Avsar: AAI airports promote local artisans and products

New Delhi: In the line with the vision of the Prime Minister of encouraging the talent of women, artisans and craftsmen and providing them with the right opportunities, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has taken an initiative to allocate space to Self Help Groups (SHGs) at its airports for selling/showcasing the self-made products of their region.

Under "AVSAR", (Airport as Venue for Skilled Artisans Of The Region) which is an initiative of AAI, an opportunity to help the indigent to mobilize their households into functionally effective self-earned groups for self-reliance and self-dependence, has been provided. Under this scheme, an area of 100-200 sq ft. has been earmarked at each AAI operated airport. The space is being allotted to the self-help groups, turn on a turn basis, for a duration of 15 days. Few outlets have already been commissioned at Chennai, Agartala, Dehradun, Kushinagar, Udaipur & Amritsar Airport wherein SHGs operated by local women, are showcasing and marketing their homemade local products like Puffed Rice, Packaged Papad, Pickles, Bamboo based Ladies Bag /Bottle/Lamp Sets, local artefacts, traditional craft, natural dyes, embroidery and indigenous weaves with contemporary design to the air travellers.

More AAI Airports are in the process of allotting space in coordination with the State Government to such Self-Help Groups which include Ranchi, Kolkata, Varanasi, Indore, Bhopal, Vadodara, Ranchi, Belagavi, Madurai, Coimbatore, Calicut, Surat, Bhubaneshwar, Raipur, Silchar, Dibrugarh and Jorhat.   

Self-help Groups are India's most powerful channels for empowering small and rural communities to move from subsistence to sustainability. The government is constantly creating an atmosphere to strengthen the SHGs'. Many such groups are excellent producers, creators of local arts, crafts, and useful and quality products with demand from the consumers and they need opportunity and space to showcase their products. The initiative to strengthen SHG's by allotting space at AAI Airports will provide huge visibility to these small groups and will prepare them to promote/market their products to the wider spectrum, reaching out to the larger population.

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