Amazon & Karnataka Govt. Inks MoU to Turn Rural Women into Entrepreneurs

By: WE Staff | Monday, 7 February 2022

Amazon India announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (KSRLPS) to help women entrepreneurs grow their businesses. In the presence of Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and CN Ashwath Narayan, Minister of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, and Livelihood, the MoU was signed and exchanged.

According to an Amazon India press release, the company will launch Sanjeevini-KSRLPS in its marketplace, extending the benefits of the "Saheli" programme to train and empower thousands of women entrepreneurs to come online and access a larger market for their products.

According to the press release, this partnership will help bring regional selection and unique products from categories such as grocery, home, and fashion accessories made by over 30,000 women entrepreneurs and self-help groups (SHGs) affiliated with Sanjeevini-KSRLPS online, making them available to millions of Amazon customers across the country.

According to Amazon, Saheli provides extensive training and skill development workshops for its partners in order to assist women entrepreneurs in understanding the nuances of online selling and developing the skills and capabilities required to grow their business on Amazon.in.

These training workshops include sessions on product listing, imaging and cataloguing, packaging and shipping, inventory and account management, and customer service, as well as other appealing benefits for Saheli sellers, such as free assisted onboarding and mentorship.

According to Ashwath Narayan, “one of the key priorities of our government is to establish a flourishing eco system for women entrepreneurs, especially from rural areas, and I would like to commend Amazon for their efforts and initiatives. Our association with Amazon will give wings to the dreams of women entrepreneurs and support our capacity-building initiatives for them.”

Sumit Sahay, Director (Selling Partner Services), Amazon India, stated that the partnership with the Karnataka government is in line with the company's commitment to digitally enable 10 million MSMEs by 2025. He said, "We will work with KSRLPS to bring the benefits of e-commerce to thousands of women entrepreneurs and SHGs and help them kickstart their journey as digital entrepreneurs."