KVIC Chairman Manoj Kumar inaugurates the ambitious RE-HAB Project in Nainital

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Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Chairman Manoj Kumar inaugurated the ambitious RE-HAB, Project (Reducing Human Attacks using Honey Bees) of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission at village Chausla, in Forest Range Fatehpur, Haldwani, District Nainital, and Uttarakhand on 28 November 2022. He also distributed 330 Bee-boxes, bee-colonies and toolkits along with the honey extractors to the rural beneficiaries in Chausla village.

Project RE-HAB,

Government is promoting the use of bees to discourage attacks of wild elephants on human settlements. KVIC has launched a project RE-HAB, in the states of Assam, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Orissa.

How it works 

• Under Project RE-HAB, “Bee-fences' ' are created by setting up bee boxes in the passageways of elephants to block their entrance to human territories. 
• The boxes are connected with a string so that when elephants attempt to pass through, a tug or pull causes the bees to swarm the elephant herds and dissuade them from progressing further.
•  It is a cost-effective way of reducing human-wild conflicts without causing any harm to the animals.
• It is scientifically recorded that elephants are annoyed by the honey bees. Elephants also fear that the bee swarms can bite their sensitive inner side of the trunk and eyes. The collective buzz of the bees is annoying to elephants that force them to return.
• Project RE-HAB is a sub-mission of KVIC’s National Honey Mission. 
• While the Honey Mission is a programme to increase the bee population, honey production and beekeepers’ income by setting up apiaries, Project RE-HAB uses bee boxes as a fence to prevent the elephant attacks.
• As a new initiative, the RE-HAB project will be run by KVIC at selected locations for a period of one year.

The Khadi Village and Industries Commission (KVIC) 

• The Khadi Village and Industries Commission (KVIC) was set up in 1957 under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act of 1956.
• It is under the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises.
• It is responsible for planning, promotion, organisation, and implementation of programs for the development of Khadi and other village industries in the rural areas along with other agencies engaged in rural development wherever necessary.

Chairperson of KVIC: Manoj Kumar