Mangaluru, November 16: Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industries chairman Sudhakar S Shetty said that the FKCCI has introduced ‘Youth India’ scheme to ensure business opportunities for youth in the industrial sector and encourage them.

Speaking to reporters here on Friday after holding a meeting with the representatives of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Shetty said that through this scheme, if the college students prepared any concepts related to industrial sector, nine projects among them would given all kinds of support. This programme was introduced to encourage the students community to participate in the industry and business sector. If the DCCIs brought such projects to the notice of the FKCCI, they would be encouraged, he said.

On an average, out of one crore population, there were more than 90 lakh youth and there was a need to create self employment to them. Those who want to come under this programme should be between 24 and 35 years of age. If at least 5 lakh youth were helped, they would help the remaining 85 lakh youth indirectly, he said.

The FKCCI has been working to find solutions to various problems in the commerce and industrial sectors by bringing those problems to the notice of the central and state governments. It has included more than 200 hotels and other federations and has been working with them, he said.

Development of the state does not mean the development of just Bengaluru. Instead, the FKCCI believed that all 30 districts should be developed. Interestingly, the private sector was in the forefront in providing jobs. Based on this, the products of the country should create demand in other countries like America and China. Now, the FKCCI has been working in this direction, he said.

Solutions to coastal problems

The entire state has made an achievement in GST implementation. FKCCI has conducted more than 340 GST awareness workshops due to which, it has got a good result. Among the problems in coastal region, Mangaluru NMPT Port and Chennai linking roads should be developed. This would increase the revenue of the NMPT. Shiradi ghat road should also be changed, for which FKCCI has submitted memorandums to the government several times, he said.

Cancel trade licence

The trade licence system introduced in 1954 was not necessary after GST was introduced. A notification was issued in Bengaluru region about this. But government order was not issued. In the name of trade licence, the business establishments have to renew themselves every year. Even the property tax does not have uniformity. It was better to remove this system. Otherwise, the government should bring in uniform tax system, he said.

Mentality of officials and people should be changed

The mentality of the government officials along with bank officials should be changed in starting new industries and businesses. If a person came forward to start an industry or business, he has to face lot of problems in banking system. For them, the FKCCI has been supporting, for which, a help desk was set up. If any industrialist or businessman faced any problems related to his or her project, he or she could contact FKCCI. Under FKCCI, an NRI Forum was opened and 18 countries were visited in just six months. Everyone was interested in investing in India. But the industrial policy should be relaxed, he said.

Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industries submitted a proposal on the problems in the development of the district to the FKCCI chairman. Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industries president PB Abdul Hameed, Vice President Issac Vaz, Treasurer Ganesh Kamath, General secretary Prashanth C.G, Secretary Shashidhar Pai Maroor and others were present.

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Colombo (PTI): A mobile hospital set up by India in Sri Lanka has provided medical care to over 2,200 people affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as New Delhi ramped up its assistance to the flood-ravaged island nation with engineering support and delivery of fresh relief consignments, the Indian mission here said on Sunday.

Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse triggered by the cyclone, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.

At least 627 people have been killed and 190 remain missing as of Sunday noon due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.

Sharing a social media post by the Ministry of External Affairs on its X handle, the Indian High Commission said a field hospital set up by India in Mahiyanganaya near Kandy has provided medical care to more than 2,200 people affected by the cyclone since December 5.

The hospital has also performed 67 minor procedures and three surgeries, it said. The field hospital was airlifted to Sri Lanka by an IAF C-17 aircraft along with a 78-member Indian medical team on Tuesday.

In another post, the mission said Indian Army engineers, working with Sri Lanka Army Engineers and the Road Development Authority, in Kilinochchi have begun removing a damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu (A35) road, a key route disrupted by the cyclone.

"This joint effort marks another step toward restoring vital connectivity for affected communities," it said.

India has additionally sent nearly 1,000 tonnes of food items and clothing contributed by the people of Tamil Nadu. Of these, about 300 tonnes reached Colombo on Sunday morning aboard three Indian Naval ships.

High Commissioner Santosh Jha handed over the supplies to Sri Lankan Minister for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe.

India, on November 28, launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.

Since the launch of the operation, India has provided about 58 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential cloths, water purification kits and about 4.5 tonnes of medicines and surgical equipment, the Indian mission said in a press release on Sunday.

Another 60 tonnes of equipment, including generators, inflatable rescue boats, Outboard Motors, and excavators, have also been brought to Sri Lanka, it said, adding that 185 tonnes of Bailey Bridge units were airlifted to restore critical connectivity along with 44 engineers.

Two columns of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 80 experts and K9 units with specially trained dogs, assisted with immediate rescue and relief efforts in Sri Lanka.

Besides the field hospital in Mahiyanganaya, medical centres have also been set up in the badly hit Ja-Ela region and in Negombo. INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, and INS Sukanya provided immediate rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka.

Apart from the two Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant, two heavy-lift, MI-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are actively involved in evacuations and airlifting relief material, the release said.

At the request of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, a virtual meeting was organised between DMC and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Centre on Saturday.

Since the onset of the disaster, ISRO has been providing maps to assist DMC in its rescue efforts, the release said.