Taking another step of strengthening marketing support for products made by women of Self-help Groups (SHGs), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojna- National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) launched eSARAS mobile App which will add to eCommerce initiatives for products made by the SHGs. The App was launched by Shri Shailesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India at New Delhi. Shri Singh also inaugurated eSARAS Fulfillment Centre at the Ministry’s Janakpuri office in New Delhi on this occasion.

The eSARAS fulfillment centre will be managed by the Foundation for Development of Rural Value Chains (FDRVC - a Not for Profit Company constituted jointly by Ministry of Rural Development and Tata Trust) and will be used for processing, packaging and shipping of products that customers purchase through the eSARAS Portal and eSARAS mobile App. It will handle the logistics required to bring an online order to a customer's doorstep.

eSARAS an e-commerce mobile app will be used as a more effective platform for marketing of the products made by women of self-help groups. It is an initiative conceptualized by the DAY-NRLM, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), towards the marketing of the best, authentic handicrafts and hand-looms.

Launching the App, Secretary Shri Shailesh Kumar Singh termed it as an initiative which promotes the spirit of Vocal for Local even further with easier marketing of products prepared by SHG Didis. He added that the Ministry is targeting that each SHG Household has at least 2-3 sources of livelihoods. One of the multiple sources of livelihoods of the poor is non-farm enterprise. The major intervention in non-farm livelihoods is provision of market linkages for SHG products. Through the eSARAS mobile App, the handmade products made by SHG Didis are now available at everyone’s fingertips in even more customer friendly way.

Welcoming the Secretary at the event, Shri Charanjit Singh, Additional Secretary, Rural Livelihoods briefed him about DAY-NRLM's marketing initiatives. Shri Singh stated that DAY-NRLM'S strategy is a 360 degree approach with online marketing initiatives like eSARAS App and Portal and popular on-grounds events like SARAS Melas and Saras Food Festivals and cross- promotion of activities at online and on-ground platforms.

Shri Raghvendra Pratap Singh, Director, Rural Livelihoods stated that the support extended by DAY-NRLM like these have been very well received by the SHGs at the grassroots across the nation and they are enthused with their participation in these initiatives.

Thanking the delegates, Shri Bipin Bihari, Co-Lead, FDRVC stated that FDRVC will work with partners to exploit this eCommerce boost, provided with the App even further. The event was attended by senior officers of the Ministry as well as delegates from other partner organizations.

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