The Department of Mission Shakti and Flipkart collaborate to support SHGs, Craftsmen, and Weavers

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 6 December 2022

The Department of Mission Shakti, the government of Odisha, and the e-commerce startup Flipkart signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support self-help groups (SHGs), craftsmen, and weavers in the state sell goods online. The Samarth programme, which was introduced in July 2019, aims to include craftsmen, weavers, and small businesses in e-commerce.

E-commerce is unquestionably a new path to a better tomorrow, according to Sujata R. Karthikeyan, Commissioner, Mission Shakti Dept., Government of Odisha. The e-commerce sector is the perfect place to support and promote female entrepreneurs who want to start their own business.

Flipkart will assist SHGs and other organisations with the onboarding of items as part of the initiative, in addition to categorising their products, providing orientation, training on product packing, logistics management, payment gateway/integration management, returns & exchange management, etc. Additionally, Flipkart will provide time-limited incubation support to the producing SHGs.

In addition to providing MSMEs with access to the pan-Indian market through our platform, we will continue to help Self Help Groups, craftsmen, and weavers in the state of Odisha through the Samarth programme. Together, we will seek to create a variety of business and job options that will improve the local economy and assist many people's livelihoods, according to Rajneesh Kumar, chief corporate officer of the Flipkart Group.

Mission Shakti, a programme by the Odisha government to create SHGs for women's empowerment initiatives, was first introduced in 2001. In order to address structural barriers that prevent women from entering the workforce through local public and private investments, with an emphasis on domestic capital for women's economic empowerment and entrepreneurship, the programme currently has 70 lakh women organised into more than 6 lakh SHGs.

Flipkart's Samarth programme has grown by 30% over the past year with similar partnerships with other state governments and their departments, including Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, etc. The programme has also assisted sellers in expanding their businesses by 30%, according to Flipkart, which reported this in September of this year. Over 1.5 million traders, craftspeople, and weavers' livelihoods depend on Flipkart Samarth, the business claims.