Patna: Organized with the objective of providing promotion, respect and a big market to handicrafts and skills from across the country, Bihar Saras Mela, got underway at Gandhi Maidan on Thursday. Bihar Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (Jeevika) operating under the aegis of rural development department has organised the fair.
Rural development department minister, Bihar, Shravan Kumar formally inaugurated the fair by cutting the ribbon at the main gate. He later visited various stalls dedicated to rural entrepreneurship in the fair premises.
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Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that the rural development department is running many schemes for the development of villages in Bihar. Jeevika is the most important project among them. Through Jeevika, poor women are joining self-help groups and becoming economically and socially empowered. Saras Mela is now becoming historic.
Himanshu Sharma, chief executive officer of JEEViKA, highlighted the role of Saras Mela in empowering rural craftsmen. He explained the outline of organizing Saras Mela and said that at present Jeevika is working as a living institution. Jeevika has achieved the top position in the whole country as a state livelihood mission in making Lakhpati Didi. He said that this big platform of handicrafts gives respect to rural skills and crafts and also the inclusion of various colors of self-reliance and self-dependence of village women is seen.
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Patna mayor Sita Sahu said that Jeevika is working for women’s self-reliance and empowerment from village to city. “Saras Mela is an example of women empowerment. It is an initiative towards promoting rural entrepreneurship.
The minister participated at the inaugural show and relished the cultural events organised at the fair.
Additional chief executive officer, Jeevika, Abhilasha Sharma in her welcome address said that through Saras Mela, rural craftsmen get economic strength.
At the end of the program, rural women entrepreneurs presented mementoes to the visiting guests. On this occasion, R Natarajan, general manager, North Bihar, and Ravindra Srivastava, general manager, South Bihar, State Bank of India, were also present on the stage. At the end of the program, Rajesh Kumar, special officer, Jeevika, presented the vote of thanks. The stage was managed by Shoma Chakraborty.
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By the day of the inaugural ceremony, women entrepreneurs and self-employed people associated with self-help groups from Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Pondicherry, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Jammu & Kashmir have arrived at the Saras Mela with crafts, folk art, apparel, decorative items and local cuisine etc. of their respective states. A market of handicrafts and local cuisine has been set up in more than 500 stalls in the area.
