SHILLONG:
The office of the Block Development Officer, Mylliem C&RD Block, Shillong organised an SHG Mela at Umlyngka Village, Upper Shillong on Friday.
Hamletson Dohling, C&RD Minister and local MLA attended the programme as chief guest and Lambor Malngiang, Nongkrem MLA was the guest of honour.
Speaking at the inaugural programme Dohling informed the gathering that the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) is the flagship programme of the central government which aims at providing sustainable income to rural BPL households through income-generating assets/economic activities to bring them out of poverty and promote the livelihoods of women.
Expressing happiness to be a part of the 1st SHG Mela, Hamletson added that the objective is to provide a platform for the SHGs to showcase their talents in the form of unique products and also to sell their products, he also stated that it is also an opportunity for the SHGs to share and interact with each other and exchange ideas and views.
The minister also expressed his gratitude to the MRSLS and NRLM for their hard work in reaching out to various villages to sensitise the public about the benefits of setting up SHGs. In 2018 there were a mere 6000 SHGs in the state whereas presently over 45,000 SHGs are operating, he informed.
Lauding women groups for coming together and forming these SHGs, Dohling urged them to pass on the message to others to achieve maximum participation and set certain criteria to instil a sense of competition for qualitative and unique products.
During the day the chief guest and guest of honour distributed computers to 9 VECs, cheques under focus to 106 producer groups and sanction letters to 100 SHGs.