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The 16-day-long Asomi Saras Mela which began on November 30, is currently underway at the Veterinary College grounds in Guwahati's Khanapara and will continue till December 15. The mela (fair) is open for visitors from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm.
The mela is being hosted by the Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission (ASRLM) under the Panchayat & Rural Development Department, Government of Assam. Nibedan Das Patowary, State Mission Director of Assam State Rural Livelihoods Mission told ANI that, in this fair, 226 numbers of stalls here and out of that 90 stalls are from outside of Assam and the rest are from Self Help Groups, Members of different parts of the state. "As part of this, we have been organising Saras Mela every year at the district level and the state level. The Saras Mela in Guwahati commenced on November 30 and it will continue up to December 15. We have 226 numbers of stalls here and out of that 90 stalls are from outside of Assam and the rest are from Self Help Groups, Members of different parts of the state," Patowary said. Patowary added that through this fair, the state government is trying to provide a platform to the Self Help Groups, micro entrepreneurs to sell and showcase their products. "We are trying to provide a platform for the Self Help Groups and micro-entrepreneurs to sell and showcase their products. Every year the response is overwhelming. Lots of people visited Saras Mela and we are expecting more people will visit the mela," Patowary added. Kalpana Taye, an entrepreneur of Dhemaji district of Assam said, "We come here to showcase and sell our handmade products and we are getting good responses from the visitors." "The government has taken good initiative by organising Saras Mela. Yesterday we sold our products worth over Rs 1.80 lakh," Taye added. Chitra Basumatary, a woman entrepreneur, said she also participated in Saras Mela last year and got a good response. "I come here to showcase my handmade dry flowers and wooden products," Basumatary said. A member of Suman Self-Help Group said that this Asomi Saras Mela is a very unique mela and people from various parts of the country have participated in this mela. Deepak Verma, entrepreneur of Jharkhand said, "I have been participating in this mela for the last five years and getting good response and also showcasing our traditional products here." The mela showcases various products of rural Assam and other states of India. (ANI)
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