THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For its eighth season, the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival (GKSF) has joined hands with the Kudumbashree Mission.
This will see around 50,000 shops registering with the festival and, consequently, the tie-up would help popularise GKSF in the rural areas of the state.
Kudumbashree Mission executive director K B Valsala Kumari and GKSF director K M Mohammed Anil signed the MoU at a function inaugurated by Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar. Panchayat and Social Welfare Minister M K Muneer accepted the first registration. Tourism director Sheikh Pareeth announced the festival’s
‘Ethics and Transparency Pact.’ The aim is to reduce government grant in the festival and make it self-sufficient.
The tie-up with Kudumbashree will help project the people-friendly image of GKSF and take it to the grass-root level, the Tourism Minister said. K Muraleedharan MLA, GKSF co-ordinator V Vijayan also were present.
The festival will be on from December 15 to January 15. Shops can register in the premium and general categories by paying an entry fee of Rs 20,000 and Rs 1500 respectively. Once they register, they will be allotted coupons and other publicity materials. The eighth season is designed to project export opportunities, general shopping and promote the traditional industrial sector.