Minister inaugurates crafts mela

Hyderabad, Nov 9 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Minister for rural development, D Srinivas inaugurated the crafts mela organized as part of the foundation day celebrations of National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) in Rajendranagar here today.

Self-Help Groups (SHG) and other rural development organizations from several states including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Tripura are participating in the crafts mela.

The Minister said one of the recent revolution in the rural areas was through the formation of SHGs, particularly of women in large numbers. Andhra Pradesh being a pioneer in the SHG movement accounted for six lakh SHGs, out of total 2.5 million in the country, he added.

He said one of the main tasks to be addressed was moving the SHG movement into wider areas of production and marketing.

He said institutional credit was one of the essential requirements. Efforts should be made to increase the credit linkage for SHGs, he added.

The Minister complementing NIRD as well as the members of SHGs and other institutions which were participating in the crafts mela said such melas would pave the way for greater marketing efforts by the SHGs in future.

Director General, NIRD V S Sampath had taken the Minister round the stalls and explained to him about the rural products.

Participants from the rural areas of various states were participating in the crafts mela, which would be opened up to November 12.

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