Hyderabad: A number of scientific institutions are to help the Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) in rural industrialisation as well as value addition to its products.

In this respect, KVIC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Hyderabad based NISIET (National Institute of Small Industry Extension Training), a pioneering organisation of the ministry of small-scale industries and agro and rural industries of the Indian government actively involved in enterprise promotion.

The MoU was signed between KVIC and NISIET during a national convention on rural industrialisation at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Union HRD, Science and Technology Minister Murali Manohar Joshi was the chief guest at the convention.

NISIET principal director Dr S V Prabhath says as part of the agreement KVIC will soon set up technical back-up units (TBC/Interfacea) covering the entire country. NISIET is one of the several institutions in the country where TBU is being set up by KVIC. TBUs are being set up in order to provide thrust to entrepreneurship programmes backed by strong science and technology research inputs for production activities utilising local resources and local skills of the people.

The objective of setting up this TBU/Interface is to trigger off and strengthen rural industrialisation through timely, continuous and appropriate measures like providing science and technology inputs, R&D support, innovative ideas, technical backup, technologies for value-addition, strengthen academic-industry linkages and offering quality control assurance including development of quality standards.

Under this agreement NISIET is expected to provide support in several areas which include creating awareness for programmes, identifying thrust areas, providing innovative ideas, establishing linkages with different research organisations and universities, to provide technical backup to various institutions, artisans producing village industry goods and all other similar related areas.

Prabhath says: ''It is a due recognition to NISIET as one of the national institutions selected for this purpose. KVIC's discussion with us for the past several months is culminated into this alliance. The alliance will help us into the focus of major programs of KVIC. With NISIET's experience, skills, background and resources it will help KVIC in providing suitable technology for rural industrialisation such technologies which can exploit rural skills, talent, expertise.

''Technology intervention is essential to improve rural productivity since the rural sector holds the key to our future growth efforts. It is home to 70 per cent of our people and nearly 80 per cent of our poor. Thus rural sector offers the greatest potential for widespread development and employment generation.''

During the national convention KVIC has also entered similar MoUs with several organisations such as IITs, NITs, IISC, IGNOU and some other research institutions, and NISIET was one among them.