Improve communication with BD to boost tourism : Tripura govt

Agartala : The government of Tripura urged to simplify and promote the communication system with Bangladesh and Myanmar to boost tourism and export trade of the state.
The union Minister of State (MoS) for Commerce and Industry - Som Prakash - on August 23 chaired a review meeting on the North Eastern Industrial Development Scheme (NE-IDS) and the state's tea industry at State Guest House in Agartala city.
Addressing the meeting, MoS Som Prakash said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Act East Policy emphasises overall development of North Eastern states. To improve the financial condition of this region, a favourable environment for the establishment of small industries should be created."
In the first phase of the meeting, Tripura's Industries and Commerce secretary Abhishek Chandra discussed the NE-IDS project in detail. 
He emphasised on further simplifying and promoting the communication system with Bangladesh and Myanmar to boost tourism and export trade of the state.
In addition, industries like rubber, incense stick, agar etc. were discussed in the meeting.
In the second phase of the review meeting, a comprehensive discussion was held on the tea industry of the state. 
The meeting emphasised on setting up an auction center in the state itself to sell tea. As a result, the small tea growers of states like Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram etc will also benefit.
At the meeting, Tea Board of India official Arunima Phukan Yadav said that there is a possibility of holding a meeting in this regard in early September.
Moreover, it was discussed in the meeting to consider whether the issue of tea plantation can be re-incorporated through MGNREGA. As a result, the small tea farmers will benefit the most. 
In addition, issues such as sufficient quantity of fertiliser, medicine, and uninterrupted supply of necessary gas for tea cultivation are also discussed.
It was also informed in the meeting that if it is possible to export tea from the North Eastern region including Tripura to Bangladesh, the tea industry there will benefit a lot. 
With that in mind, the participants of the meeting requested that the Government of India and Bangladesh jointly discuss this issue.
The meeting was attended by the representatives of various organisations associated with the tea industry including chairman of Tripura Tea Development Corporation Santosh Saha. 
Both the meetings were attended by Director of Industries and Commerce Department Swapna Debnath, Additional Director Subhash Das and other level officials of the department.