MoS Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti inaugurates popular SARAS Mela at Gurugram today

Minister of State for Rural Development, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti inaugurated the popular SARAS Mela showcasing best of Crafts by Rural SHG Women at Gurugram today. In her address, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said that it is  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream to enable at least 2 Crore Lakhpati Didis soon from now 10 Crore large family of SHG Didis of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihoods Mission. The SARAS Melas organised by the Ministry of Rural Development and National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) is an important initiative to support livelihood enhancement support initiatives.

This is the second edition of Saras Ajeevika Mela organised in Gurugram where over 800 SHG women from across the country are showcasing their handicraft and handloom products along with regional culinary delight. The two-week-long cultural fest is organised at the Leisure Valley ground in Sector 29 will continue till November 11. The fair will be open daily from 11am to 9.30pm with no entry fee. Around 400 stalls are on display with a variety of art and craft and workshops will be organised for women of self-help groups to develop marketing skills.

DAY-NRLM is a flagship rural poverty alleviation program of the Government of India and today it is the world’s largest initiative to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor. Addressing multiple dimensions of poverty, the programme aims to reach out to 10 Crore rural poor households and organize one woman member from each rural household into affinity-based women SHGs. These SHGs provide close, long-term handholding support to their members, enabling them to access financial services from banks, diversify and stabilize their livelihoods, and effectively access their entitlements with ease. The core objective of the programme is to ensure that each family, once it is in SHG for 6-8 years, is able to achieve household food security and have more than one stabilized livelihood source. The Mission seeks to achieve its objective through investing in four core components viz.,

a. Social mobilization, promotion and strengthening of self-managed and financially sustainable community institutions of the rural poor

b. Financial inclusion of the rural poor

c. Sustainable livelihoods; and

d. Social inclusion, social development, and convergence