Lunglei District Celebrates International Women's Day 2023 with One Day Exhibition for SHGs

Lunglei, 8 March (Zoram News): The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) observed the International Women's Day 2023 with the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”. The event was organized to celebrate the progress made towards achieving gender equality and women's empowerment in Lunglei District. As a part of the celebration, a “One Day Exhibition/ Mela for SHGs” was held in the Art & Culture Auditorium, Lunglei.

Pi Ramdinliani, IAS, Deputy Commissioner of Lunglei District graced the event as Chief Guest and inaugurated the International Women’s Day 2023 cum One Day Exhibition/ Mela for SHGs at the Art & Culture Auditorium, Lunglei. During her address, she thanked NABARD for organizing the event and encouraged everyone to adopt digital technology for gender equality and women's empowerment. She also thanked the SHGs for their products and requested the public to support their entrepreneurship and local products.

Pu Evan T Munsong, District Development Manager (DDM), NABARD, gave a brief background of International Women's Day and NABARD's role in women's empowerment. He highlighted that the event was organized to provide SHGs with exposure and contacts with customers and bulk buyers, and also earn income through the sale of their products.

The one day exhibition-cum-sale of products produced by the members of women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) drew a huge crowd visiting the 22 stalls and buying their products. The exhibition, organized by NABARD in collaboration with World Vision India (WVI), showcased a wide range of handlooms, Mizo Puan, handicraft, tribal ornaments, artefacts, fruits & vegetables pickles, fruit candies, bakery products, fashion and beauty articles, and other products of SHGs. There was also a display and sale of “MY Pad My Right” Sanitary Pads, produced by SHGs with support from NABARD FOUNDATION. Some of the SHG stalls used Unified Payments Interface (UPI) enabled payment Apps/ QR Code in their transactions for the convenience of buyers.

The event aimed to create awareness of the SHGs’ activities and products in the district and beyond. The organizers hope that it will contribute towards the economic empowerment of women and gender equality.