Diwali gifts: Mandi admn helps women self-help groups market indigenous products under National Rural Livelihood Mission
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Under ‘Mandiya ra Bhoj’, goods such as finger millet cookies, finger millet laddoos, cow dung diyas, soybean barfi, honey and turmeric being sold
The Newz Radar
MANDI: In a significant step towards empowering rural women, the Mandi district administration has been helping them market their Diwali products to a wider range of customers so as to ensure they can make a mark in the competitive world.
The District Rural Development Agency, (DRDA), the agency responsible at the district level to oversee the implementation of various anti-poverty schemes in the district, is packaging the products prepared by the women self-help groups for sale during Diwali, thus giving them the shape of beautiful ‘gift packs’ so as to attract customers.
These gift packs, titled “Mandi ka Bhoj”, include items like finger millet cookies, finger millet laddoos, cow dung diyas, soybean barfi, honey and turmeric. These gifts not only offer great taste and health but also carry a message of women’s empowerment in the society. These special gift packs for Diwali can be obtained through the DRDA Mandi or can be purchased at the rooftop area of Indira Market in Mandi, where these women have displayed these under the “National Rural Livelihood Mission” programme.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Nivedita Negi, who is personally monitoring the project, during her visit to the DRDA office, described the agency’s effort as a dedicated step for the empowerment of rural women under the National Rural Livelihood Mission.
She said that the goal of this project was to encourage self-help groups and promote their high-quality products to a broader audience and market. “This year, these women have prepared lesser quantity of gifts as it is on trial basis. If the demand increases, more gifts shall be prepared in the coming months, which will be marketed as regular gift packs,” she said.
The ADC said that the National Rural Livelihood Mission aims at creating effective and efficient institutional platforms to enable the rural poor to increase their household income by means of sustainable livelihood enhancements and better access to financial services.
“The mission aims at harnessing the inherent capabilities of the poor and equip them with capacities such as knowledge, information, tools, finance, skills, and collectivisation for them to take part in the economy,” she explained, adding that by shaping their products in gift packs, the administration has equipped them with the skill to market their products in a better way to a larger customer base.
The ADC informed that the administration would encourage several government departments, corporate houses, companies and other business houses to buy these local products from such women so as to empower them financially. “We will also provide them space in Him Ira outlets of the government and weekly sale outlets in the town so that they can market their products easily,” she told.
Negi appealed to the general people to support self-help groups in empowering rural women by purchasing their excellent hand-made organic products like pearl millet sweets, soybean sweets, honey, organic turmeric powder, herbal tea, Panchgavya deep, finger millet laddoos and cookies. “This will provide new momentum and energy to the efforts of rural women’s self-reliance,” she said.
The Project Officer of DRDA in Mandi, GC Pathak, explained that under the National Rural Livelihood Mission, 8,142 self-help groups have been formed in the district and 62,414 women are associated with them.
Mandi DC Arindam Chaudhary stated that the district administration was committed to the self-reliance of each and every entrepreneurial rural woman in the district.
