Guwahati: The Assamese Saras Mela 2023-24 concluded in Guwahati yesterday with sales amounting to Rs 8.75 crore (87.5 million), said panchayat and rural development minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass.

While local self-help group exhibitors from Assam sold merchandise worth Rs 5.5 crore at this year's Saras Mela, self-help groups from other states moved goods worth around Rs 3 crore, informed Dass.

The minister said 'Digipay Sakhi', an application where an SHG member can do basic banking, transacted 1,201 digital transactions totaling Rs 99.10 lakh during the fair. 

In addition, members of the self-help groups received orders for goods worth Rs 75 lakh during the fair, said Dass. "The fair has encouraged the women of the self-help groups to become self-reliant for the future", said the minister.

The fair was attended by members of self-help groups who sold their handicrafts, textiles, and food items in over 130 stalls. Of these, 63 belonged to self-help groups in Assam. 

Apart from Assam, groups from 21 states including Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttarakhand, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal also participated at the event.

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