The Centre, through the National Jute Board, is setting up three skill development centres for the diversified sector at National Jute Manufactures Corporation mills -- Howrah, Alaxendra and Kinnison – in West Bengal at a cost of Rs 10 crore.

The Union Minister of State for Textiles, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, said this at a National Jute Board event here on Friday.

NJB hopes to provide direct employment to over 10,000 people in the State through this effort. The skill development centres will train in designing, development, production and marketing of diversified products.

The Minister also said that NJB has set up a common facility centre for processing, value-adding and marketing of jute diversified products at Dhaniakhali in Hoogly district of West Bengal at a cost of Rs 2 crore.

This centre will be run through women self-help groups at block level formed under the National Rural Livelihood Mission. The self-help groups begun the training at Dhaniakhali centre from Friday.

It is slated to provide employment to 1,000 women. NJB will provide working capital to women entrepreneurs.

Earlier this month, training had begun at Deganga centre in North 24 Pargana district.

Under a scheme, the Centre planned five common facility centres in three States – three in West Bengal, one each in Assam and Bihar. Assam has one such centre at Barpeta and Bihar at Katihar.

NJB has also set up a jute design centre at the National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar. NID would provide market worthy designs to these centres, the Minister added.

Though diversified products contribute just 5 per cent of the jute sector’s total turnover, NJB plans to expand it through these steps.

According to the Minister, it is estimated that the jute industry provides direct employment to 40 lakh jute farming families and 3.7 lakh workers in the mills.

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