CM Pushkar Singh Dhami inaugurated stalls by women SHGs under the Sashakt Bahna Utsav Yojana. He announced the event will be a fortnight-long festival from next year to provide women with better market access and boost their income.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday inaugurated and inspected stalls set up by women self-help groups under the Uttarakhand State Rural Livelihood Mission as part of the Mukhyamantri Sashakt Bahna Utsav Yojana at the Secretariat. The Chief Minister enquired about the rakhis and other local products prepared by women’s self-help groups and interacted virtually with women associated with self-help groups from different districts of the state.
Sashakt Bahna Utsav to be Extended
Dhami announced that from next year, the Mukhyamantri Sashakt Bahna Utsav will begin 15 days before Raksha Bandhan and will be organised as a fortnight-long event. He said the extended duration would provide women with more time and better market opportunities to sell their products and increase their income.
Women participating virtually from different districts thanked the Chief Minister for the scheme and said government initiatives to provide markets for self-help group products were creating new livelihood opportunities and helping them become financially self-reliant.
Extending advance greetings to people on Raksha Bandhan, Dhami appealed to Secretariat officers and employees to purchase products from the stalls and encourage women’s self-help groups. He said adopting local products was the true spirit of “Vocal for Local” and would help strengthen the rural economy.
The Chief Minister said women of Uttarakhand were a strong foundation of the state’s social and economic progress and were contributing to agriculture, animal husbandry, and other livelihood activities. He said women were increasingly emerging as entrepreneurs through their skills, hard work, and entrepreneurial spirit.
Dhami said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, women’s dignity, safety and empowerment had been made key pillars of the country’s development. He cited schemes including Ujjwala Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, and the Lakhpati Didi initiative.
Empowering Over 5 Lakh Rural Families
The Chief Minister said the state government launched the Mukhyamantri Sashakt Bahna Utsav Yojana in 2023 to ensure that quality local products made by women associated with self-help groups reach wider markets, receive fair prices and gain a new identity. According to Dhami, more than 70,000 self-help groups are currently functioning in Uttarakhand, connecting over 5.20 lakh rural families. More than 8,000 village organisations and 615 cluster-level federations are also functioning to strengthen these groups. Over the past three years, 4,480 stalls have been set up in 95 development blocks under the scheme, generating sales of products worth around Rs 12.50 crore, he said.
The Chief Minister said the state was developing a strong marketing system for self-help group products. This includes 49 growth centres, 17 Saras centres, 33 nano packaging units and eight bakery units. Around 110 sales centres are also being operated along pilgrimage and travel routes
From ‘Lakhpati Didi’ to ‘Sashakt Bahna Bazaar’
Dhami said more than three lakh women associated with self-help groups in Uttarakhand had emerged as Lakhpati Didis. He said efforts would now be made to expand the Sashakt Bahna Utsav into a “Sashakt Bahna Bazaar”, taking women’s products to tourist destinations, pilgrimage routes, railway stations, airports, hotels and resorts.
He also highlighted the House of Himalayas brand, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a platform to provide Uttarakhand’s local products with a “Local to Global” identity. Products made by self-help groups are also being linked to e-commerce and digital platforms, while women are being trained in quality control, packaging, branding, labelling, digital payments and marketing.
Ensuring Women’s Safety and Equal Rights
The Chief Minister further said the state government had provided 30 per cent horizontal reservation for women in government services and described the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code as an important step towards ensuring women’s safety and equal rights.
Dhami said the state government remained committed to the dignity, safety, self-respect, and economic self-reliance of women. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)