E-commerce marketplace Flipkart has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) of the Government of India, for their Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) programme, to help empower local businesses and self-help groups (SHGs) – especially those that are led by women – by bringing them into the e-commerce fold. The partnership aims to strengthen the capabilities of rural communities for self-employment and entrepreneurship.
The MoU, part of the Flipkart Samarth programme, aims to provide skilled yet under-served communities of craftsmen, weavers and artisans with national market access through the Flipkart marketplace, as well as dedicated support for knowledge and training. Flipkart Samarth seeks to break entry barriers for local communities by providing time-bound incubation and support with on-boarding, cataloguing, marketing, account management, business insights and warehousing. The objective is to create more avenues for increasing business and trade inclusion, and help in creating and sustaining better livelihood opportunities.
On this occasion, Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Flipkart Group, said, “We are leveraging our knowledge of the Indian market to enhance social and economic development for the under-served communities, many of whom reside in rural areas. The crafts of India’s local artisans, weavers and self-help groups deserve to reach a far wider audience, including and beyond their respective regions. The Flipkart Samarth initiative provides them with access to potentially more than 350 million consumers on our platform spread across the country. We are delighted and honoured to partner with the DAY-NRLM and be able to contribute to a vital aspect of nation-building.”
The DAY-NRLM programme has 7.84 crore women mobilised into more than 71 lakh SHGs. Under the mission, women from different cross-sections of class and caste form into SHGs and their federations, providing financial, economic and social development services to their members for enhancing their income and quality of life.
