Govt says MoU signed with Flipkart will allow artisans, weavers access to national markets

The Rural Development Ministry has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with US-based Walmart-owned Flipkart Internet Pvt Ltd to allow the self-help groups (SHGs), including the artisans, weavers and craftsmen, to access national markets via the Flipkart Samarth programme, the government has informed the Parliament.

Minister of State for rural development Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, said SHG members and clusters (geographical grouping of SHGs) will be provided training support for onboarding products.

They will get a waiver of all commission charges for selling on the platform for six months. The minister said the MoU was signed on November 2.

The company will provide cataloguing support for a maximum of 100 products per seller. The members will also get benefits such as support for warehousing and account management, etc.

Besides, the ministry with government e-marketplace (GeM) has also created “Saras Collection” as a storefront for marketing of the SHG products.

States like Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have supported the SHGs in registering on the GeM portal.

The ministry said Jharkhand has supported SHGs to register on Amazon and Flipkart, while Kerala and Maharashtra have supported SHGs to register on Amazon. Besides, the four states of Assam, Bihar, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh have developed their e-commerce platforms to support SHGs. The names are Asomi (Assam), Jeevika Shop (Bihar), Kudumbashree Bazaar (Kerala), and Madhya Pradesh Aajeevika Mart (Madhya Pradesh).

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