Jammu, Nov 6: Around 2766 Village Rural Haats (VRHs), established under the Jammu and Kashmir Rural Livelihood Mission (JKRLM) during the Back to Village-IVth (B2V4th) programme, have earned a whopping Rs. 17.13 lakh sales in seven days.
Like other departments who were asked to complete the saturation of deliverables during the B2V4th programme, the deliverables for JKRLM were to establish VRHs in every panchayat of the Union Territory. The JKRLM not only established the VRHs in each panchayat with the support of RDD but these VRHs remained functional during the seven-day-long programme. These VRHs shall remain functional henceforth.
The VRHs also remained a point of attraction for every visiting officer and the general public during the fourth phase of the government programme. The Village Rural Haats were established by the self-help-group (SHG) members to showcase their talent and sell out their products. This in turn helped them bridge the gap between different stakeholders like PRIs and other line departments.
This was the first time when SHGs/JKRLM representatives were appreciated across the UT and appreciation letters were also provided to them by the visiting officers during the fourth phase of the Back to Village Programme.
Pertinently, the weeklong government-public interface programme—Back to Village 4—beginning October 27 and concluding on November 3 – saw a massive response from SHGs promoted under JKRLM with officers from different departments reaching out to them at their doorsteps, listening to their problems and suggesting measures to further enhance the efficacy of welfare schemes across the rural landscape.
The Visiting Officers held interactions with women SHGs to get firsthand knowledge of their issues, challenges, problems and possible ways to address them at the earliest. They also discussed the specific economic potential of the villages and possible employment opportunities to further enhance the standard of livelihood of the rural women workforce.
Among the major issues highlighted by the women SHGs during the B2V4 programme were related to marketing and branding facilities for their products and imparting market-driven training and knowledge to the SHG members.
The Visiting Officers assured the SHGs full support from the administration in taking their products to established and flourished markets of the UT. They also discussed various aspects of JKRLM including achievements.
The B2V4 programme provided a platform to the SHGs to take part in Mahila Sabhas and special Gram Sabhas both in Jan Abhiyan and B2V4. It is important to mention here that there are 5 lakh women associated with 67000 self-help groups working the constant support and guidance of the JKRLM popularly known as UMEED in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Scores of women entrepreneurs associated with UMEED are not only scripting their success stories but also motivating others to join the mission and come out of poverty by becoming self-reliant and successful entrepreneurs.
Self-help-groups have seen a sea change in the last couple of months as JKRLM has done a commendable job in the field of women empowerment by implementing various women-centric initiatives.
To assist the rural women SHGs to augment their skills and improve their livelihood opportunities, JKRLM in collaboration with the skill development department has trained 4268 Self-Help-Groups thus far.
With the support from the Airport Authority of India, JKRLM has been enabling the rural women artisans and craftswomen in marketing their products through Direct to Consumer marketing platforms set up at both the airports in Jammu and Srinagar. These outlets at airports exhibit products from all 20 districts and the initiative is supporting local art and artisans.
The launch of Oyo Homestays by UMEED as part of the project “Crown of Incredible India” has also been another major achievement of the JKRLM in recent months. The homestays are fully maintained by the women self-help groups. In the first phase, 75 SHG homestays were boarded on with Oyo.
For the first time under the Har Ghar Tiaranga initiative, JKRLM has also manufactured 3.74 lakh of National flags and successfully delivered them to all the Deputy Commissioners of J&K.
Reviving the forgotten recipes of J&K, the first traditional food and nutrition festival “Aalaav” was also organised by JKRLM at UMEED women’s Haat. The three-day food fest showcased different traditional Kashmir dishes prepared from local veggies and other plant species.
There has been a complete turnaround in the life of women SHGs due to the efforts of JKRLM as SHG members have also been running the canteen at the State Taxes Department Solina. This is also the first-of-its-kind canteen run by the SHG members promoted under JKRLM at the State Taxes Department. The women SHGs who are running the canteen have been trained by the Indian Institute of Management by JKRLM.
