RANCHI: The indigenous products manufactured by Self Help Group (SHG) women in Jharkhand under the banner ‘Palash’ are now available for sale on Amazon and Flipkart. Officials in the rural development department said out of the total 60 products, nine are available on the two e-commerce platforms.
More than two lakh rural women entrepreneurs are manufacturing, processing, packaging and selling their products under the Palash brand. Officials said the two global e-commerce platforms had earlier signed MoUs to provide a bigger market for the natural products prepared by the SHG women, who have already
started getting orders on the e-commerce platforms. The products available include mustard oil, honey, pickles etc..
Nancy Sahay, CEO of Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), which comes under the rural development department, said a wider variety of products would be available on these platforms by the year-end. She said the JSLPS eventually aimed to make available all the 60 products of Palash on Amazon and Flipkart which will raise the income of SHG women, further encouraging others to get integrated with the brand.
“The JSLPS is also going to sign MoUs with local courier partners to expedite cost-effective delivery, as Amazon and Flipkart don’t deliver liquid products on their own,” said Sahay. Expressing happiness over the initiative, rural development secretary Manish Ranjan said the government wanted to ensure good income for these SHG women by providing them livelihood opportunities. “This will not only give the SHG women get good prices for their products, but also a new identity to the entrepreneurship development of these women,” said Ranjan.
“This is the happiest moment for all of us. We believe we will be able to connect other women like us with the brand Palash so that their income too goes up,” said Shobha Devi of Namkom in Ranchi who makes pickles. Brand Palash is also a hit at the India International Trade Fair in Delhi, she added.