Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha on Monday called upon the women entrepreneurs and members of self-help groups to lead the socio-economic change taking place in Jammu Kashmir. The L-G was speaking at the Saras Aajeevika Mela at iconic Dal Lake in Srinagar.

The Lt Governor said, the Saras Aajeevika Mela is providing an excellent platform for rural self-help groups and artisans to exhibit their products, develop ties with buyers and learn about design, packaging and social media advertising.

“Self-help Groups are playing a vital role in the empowerment of women. We have taken several initiatives to help women entrepreneurs to scale up their business and provide opportunities to link with the global market,” said the Lt Governor.

Around 6.27 lakh women associated with more than 78,000 SHGs in J&K have transformed the rural economy, creating jobs and some have also shown the potential to become bigger enterprises, he added.

Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our efforts in the last three years have ensured equal opportunities to women in every sector and enabled them to be equal partners in realizing the goal of development and Atmanirbhar J&K, he added.

The Lt Governor congratulated the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and J&K Rural Livelihoods Mission for their endeavours in securing the livelihood of the rural women and giving them proper training and other assistance for their entrepreneurial journey.

The Lt Governor highlighted the flagship programmes and schemes of the government making a greater impact on the lives of women in Jammu Kashmir.

Our aim is women-led development. It is being ensured that the women entrepreneurs in urban, rural and remote areas get all the financial assistance and necessary handholding in packaging, branding, licensing, skilling and marketing, the Lt Governor noted.

On the occasion, the Lt Governor released a publication of Rural Livelihoods Mission.

Earlier, the Lt Governor inspected various stalls displaying unique products, traditional cuisines from J&K and across the country and also interacted with the artisans, women entrepreneurs and members of Self-help Groups.