Women entrepreneurs showed their might

BANGALORE: Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka (AWAKE)  in association with Karnataka State Women Development Corporation (KSWDC) inaugurated Sankranthi Mela-2012, an exhibition-cum-sale of the products manufactured by women entrepreneurs in the city on Tuesday.A three-day exhibition-cum-sale was inaugurated by Sarojini Bharadwaja, chairperson of KSWDC. Sarojini spoke about the schemes and facilities offered by the government and are available for women entrepreneurs. She also motivated them by sharing her personal life experiences and advised the participants to explore their individual talents.AWAKE has been conducting exhibitions to promote women entrepreneurs and self help group members in and around the city. “We are conducting four to five exhibitions per year. As this exhibition is close to Sankranthi festival, we named it as Sankranthi Mela-2012,” said Dhanavanti Jaiin, president of AWAKE organisation. This organisation tried to bring a festive look to the exhibition by encouraging the women entrepreneurs to put up theme-based stalls. Over 50 stalls were put up with each stall displaying eco-friendly products,  herbal products, hand-made clothes, food products and others. The estimated amount of ` 75,000 is invested in this exhibition. .Dhanavanti Jaiin added, “We provide an outlet for women entrepreneurs to market their products. If they come up with an idea, we help them to achieve their dreams by offering mentoring in search and development work and  marketing. Courses like Entrepreneurship Development Programme are conducted to help the businesswomen.”Many women entrepreneurs enthusiastically participated in the exhibition and displayed the products. Adarsh M Rao who put up a stall of eco-friendly products said that AWAKE helped her in marketing the products. Adarsh displayed products made from recycled waste including coconut shell, like gift sets, ear-rings, pendants, chains made out of coconut shells. The pricing ranged from  ` 25 to ` 250. She said, “It is a pre-conceived notion that eco-friendly products are overpriced. AWAKE has given a platform to create awareness among people about these eco-friendly products and their use.” Many stall owners were of the opinion that the exhibition-cum-sale helped them to improve their product quality The exhibition-cum-sale continues till January 13.Priya Krishna, MLA of Govindarajnagar Constituency, and Gangabairaaiah, Corporator,  participated in the programme. They were seen purchasing products.