Seven more border haats are coming up in Tripura- Bangladesh border to add to the two existing ones in Kamalasagar and Srinagar, a state industry official said on Saturday.
They will come up in Bamutia, Hiracherra, Amlighat, Hrisyamukh, Boxnagar, Rasyabari and Akinpur.
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“60 percent of the work is complete on these four border haats,” said Swapna Debnath, Joint Director of Tripura’s Industry and Commerce Department.
The volume of trade in the existing border haats have risen sharply, she said.
“This is benefiting the border population and so there is a growing demand for border haats in the state,” she said while speaking at a workshop on border haats organised by CUTS international.
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CUTS is finalizing a two year project on border haats to look at their potential for improving border region economies and whether they could be useful starting blocks for a more comprehensive border regime in years to come.
“The Indian and Bangladesh governments are keen to expand the number of border haats but there are challenges as much as prospects which we want to highlight with our research,” said CUTS executive director Bipul Chatterji.
He said this arrangement will remain relevant for distant border regions who don’t have market access in their own states.
Border haats, now numbering four (two in Tripura and two in Meghalaya), have led to a growing number of women entrepreneurs in these two states.
“There is clearly a gender dimension to the border haats but we want facilities there to be more gender friendly,” said Nazneen Ahmed, senior fellow at Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.
Bangladesh additional director Monoj Ray said his government has cleared 22 border haat locations with four border Indian states.
“My government is keen to have more border haats with India, ” he said.
This arrangement brings together border populations and curbs informal trade but does not undermine formal trade, said Pritam Banerjee of the Asian Development Bank.