NGO holds Thrive Drive for small business units

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 25

Mobilising and pushing for ‘vocal for local’ call given by PM Modi recently, city-based NGO Phulkari carried out a week-long MSME Thrive Drive for small businesses in the city. This drive aimed at supporting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises business owners, who need to get back on their feet after a month-long economic slowdown.

The organisation opened up their social media space for free, exclusively for MSMEs to increase their brand visibility and help them reach out to a larger audience. The initiative was aimed at helping brands gain visibility beyond the boundaries of Amritsar through cross-branding.

Over 72 brands from the country availed this opportunity. This project was led and coordinated by Phulkari founder Praneet Bubber, vice-president Sheetal Khanna and executive committee members Vrinda Sindhwani and Rahat Kapoor. Deepa Swani, president of Phulkari, said: “These enterprises are important wheels of our economy and supporting them can go a long way in boosting our economy. Phulkari is trying for a major boost for ‘vocal for our local’. Through this drive, we have expanded the outreach of our local brands to other cities and helped brands from other cities have a presence in our city.”

The MSME Thrive Drive was given support by Member of Parliament Gurjeet Singh Aujla. Several women entrepreneurs, who are part of this drive, have come in support for such a move. Reena Kataria, who runs her label Reverie from Kolkata, dealing in hand-painted and handcrafted wearable art, said: “Amid tough times, we are having to experience, continuous innovation has helped to lift the spirits of a few MSMEs connected via their digital platform. As a small homegrown enterprise, I am grateful for their support.”

Jyotika Vohra, who is a home chef running her label and others like her, too, have been vocal about forming a digital network of women entrepreneurs helping each other come out of the current market crisis.

Deepa Swani said keeping in mind that entrepreneurs need to operate in a digital space and are operating on tight budgets, as a part of this drive, Phulkari has also organised a series of free online tutorials.

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