Handicapped women get market support

Rural Mart, a display unit aimed at promoting products created by women with disabilities, was inaugurated on Friday.

A joint venture of National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Shanta Memorial Rehabilitation Centre (SMRC), Rural Mart is a marketing concept that will help women with disability to sell their products. “We will be selling the products on display here and will also try to export the products. Only those products with a high profit margin will be sold here,”  said SMRC vice-president Asha Hans.

The products on display will be high end luxury items. The mass production of the products will be made on demand.  Differently-abled women from Self-Help Groups (SHGs) of Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Nimapada have been asked to contribute to this unit. “We have asked women with disabilities, from any region in the State, to contribute. These women have been formally trained in making apparel, jewellery, kitchen-ware and luxury items,” Hans said.

NABARD will be providing the unit with financial support for a year. After the completion of one year, these women will be expected to run the Rural Mart on profits they earn from their sales.

The space for the unit has been provided by SMRC. “This is an extension of our livelihood programme,” explained Hans. NABARD Chief General Manager K K Gupta inaugurated the Rural Mart.