Self-help groups can sell products via Him Era shops, website: DC

Women self-help groups are being facilitated to sell their products on an e-commerce website, said Deputy Commissioner Hemraj Bairwa after inaugurating a Him Era shop in Kangra on Monday.

Bairwa said an Him Era website had been prepared for the self-help groups to sell their products online. All self-help groups were being linked to the website so that in future, they could also sell their products online, he added.

He said that effective steps were being taken for the branding and marketing of the products of self-help groups. Various self-help groups of Kangra subdivision would get the facility to sell their products in Him Era shops. These shops would play an important role in strengthening the rural economy as the women self-help groups at the village level prepare different products in an organic way and better marketing facilities would be made available for their products through Him Era shops, he added.

Bairwa said that training was also being provided to women involved in the self-help groups to prepare products of excellent quality. Appropriate steps had been taken for the packaging of products so that their demand could rise in the market, he added.

He said that Him Era shops were being built in a phased manner in Kangra district. Earlier, Him Era shops were started near the Deputy Commissioner’s office complex and the District Council building in Dharamsala. Guidelines had been given for taking appropriate steps for the construction of Him Era shops in other subdivisions as well, he added.

He said that the Rural Development Panchayati Raj departments had been asked to focus on sales through Him Era shops and instructions had been given for the removal of shortcomings so that this model of marketing of products could succeed. He also instructed the officials of the Horticulture and Agriculture departments to coordinate with the Rural Development Department and prepare a plan to sell organic products through Him Era shops.