CM gives big gift to members of Self-Help Groups, inaugurates first ‘Sanjha Bazaar’ in Karnal

Chandigarh, February 24, 2024– Empowering women within Self Help Groups across Haryana, Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal unveiled a meaningful initiative on Saturday. Having pledged last year to foster self-reliance among women, the Chief Minister delivered on his commitment by inaugurating the first ‘Sanjha Bazaar’ in Karnal district today, making a significant step towards creating opportunities for economic empowerment and community development.

Addressing the gathering, the Chief Minister said that in this ‘Sanjha Bazaar’, the women members of SHG would find a platform to display and sell their products as a secure source of livelihood. He said that places have been identified for the ‘Sanjha Bazaar’ in 6 districts in the first phase. In the first phase, each of these ‘Sanjha Bazaar’ will have 10 portable cabins, which will be increased as required in the future. The rent for each of these cabins will be only Rs. 100 per day, said Sh. Manohar Lal.

He said that under the self-help groups, 58,000 groups have been formed in the entire state. These groups are leading 6 lakh women towards self-reliance as members. Among these 6 lakh women, there are one lakh women whose annual income is less than Rs. 1  lakh. According to the Central Government’s Drone Didi Scheme, 500 women are being trained in the first phase across the state. The government is emphasizing on empowering self-help groups not only in villages but also in cities, said Sh. Manohar Lal.

In Karnal district, 5298 self-help groups have been formed, with 57175 women associated, which is the highest number in the entire state. In this series, 386 gram organizations have been formed, and 17 cluster-level federations are operational. The state government has provided Rs 5 crore 82 lakh 80 thousand to these self-help groups and Rs 7 crore 57 lakh to the gram organizations in Karnal district.

Similarly, a fund of Rs 140 crore has been made available as a loan to rural poor women for livelihood in Karnal district. Women in these self-help groups are provided training related to agriculture, non-agricultural livelihood activities by coordinating with various departments. Women of these self-help groups are successfully operating 26 canteens in government offices. In this series, work is being done on 713 kitchen gardens, in which women of the groups are increasing their income by growing and selling organic vegetables. These women of self-help groups are also working to create awareness among the general public about their handcrafted products and various other schemes.

MP Sh. Sanjay Bhatia, CEO HSRLM, Dr. Amarinder kaur, Deputy Commissioner, Sh. Anish Yadav, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Sh. Abhishek Meena, and other senior officers and employees of various departments and a large number of women from self-help groups were also present on this occasion.