The Kudumbashree has registered a sales turnover of ₹18.94 crore from the Onam markets and fairs held across the State.
This is close to its Onam business before the floods and the pandemic in recent years, and has come as a shot in the arm for Kudumbashree microenterprises (MEs) and joint liability groups (JLGs).
As many as 1,102 Onam markets, including 24 district-level Onam fairs, were held across the State from September 1 to 6.
Products of 35,383 ME units and 17,475 JLGs from 1,070 Kudumbashree community development societies were available at the fairs. The ME units did business to the tune of ₹14.13 crore, while the JLGs registered sales of ₹4.8 crore.
The sales turnover this year is also twice the turnover of ₹9.67 crore during Onam last year.
Ernakulam organised the highest number of Onam markets in the State—105. It also had the highest sales turnover—₹2.90 crore. Kozhikode with 82 markets registered a turnover of ₹2.63 crore.
Alappuzha followed with 80 markets and a business of ₹2.52 crore. The Onam markets also stood out on account of participation of Kudumbashree entrepreneurs.
Though only 1,070 CDS-level markets and 14 district fairs were to be held initially by the Kudumbashree district missions in association with local bodies, their actual number exceeded that as many CDSs took the initiative to organise the fairs at panchayat and block levels.
Kudumbashree products were also available in fairs organised with the support of Supplyco and the Agriculture department. Food products, soaps and toiletries, textiles, kitchen equipment, handicrafts, and handloom were some of the product categories available at the fairs. Among these, food products were the most sought-after.
Onam sales are also the best time for business for Kudumbashree entrepreneurs in the farm microenterprise sector. After two successive years of disappointing sales owing to COVID-19, the Kudumbashree organised Onam fairs in rural and urban areas with equal vigour. It helped that people have been thronging the markets, shaking off the pandemic blues.
