কর্মীদের প্রশিক্ষণ দেবে রাজ্য

রাজ্য সরকার পরিচালিত হাসপাতালের বেশীর ভাগ ডাক্তার, নার্স ও প্যারাকর্মীদের অ্যাডভান্সড ক্রিটিকাল কেয়ারের উন্নত মানের প্রশিক্ষণ দেবে রাজ্য সরকার।

রাজ্য পরিচালিত হাসপাতালগুলোর উন্নতিসাধনের জন্য রাজ্য সরকার যে পদক্ষেপ নিয়েছে, এই প্রশিক্ষণ কর্মসূচি তারই একটি অংশ। হাসপাতালের ক্রিটিকাল কেয়ার ইউনিট, ইন্টেন্সিভ কেয়ার ইউনিট ও হাই ডিপেন্ডেন্সি ইউনিট-এ যে সকল স্বাস্থ্য কর্মীরা কাজ করেন, সকলেই উপকৃত হবেন এই প্রশিক্ষনের ফলে।

তবে এই প্রশিক্ষণের ফলে প্রধানত উপকৃত হবেন রোগীরাই, উন্নতমানের স্বাস্থ্য পরিষেবা পাবেন তারা। স্বাস্থ্য কর্মীদের এরম প্রশিক্ষণ আরও বেশি করে দেওয়া হলে রোগীদের আরও উন্নত মানের ক্রিটিকাল কেয়ার পরিষেবা প্রদান করা যাবে। মেডিক্যাল অফিসার, নার্স ও যন্ত্রবিদদের আলাদা আলাদা প্রশিক্ষণ দেওয়া হবে।

এই প্রশিক্ষণ কর্মসূচির ধারণা মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের। তিনিই সিঙ্গাপুর সরকারের উচ্চ আধিকারিকদের আর্জি জানান, ওনারা যেন এই প্রশিক্ষণ এ রাজ্যে এসে দেন যাতে করে স্বাস্থ্যকর্মীরা ক্রিটিকাল রোগীদের আরও ভাল স্বাস্থ্য সেবা দিতে পারে। সিঙ্গাপুর সরকার সহসম্মত হয়ে একটি মৌ স্বাক্ষর করেন কলকাতায় এসে প্রশিক্ষণ দেওয়ার জন্য।