More than 3,000 products made by self-help groups (SHGs) in villages across Uttar Pradesh are now available for online ordering through major platforms including Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, Prerna Mart, e-Saras and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). According to reports from The Times of India, this initiative was launched under the direction of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to connect women-led SHG products with larger markets. The move represents a significant shift from traditional local sales to digital market access for rural women entrepreneurs, with products now reaching customers far beyond village boundaries through organized digital platforms.
To support the digital expansion, 543 Prerna Saras stores have been established at district and block levels across the state. As reported by The Times of India, these physical retail outlets provide an organized sales platform for local products. The combination of online and offline marketing platforms is designed to provide branding, sales support and access to digital markets for rural products, moving beyond traditional savings and credit activities to entrepreneurship opportunities for women in SHGs. These stores serve as structured sales platforms that complement the digital marketing initiatives, creating a comprehensive market access network for rural women entrepreneurs.
According to Arun Kumar, mission director of the rural livelihoods mission, the initiative focuses on providing entrepreneurship opportunities rather than limiting women to savings and credit activities. As reported by The Times of India, the combination of production, packaging, branding and market linkages is giving small enterprises run by rural women an opportunity to expand. Kumar emphasized that access to markets after production is one of the biggest requirements for women entrepreneurs in SHGs, with the state government creating a network for branding, packaging, marketing and sale of local products. Through Prerna SARAS Stores and online and offline platforms, the focus is on branding and marketing beyond production, enabling women to understand market demand and plan production accordingly.
Online marketing has already begun through the Bijnor state aggregation centre as part of the push towards digital markets, according to Kumar's statements to The Times of India. The arrangement allows local products to reach customers in distant locations and is expected to be particularly useful for products associated with the identity of particular districts or regions. Bringing the products of different groups together on a single platform is considered an important step toward systematically organizing sales and market access. This digital infrastructure allows local products to reach customers far away, particularly benefiting products identified with a particular district or region, and provides women with opportunities to create product identity and brand value through organized digital marketing platforms.
