RD Minister to inaugurate SARAS-2007

New Delhi, Nov 14: Rural Development (RD) Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh will inaugurate the annual SARAS MELA 2007 at Pragati Maidan here today.

The fortnight long mela is being organised jointly by the Ministry and Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART).

The Ministry organises this fair every year for facilitating the Special Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna (SGSY) beneficiaries, rural artisans, craftsmen, self help groups (SHGs) and NGOs to exhibit and sell their products, and to provide them the opportunity for additional income and exposure on a large scale.

This exhibition-cum-sale fair under the brand name of SARAS will display a wide range of products manufactured by the rural artisans, craftsmen and beneficiaries of SHGs across the country.

SARAS 2007 will exhibit over 350 stalls of DRDAs and NGOs from 21 States, displaying a variety of products prepared by rural artisans across the country.

The theme of this year is 'Sari'. As per the theme, craftsmen are displaying an array of 'saris' from different cultural regions of the country.

Other attractive products on sale include bamboo artifacts, traditional and ayurvedic medicines, metalwork, woodwork, Madhubani paintings, terracotta, shawls, carpets, food products among others.

The mela also aims at creating a unique platform for developing linkages with customers and providing an opportunity to artisans to interact with the buyers directly.

Lively cultural programmes by artists from different States will be another major attraction of this mega event, which will conclude on November 27.

Ever since its inception in 1980, this mega-event has evolved into Asia's largest show of its kind. It provides a window to the broad spectrum of industrial progress set in the global background.

ANI

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