Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Lal Choudhary today visited the Suchetgarh border alongwith Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Shamsher Singh Manhas, Chief Executive Officer, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Arun Kumar Jha and other officials of KVIC.The visit is part of the government’s efforts to develop the area for tourism promotion and explore employment avenues for the local youth.The KVIC team evaluated the scope for promotion of cluster development under the Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) in the area. SFURTI is an initiative under Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) for making traditional industries more productive and competitive by organizing traditional industries and artisans into clusters.
The Minister and MP also reviewed the construction work for concrete bunkers being built as part of the initiative of the Union Home Ministry to ensure safety of residents of the border areas during ceasefire violations along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LOC). A total of 18 bunkers each spread over 560 sq ft area are being constructed in the constituency. One bunker can accommodate about 100-150 people and costs around Rs 5 lakh.This pilot programme of the government of India is aimed at minimizing the loss of limb and life during border firing or shelling on the LoC and IB.