NEW DELHI: To promote handmade and organic products crafted by self-help groups (SHGs), the Social Welfare Department is planning to open dedicated retail outlets across group housing societies in Delhi and the NCR.
According to officials, the initiative aims to provide a steady market platform for local producers, especially women entrepreneurs, while also reviving the cooperative movement in the capital.
Preparations are underway to roll out the initiative across nearly 2,000 housing societies. “The department will facilitate commercial spaces for SHGs and assist them in listing their products on e-marketplaces to increase visibility and sales. These stores will serve as a direct bridge between local producers and urban consumers,” an official from the department said.
The department also plans to open new cooperative stores across Delhi to sell locally made and organic SHG products. The first such outlet is expected to come up at the office of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS) on Parliament Street early next year, officials said. Once the physical stores become operational, efforts will be made to link them with online delivery platforms to attract younger consumers and expand their reach, they added.
Social Welfare officials said the project would bring together small-scale producers making handmade crafts, food products, textiles, and organic goods under one brand identity, ultimately helping generate employment and promote economic self-reliance.
Delhi’s Social Welfare Minister Ravinder Indraj Singh said the upcoming stores would inject “new energy and direction” into the city’s cooperative movement.