Hyderabad: Rural women craftspersons find platform at SARAS Fair 2022

More than 290 stalls have lined up some exquisite products here at SARAS, the annual art and craft fair, being held till November 28.

Hyderabad: The popular leisure spot of the city, People’s Plaza on Necklace Road, is abuzz with a fair which has unveiled a whole range right from handicrafts to toys to paintings from different parts of the country.

More than 290 stalls have lined up some exquisite products here at SARAS (Sale of Articles of Rural Artisans Society), the annual art and craft fair, being held till November 28. Organised by the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), the exclusive exhibition was inaugurated by Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Minister for Panchayat Raj & Rural Development, on Thursday.

The 12-day long fair aims to promote artisans of rural India and is witnessing the participation of over 300 craftsmen and self help groups (SHG) from across the country.

The fair displays over 290 stalls – handlooms and textiles, traditional handicrafts, artificial jewellery, herbal beauty, wellness products, and packaged food items. Gollabhama sarees and Nirmal toys from Telangana, Kondapally toys of Andhra Pradesh, Bengali Kantha stitch, fine varieties of handicrafts from North East, ceramic pottery from Uttar Pradesh, Tanjore paintings from Tamil Nadu, are few highlights of the mela. Another highlight is the food stalls that will provide cuisines from across the country.

“This is the first time I am visiting Hyderabad. I appreciate the efforts of SERP and Telangana government for taking efforts to uplift the livelihoods or rural women. Through this initiative, rural SHG women and artisans get an opportunity to sell their exclusive handmade products directly to customers,” says Mary Latha, a jute craftperson from Karimnagar.

After inaugurating the fair, Errabelli Dayakar said, “the government and SERP is taking many initiatives to promote sale of SHG women and rural artisan products. Recently SERP entered into MoU with online e-commerce companies like Flipkart, Swiggy and 32 retail marketing organizations as a platform to sell the rural the SHG products.”

Daily cultural programmes like Bharatnatyam, Gussadi, Perini Natyam, Bonalu, Kolatam, Kuchipudi dance, Dappu, Oggudolu among others were also arranged to entertain the visitors and the entrepreneurs participating in the event.