PM Modi lauds Pulwama's efforts on 'helping the country become self-reliant in pencils'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama for making India self-reliant and playing an important role in educating the country. During the 70th edition of 'Mann Ki Baat' on Sunday, PM Modi said that Pulwama is making the country self-reliant in the field of pencil making.

"Today, Pulwama in Kashmir is playing an important role in educating the entire country. Today, when children all over the nation do their homework, or prepare notes, somewhere behind this lies the hard work of the people of Pulwama. The Kashmir Valley meets almost 90% demand for pencil slats, timber casings of the entire country, and of that, a large share comes from Pulwama," he said.

The Prime Minister spoke of the times when the country used to import wood for pencils, but due to Pulwama the country has become self-sufficient in the field of pencil making.

"Once upon a time, we used to import wood for pencils from abroad, but, now our Pulwama is making the country self-sufficient in the field of pencil making. In fact, the pencil slats of Pulwama are reducing the gaps between states! Chinar wood of the valley has high moisture content and softness, which makes it most suitable for the manufacture of pencils," he added.

Modi said, "In Pulwama, Oukhoo is known as the Pencil Village. Here, several manufacturing units of pencil slats are located, which provide employment, and, in these units, a large number of women are employed."

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PM mentions entrepreneurship of Kashmiris 

PM Modi also spoke about a Kashmiri entrepreneur named Manzoor Ahmad Alai who was earlier involved in wood cutting but later got into entrepreneurship and his business now employs around 200 people.

"Pulwama gained this recognition when individuals of this place decided to do something new, took risks and dedicated themselves towards it. One such enterprising person is Manzoor Ahmad Alai. Earlier, Manzoor bhai was a simple workman involved in woodcutting. Manzoor bhai wanted to do something new so that his coming generations wouldn't have to live in poverty. He sold his ancestral land and established a unit to manufacture Apple wooden boxes," Modi said.

"He was engaged in his small business when he came to know that Poplar wood, Chinar wood is being used in manufacturing pencils. After getting this information, Manzoor bhai channelled his entrepreneurial spirit and started the supply of Poplar wooden boxes to some famous pencil manufacturing units. Manzoor Ji found this to be extremely profitable and his income grew considerably at the same time. With the passage of time, he bought pencil slat manufacturing machinery and started the supply of pencil slats to some of the biggest companies of the country," he said.

(With ANI inputs)

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