NEW DELHI, Aug 2 � In its report, Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry on the Revival and Restructuring expressed its serious concern that the North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation Limited (NEHHDC) has not been restructured even after the report given by the BRPSE for making it a promotional body.
All concerned must pay serious attention to the revival of this important organization, which was set up to tap the enormous potential in the handloom and handicraft sector of the region. It proposes a comprehensive revival package which should be implemented in a time bound manner and not staggered over a long period of time. Till the Corporation is revived and restructured, full budgetary support should be extended by the Ministry for Development of North-Eastern Region, it was recommended.
The committee got the impression that the involvement of the officials in running the affairs of the NEHHDC was not up to mark. It strongly felt that the half-hearted manner in which they were dealing with the questions of the committee and quite often taking long pauses to say or make remarks on the points raised by the Members, they were not at all efficiently running the work of the corporation.
The committee, therefore, tends to conclude that there is a high degree of mismanagement and lack of interest in carrying forward the work of the corporation.
The committee understands that to move from 75:25 ratio to 90:10 ratio, necessary changes have to be affected at the Cabinet level and, therefore, the Ministry of Textiles has to initiate the process in taking it forward and getting the approval of the Government of India. The committee recommends that the 90:10 funding pattern may be seriously considered for the revival of the NEHHDC.
The committee recommends that the Corporation must explore markets in the Eastern Region of the country, which has potential buyers for handicrafts and handloom products. These regions would be nearer to the North-eastern part and, therefore, the cost of transportation of the goods, it was observed.
