Port Blair, Jan 03: Christened as “Rural Mart” under the auspices of NABARD, a retail outlet for showcasing the handicraft products of self help group women artisans promoted by the Yuvasakthi (NGO) was unveiled near Gram Panchayat Bhawan at Havelock No.2.
It was inaugurated by Dr. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, Chairman, NABARD (National Bank for agriculture and rural development), Mumbai. Inauguration of this rural mart is focused at displaying the handicrafts made by various artisan groups under the SHG banyan of Yuvasakthi and an artisan group namely YUVASAKTHI MIRACLE SHG will take up the responsibility of sourcing finished handicraft items from various artisan groups and sell them at the rural mart. Havelock Island is one of the prominent tourism spots in Andaman & Nicobar Islands with huge annual footfall of domestic and foreign tourists.
In view of this, there is tremendous potential for marketing the locally crafted handicraft items here using locally available raw materials. There are plans to open similar marts in Neil Island too. The Chairman, during his speech assured full cooperation of NABARD for the socio economic development of local women through micro-entrepreneurship. The programme was attended by Mr. Hemant Songadkar, General Manager, and Mr.Vaidyanathan, Asst. General Manager NABARD.
Proposing vote of thanks, Mr.K.Subramani, Founder, Yuvasakthi thanked the NABARD for its initiative towards empowerment of women. According to him, the long cherished dream of SHG women for a rural mart to market their own products has now become a reality.
