ITANAGAR,Jan 13: “India will develop when the North East develops. North East will develop when Arunachal develops. Arunachal will develop when its villages develop. Villages will develop when women of the villages develop,” said Chief Minister Pema Khandu after opening the SARAS Fair here this morning.
The SARAS Fair, organized annually by the state government, is a bridge connecting talented rural artisans with national and international markets. It serves as a platform to showcase the rich cultural heritage, handicrafts, handlooms, and organic products of villages while also promoting sustainable livelihoods, where SHGs from across the state puts up their products for display and sale.
Khandu informed that currently, state SHGs and federations collectively manage a corpus pool of about ₹300 crores, which, he said, is a testament to the scale and impact of the collective effort within small but difficult terrains of Arunachal Pradesh.
He expressed happiness that the effort towards making SHG members into Lakhpati households is flowing down in a systemic manner. In the first phase of the certification, Arunachal has been able to certify over 1600 Lakhpati didis in the state.
“This success is a result of their hard work, resilience, and diversified livelihood activities, such as agriculture, horticulture, livestock farming, and small enterprises,” Khandu said while appreciating the dedication of the Arunachal State Rural Livelihood Mission (ArSRLM) officials engaged in handholding the SHGs.
“We have further identified 29000 potential SHG members whose capacity building has started so as to make them Lakhpati didi. These individual and collective achievements reflect the power of unity and the entrepreneurial spirit of our women,” he said.
Khandu said this fair is in line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji, who has been promoting the concept of “Vocal for Local” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.
The fair includes food stalls by “Mother’s Kitchen” – a unique project which supports 433 catering units managed by over 3,500 members of SHGs, who are redefining community-led service by running and operating kitchen units; Handloom-handicraft products from all those SHG members for whom the Cluster based initiative was launched (as on date there are close to 900 artisans are involved with their diverse range of the product to cater to wider market); and processed items from 84000 members engaged in high value-added Agri-Horti-forest products from various SHG groups.
Khandu reiterated that the state government is committed to empowering the SHGs by providing them with access to training, credit, and market linkages.
“Their participation in SARAS Fair is a reflection of their aspirations and achievements, and I take this opportunity to salute their indomitable spirit,” he said.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister launched the Handloom, Handicraft, Crochet, Knitting & Embroidery Cluster Initiative under ArSRLM to support rural artisans engaged in weaving, crochet, knitting, embroidery, and handicrafts.
Under this initiative, Master Trainers will be developed across the state through specialized Design Development Training programs. To further strengthen these clusters, each unit will receive seed capital support of ₹2 lakh per cluster. This initiative aims to enhance skills of rural artisans by providing them with advanced training and design expertise, support sustainable livelihoods and create income-generating opportunities for women and marginalized communities and preserve and promote the traditional arts and crafts of Arunachal Pradesh while integrating them with contemporary market demands.
Capital support of Rs 1 Crore each for Handloom Cluster, Handicraft Cluster, Crochet, Knitting and Embroidery Cluster (total Rs 3 Crore) were handed over by the Chief Minister.
“The Rs 1 Crore Support provided by the state government for the establishment of a dedicated marketing outlet for SHG products in the State Capital will be implemented through the Arunachal State Rural Livelihoods Mission”, Khandu announced.
The outlet will serve as a permanent marketing platform for SHGs to showcase and sell their handcrafted and handloom products year-round. Further, an inventory and fulfilment hub will be made functional to support the onboarding of SHG products on e-commerce platforms, enabling access to national and global markets.
Khandu informed that to provide market links to farmers, the state government, through the state marketing board, has signed agreements with the Indian Army and ITBP posted in Arunachal Pradesh for supply of fresh vegetables, fruits and other food products. He said that as the system gets smoothened and well-oiled, this would become a huge marketing place for locally produced products.
“The seed of state rural livelihood Mission which was sown way back in 2016 has grown deep and wide now involving close to 1,40,000 households and 14000 SHG across 25 districts and 125 blocks of the State,” he informed.
SHGs from Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Jharkhand are also participating in the SARAS Fair.
