Bhubaneswar, Feb 27 (FN Bureau) Mission Shakti Bazar(MSB), a fully women led entrepreneurship and marketing platform to support sustainable livelihood for women was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday Opening the MSB, developed under the 5T initiative to promote entrepreneurship for women, Patnaik said that it will be a strong platform to support sustainable livelihoods for women in rural and semi urban areas of the state. The MSB is a state of the art boutique store for display and sale of curated Mission Shakti SHG products from all over the state. It is owned and operated by a producer Company of SHGs called Khorda Matru Shakti Farmers Producers Company Ltd which has its shareholders nearly 200 SHGs, Producer Groups and Producer Companies comprising SHGs. The inclusive ownership structure will gradually involve lakhs of women who wish to have a sales platform for their products.
Through KMFP Company, the Department of Mission Shakti aims to unlock market potential and promote women led and women run businesses in Odisha. To support the Producer Company , Kalgudi has been engaged as the Technical Service Agency . The main aim of this Bazar is to give a sale platform to Mission Shakti products ensuring sustainable markets and competitive prices. It will also generate consumer interest in many products that are not available round the year in urban centres . The MSB will source farm and non-farm products from SHGs. It will also have an E-commerce portal, offering women the opportunity to venture into entrepreneurship through an online marketplace.
Some of the main attractions are Dhinki-Kuta rice ( hand pound rice ), Kandhamal Haldi , Kotpad sarees, Dongria shawls , dhokra crafts , handmade kansa cutlery items ( brass ) , golden grass and sabai crafts and so on. In the long run, display of SHG products in a centralised place will also give rise to bulk buyers. It will help build value chains of products and encourage product standardisation helping the producer SHGs gain better prices. 5T Chairman Kartik Pandian, Mission Shakti Commissioner cum Secretary Sujata Rout Kartikeyan were present among others.