Guwahati, Oct 16 – The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is making strides under the Ministry of Railways’ “One Station, One Product” (OSOP) plan, officials say. The program lets local artisans and small‑business owners sell their own products right at the foot of the platform, turning busy train stations into marketplaces for Northeast crafts and farm goods.
OSOP spread across the region
By October 2025, NFR will run OSOP outlets in 112 stations across the Northeast and adjoining parts of West Bengal and Bihar. Those outlets will cover 135 units in total, with the most activity in Assam.
| Division | Stations with OSOP | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Alipurduar (West Bengal) | 12 | |
| Katihar (Bihar) | 23 | |
| Lumding (Assam) | 32 | |
| Rangiya (Assam) | 20 | |
| Tinsukia (Assam) | 25 |
Geographically, the initiative is now live at 71 stations in Assam, 26 in West Bengal, 8 in Bihar, 4 in Tripura, 2 in Arunachal Pradesh and 1 in Nagaland.
The rollout gives local artisans a bigger platform. “It boosts traditional products and opens new job opportunities in the Northeast,” the NFR chief public relations officer, Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, told reporters.
More than just crafts
The OSOP scheme works alongside the Ministry of Food Processing’s “One District, One Product” (ODOP) plan, which rolled out last year under the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) umbrella. ODOP covers 713 districts across 35 states and union territories, aiming to turn local specialties into market‑ready goods.
Health hub at the station
NFR is also running the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendra (PMBJK) scheme, which supplies generic medicines at affordable prices to passengers and nearby residents. Five PMBJK units are already operational in Katihar, Badarpur, Agartala, New Tinsukia and New Coochbehar.
Why this matters
The OSOP outlets give the Northeast a chance to showcase regional crafts—handloom textiles, bamboo products, local sweets, and more—to a national audience. They help keep small‑scale production alive and create a steady income stream for dozens of families. For railway passengers, the program turns the station from a transit hub into a pick‑up point for unique, locally‑made goods.
Across the Northeast, NFR serves stations in the seven districts of West Bengal and five districts of northern Bihar, as well as all the states in the North East. The railway’s twin efforts—OSOP for local commerce and PMBJK for healthcare—are hallmarks of its commitment to social welfare, economic empowerment and passenger convenience.
As the OSOP and PMBJK models grow, they signal a broader push by the Ministry of Railways to turn stations into economic engines for the communities they serve, while keeping railway travel convenient and affordable for everyone.
Source: ianslive
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