Minister of state for North Bengal Development Department (NBDD), PHE & Irrigation and Waterways, Sabina Yeasmin, has said that despite the pandemic and the financial challenges, the state government had been trying hard to meet the various obligations.

Ms Yeasmin also appreciated north Bengal’s private sector for employing a substantial number of people and recognising talent. She was attending an interactive session organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), North Bengal chapter, at Uttarkanya, the state government’s branch secretariat for north Bengal, here yesterday.

This was the first interaction of the minister with a group of north Bengal industry stalwarts. According to the ICC, Ms Yeasmin told the forum that she was ready to provide any sort of assistance to promote the private sector in north Bengal.

“She emphasised on PPP model projects for the region on skill development, MSME, healthcare, hospitality, education, infrastructure development, agriculture and food processing, enhancing exports and IT& ITES,” the ICC said.

She added that Siliguri was the ‘growth engine’ of north Bengal. At the same time, districts like Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Malda, North Dinajpur, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar in the region had immense potential in terms of manufacturing, producing various kinds of goods, so nurturing them and addressing their bottlenecks is the priority of her department.

Ms Yeasmin ensured proper handholding to all district stakeholders also to secure the interest of small scale enterprises,” it added. According to the ICC, the minister further stated that proper branding of products could do miracles and urged before the business forum to come forward to build “Brand North Bengal” and create more and more demand for domestic industries in the world map.

“She opined that today’s youths were tech-savvy and full of new ideas, which if nurtured properly, may result in enhancing business and creation of entrepreneurs. She believes that synergy is required to link youths’ qualification and talent to entrepreneurship and employment,” the ICC said.

Nishant Mittal, the chairman of the ICC, North Bengal, assured full cooperation to build “Brand North Bengal” and said they will promote various sectors that have great potential to attract consumers and investors.

“Mr Mittal added that in the coming days, they would assist district entrepreneurs and promote their products and also focus on skill development projects and do handholding to young entrepreneurs,” the ICC said in a statement.

The meeting was attended by NW Bhutia, the additional secretary, NBDD, vice-chairman, ICC, Sanjay Goyal, and other representatives of industry associations.