Entrepreneurship with a warm and homely rural touch —that is what the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) and the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) Mela that began at the Manjalikulam SMV School grounds here on Monday is all about.
Organised by the Thiruvananthapuram district panchayat and the District Poverty Alleviation Unit, the event, inaugurated by Deputy Speaker N. Shaktan is slated to continue till September 5. The mela has rural products from 11 block panchayats of Thiruvananthapuram, mostly results of self-employment projects initiated via Kudumbasree. The products range from food to home décor and from garments to jewellery. Special focus was given to handlooms and handicrafts, the organisers said. “They may be the last generation to make such handicraft products. The handicrafts are on the way to extinction,” said George Jacob, Project Director, Poverty Alleviation Unit.
The food products include coconut oil, wine made from gooseberry and ginger, wild honey, sweet and sour chips made with jackfruit and garlic, various spices, tamarind, jaggery, tea powder, pickles, and boiled tapioca and fish curry.
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The home décor and decorative items are mostly made of clay and steel with a variety of bamboo products too on display.
Bamboo jewellery
Jewellery made of paper and bamboo too are being sold at affordable prices.
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The garments section has handloom saris from Balaramapuram and khadi shirts and dress material apart from a host of readymade dresses. Kitchen utensils, household items including cane and bamboo furniture, washing soaps, cleaning lotions, candles and incense sticks are also available.
Saplings, including those of medicinal plants, organic vegetables, a stall of the Department of Dairy Development where the quality of milk can be tested, a Prakriti Biotech stall where bio-pesticides and fertilizers are available, and a stall of the palliative care unit too are among those that are attracting visitors on day one. G. Mohan, an entrepreneur at the event, said he had found the mela a “profit making opportunity,” which was why he came every year.