Bhubaneswar: The first ever Mission Shakti Mela has ended here with a high note as the event successfully provided the Self Help Groups a new platform to showcase their capability and exhibited Odisha’s progress towards women empowerment.
The ten days event not only saw lakhs of people from across the country visiting the Mela but provided the SHG members an opportunity to interact with various stakeholders.
An initiative of the Directorate of Mission Shakti under the Department of Women & Child development, the Mission Shakti Mela is a hit with the people as well as the participants. The Mela succeeded in showcasing Odisha’s commitment towards empowerment of women through Self Help Groups.
More than 200 stalls put up at the Mela displayed the rich prowess of the rural and urban women and brought to fore their entrepreneurial skills. Starting from display and sale of various handloom, handicraft, non-timber forest produce (NTFP), food items, spices and non-farm products, the Mela made Mission Shakti a household brand. The stalls made brisk business and sold products worth more than six crore rupees.
Set up in an attractive ambience, the debut event was graced by Chief Minister Sri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Secretary Asit Kumar Tripathy, Development Commissioner cum Additional Chief Secretary Sri Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, Member of Parliaments and various other ministers. While the Chief Minister appreciated the entrepreneurship of the Women SHGs and congratulated them on their empowerment, he also bought a hand-crafted sabai bag and a wooden jewellery box made by women SHGs.
Commenting on the success of the Mission Shakti Mela, Sujata R Karthikeyan, commissioner-cum-director, Directorate of Mission Shakti, said, “the Mela has been a grand success with thousands of people visiting it and it provided a platform for the SHGs to showcase their ability and entrepreneurial prowess”.
ORMAS is also associating itself with the Self Help Groups to strengthen 300 women Producer Groups from across the state and helping them reach out to markets inside the state and outside. It has also been decided that a permanent market will be set up named as Mission Shakti Bazaar at the Mission Shakti Directorate at Gandamunda, Bhubaneswar, which will have 64 retail outlets.
The Directorate of Mission Shakti is also going to rope in e-market place Flipkart for sale of products manufactured by the SHGs of the state. A dedicated e-commerce portal is also being developed in collaboration with the Tata Trusts that will help promote the sale of products manufactured by the SHGs.
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