RASUWA: The masons produced by Cottage and Small Industry Development Committee have been contributing to the post-quake reconstruction efforts in the district.

The committee provided masonry training to 194 locals including 66 women in five rural municipalities of Rasuwa. The trained masons are now busy with the post-quake reconstruction work, Chief of the Committee Khagendra Nepal said.

The mason training programme has cost the committee Rs 3.54 million so far. It was implemented as per the annual action plan to maximise the use of resources, produce skilled human resources and generate employment at the local level, according to the committee.

Training of masons in the villages itself has helped meet the scarcity of construction workers in the post-quake reconstruction, District Coordination Committee Chair Kul Prasad Bhatta said.

Under the skills development programme for rural residents, the committee has also been providing motorcycle maintenance, ornaments production, Dhaka knitting, tailoring and other skill-oriented training.

Likewise, house wiring and juice production training provided by the committee in the past provided big employment opportunities to the locals, entrepreneur Baburam Shrestha said.