March 3rd,2020

Topic:- Employment & Women empowerment.

News:-Post offices to sell products of SHGs.

Context:-The post offices will now facilitate the sale of various products, manufactured by the self-help groups (SHGs), as a special initiative of the State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM).

Aim:-

• It aimed at empowering rural women.

MOU between?

•  A memorandum of agreement, signed between the SRLM and the Department of Posts (DoP), has facilitated the arrangement. E-commerce website indiapost.com, owned by the DoP, will also be utilised for online.

Purpose of SRLM through this:-

• The SRLM aimed at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms of the rural poor to enable them to increase household income through sustainable livelihood initiatives.
•  There were about 17,000 registered SHGs across the state with at least 70 per cent of these being actively working in rural areas. The agreement initially signed for a year, would be extended on a yearly basis for utilising the services of 2,700 post offices.

Challenges of SHGs:-

• The SHGs are engaged in manufacturing various articles to be used in natural farming, besides handicraft, handloom, bamboo crafts and other daily use items which are manufactured from local raw material.
•  In the absence of any designated platform to sell their products, the SHGs often struggled to get the optimum price for their products.

Will post office will charge anything?

•  The DoP will charge a small commission which will add to its income. Key details of the products like their availability, description, price, delivery timelines, etc, will be displayed on the website.

How this will help?

•  SHGs in certain districts like Sirmaur have been acclaimed at the state-level for their competence and such endeavours will further strengthen them economically. This arrangement will also prove beneficial to the department whose work has taken a dip after the advent of the online services.

(Source:-The Tribune)