A few outlets have already been commissioned at Chennai, Agartala, Dehradun, Kushinagar, Udaipur and Amritsar airports.
New Delhi: In line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to encourage the talent of women, artisans and craftsmen and provide them with the right opportunities, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) Friday announced that it has taken an initiative to allocate space to Self Help Groups (SHGs) at its airports for selling and showcasing the self-made products of their region.
A statement released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation said, “Under “AVSAR” (Airport as Venue for Skilled Artisans Of The Region), an initiative of AAI, an opportunity to help the indigent to mobilise their households into functionally effective self-earned groups for self-reliance and self-dependence has been provided.”
The statement added, “Under this scheme, an area of 100-200 square feet has been earmarked at each AAI operated airport. The space is being allotted to the self- help groups, turn on turn basis, for a duration of 15 days. A few outlets have already been commissioned at Chennai, Agartala, Dehradun, Kushinagar, Udaipur and Amritsar airports wherein SHGs operated by local women are showcasing and marketing their homemade local products like puffed rice, packaged papad, pickles, bamboo-based ladies bags, bottles, lamp sets, local artefacts, traditional craft, natural dyes, embroidery and indigenous weaves with contemporary designs to air travellers.”
It further said, “More AAI Airports are in the process of allotting space, in coordination with state governments, to such Self-Help Groups, including in Ranchi, Kolkata, Varanasi, Indore, Bhopal, Vadodara, Ranchi, Belagavi, Madurai, Coimbatore, Calicut, Surat, Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Silchar, Dibrugarh and Jorhat.”
The initiative to strengthen SHGs by allotting space at AAI Airports will provide huge visibility to these small groups and prepare them to promote or market their products to the wider spectrum, reaching out to the larger population, the statement read.
