In a move to empower the rural Self-Help Groups artisans, the Rural Developmen Ministry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Reliance Retail’s JioMart.

The MoU aims towards its efforts to help enhance the outreach of the products of SHGs of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), according to a ministry statement on Friday.

JioMart will also help set up and support them to navigate and operate their accounts on the marketplace. Additionally, JioMart will jointly participate in trainings and workshops facilitated by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) to enable sellers to familiarise with selling experience on the portal.

Further, to ensure sustained growth and business stability, JioMart will provide post-launch training and support to help sellers grow their business on the marketplace and they will also be offered to participate in a variety of marketing promotions on the platform.

This alliance will bring SHGs under Ministry’s SARAS collection brand onto JioMart, offering a range of handlooms and handicrafts products from traditional textiles to pantry, home décor and beauty products, the Ministry said.

Speaking on the occasion, Additional Secretary, Rural Livelihoods, MoRD, Charanjit Singh said this collaboration will enable SHGs to be onboarded as sellers onto the e-commerce fold on JioMart and this initiative will further boost MoRD’s provision under the SARAS collection to be available to a larger consumer base.

With this alliance, SHGs will get to widen their market and visibility and offer their curated products to customers of JioMart across India. As part of the partnership between the MoRD and JioMart, once on-boarded, all SHG sellers associated with the DAY-NRLM will get to avail benefits and guidance in growing their businesses online, he believed.

Commenting on the association, President and Chief of Public Policy and Regulatory, Reliance Retail Limited, Dr Ravi Prakash Gandhi said, ‘’Partnering with MoRD is our first step to many more such fruitful associations in the future. We firmly believe and embrace the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative and this partnership helps us align and further strengthens our commitment. We aim to transform the digital retail ecosystem in the country and through this collaboration we want to empower growth and also facilitate digitisation of millions of SHGs.

DAY-NRLM is a flagship poverty alleviation programme of the Government and is the world’s largest initiatives to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor.