The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : NABARD brings SHG women entrepreneurs to city

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 15, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

NABARD brings SHG women entrepreneurs to city

Staff Reporter

Women SHGs from 20 districts have put up stalls in West Mambalam

FANCY STUFF: A child seems impressed by the display at the Navaratri expo organised by NABARD in Chennai on Thursday. — Photo: M. Vedhan

CHENNAI: This is the first time Narayani Babulal has stepped out of Thanjavur with her Tanjore paintings. "It is good," she said, about coming out of her hometown to exhibit and sell her products in bustling T. Nagar, ahead of Navaratri.

Nearly 20 women self-help groups, identified by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), put up stalls at Kumaran Anugraha Marriage Hall on Arya Gowder Road near Ayodhya Mandapam in West Mambalam on Thursday. They came from 20 districts and brought products from their native places.

Range of products

The products range from soft toys, agarbathi and decorative items from Kancheepuram; chungudi saris from Madurai; fancy terracotta urlis and dolls from Villupuram and Dindigul; wood carvings and dolls from Sivaganga; pickles and spices from Namakkal and Yelagiri; and a whole range of jute products from Tiruvannamalai. The price starts from Rs.8. You can also pick up terracotta dolls or Tanjore paintings worth Rs.8,000 at the expo.

Most of the stalls are manned by homemakers like Ms. Babulal, who started helping her husband make Tanjore and glass paintings after 15 years of running her home.

"I joined the women SHG in my place six months back after I was told that I will be able to come to other places and exhibit the products," she said.

NABARD, which has spent Rs.1.09 lakh to organise the `Navarathri Vizha', is planning to bring SHGs from other districts to major cities such as Chennai soon.

"These are the groups identified and funded by us. We are giving them a marketing platform," said Chief General Manager K.V. Raghavulu, after the inauguration of the exhibition. The exhibition is on till September 23.

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