Saras Mela witnesses surge in footfall
Kolkata: The National Sale of Articles and Rural Artisan Society (Saras) Mela witnessed a surge in footfall on Sunday, two days after its inauguration.
The fair was inaugurated by state Panchayats and Rural Development minister Subrata Mukherjee on February 20. Bidhannagar MLA Sujit Bose and minister of state for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Shashi Panja were also present on the occasion.
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY NRLM), being implemented in West Bengal as Anandadhara through West Bengal National Rural Livelihood Mission (WBSRLM) under the Panchayat and Rural Development Department (Government of West Bengal), is the flagship programme aimed at poverty eradication.
Saras, a national level fair at a regional level, which provides marketing platforms for the products of the Self Help Groups (SHG) is also an important part of the overall strategy under the programme.
"We have been conducting Saras Mela for the last 15 years. This year, the rush of customers is good. The fair, organised at Central Park mela ground in Salt Lake, is thrown open to visitors at 1 pm and continues till 9 pm every day. It has already become popular and is registering huge footfalls daily. The mela is primarily organised to give a platform to various artisans across Bengal and other states in India. The mela will continue till March 2," said Choten Lama, CEO of WBSRLM and secretary of state Panchayats and Rural Development Department.
She reiterated that goods worth Rs 4 lakh were sold on the inauguration day of the fair.
"In this fair, Self Help Group member artisans from 18 states (Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Sikkim, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal) have put up their stalls," pointed out Lama.
After coming to power, the Mamata Banerjee government laid enormous emphasis on the promotion of traditional handicrafts of the state and started various schemes to economically boost the artisans.
