‘Working Woman Expo’ from Dec 18 to 20
Dimapur, December 13 (MExN): The Working Woman Project will be organising the first ‘Working Woman Expo’ from December 18 to 20.
The expo will be held at the Dimapur Government College ground and will feature over 150 stalls, some of which will be run by other local entrepreneurs. Other stall attractions include Naga Food, games, garments and accessories, multi cuisine food courts, bouncy castles, etc.
During the expo, a press release from the organisers stated that Working Woman SHGs will market their products that range from handicrafts, readymade household items, garments handmade baskets and woodwork, to processed food products.
For the opening ceremony on December 18, Minister for Higher & Technical Education and Tribal Affairs, Temjen Imna Along will grace the occasion as special guest.
On December 18, there will be a Christmas carol singing competition where participants from different churches, colonies and clubs will compete for prize money of Rs 50000. The runners up will receivecash prize of Rs. 30000 while participants will receive gift hampers.
The second day will feature “Center stage” - an evening of music where celebrated local artistes will be performing. Prize distribution programme will be held on December 20 where the Best SHG and Best Decorated Stall will also be announced.
About Working Woman Project
The Working Woman Project is a non-profit endeavourfounded in April 2018 by Moatoshi Longkumer, MLA of 2 Dimapur II, with the vision of a local economy driven by women entrepreneurs.
Initially proposed for the 39 colonies that fall under 2 Dimapur II constituency, the objective of this project is to support and uplift all women in orderto create self-reliance among women from low income households in Dimapur.
During the first phase of the project (2018) a total of 240 Self-Help Group lists were submitted out of which 230 groups were selected to receive seed money of Rs. 20,000 from the Local Area Development Programme Fund (LADPF).
In addition to this, the Department of Agriculture has funded 20 SHGs with a sum of Rs.10000 each. The SHGs also received training in food processing which was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India; Skill Training of National Institute of Agricultural Extension Agricultural Management& Extension Training & Farmer’s Welfare,GOI; Skill India, Rural Youths (STRY) programme under Management (MANAGE) and State Institute (SAMETI), Nagaland.
Ten SHGs were funded Rs. 20000 each by the Department of Land Resources while an additional 20 SHGs received Rs.20000 from the Department of Sericulture.
Five individuals also availed training on tailoring and knitting provided by the Department of Women Resources.
Moving on to phase 2 (2019), the Working Woman Project was registered as a society with the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Nagaland.
The SHG activities were monitored through frequent visits and it was concluded that all the SHGs require intervention in one stage or the other, starting from production, manufacturing and procurement to marketing and managing their finance.
With its role as a supportive partner, the WWP has beenintervening in the above-mentioned areas by facilitating training programs based on the requirements of individual SHGs.
The end goal of the project is to build a strong brand for all the Working Woman SHG products and create an atmosphere where the SHGs will be independent to run their network of trade, production and procurement units.
