TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: The 12-day SARAS fair got underway at the SGPDA grounds here on Sunday, with Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar calling for standardisation of Goan products to facilitate its marketing commercially across the country and abroad.
“There’s a need to have Goa model. There’s no dearth of art amongst Goans, but what we lack is standardisation and no approach to sell the produce commercially”, Parrikar said, while inaugurating the 12-day fairs of artisans from Goa and across the country.
He said the government is ready to assist the SHGs financially to standardise the local produce, the Chief Minsiter said RDA and the Handicrafts department can work closely to work out a Goa model for the produce.
“Standardisation is very important to do big time business. My government is ready to assist them to achieve the objective”, he said.
The fair was inaugurated in the presence of RDA Minister, Avertano Furtado, MLAs Digambar Kamat, Vijai Sardesai, Benjamin D’Silva, Rajan Naik and Caitu Silva, besides South Goa ZP Chairperson Nelly Rodrigues.
Avertano told the media that the fair has evoked tremendous response from the Self Help Groups from across the country. “There are 160 stalls set up at the fair, of which 80 stalls have been allotted to Goan SHGs. Around 19 states are participating in the fair”, he said, while making an appeal to the people to Goa to visit the fair and support the artisans by patronising their products.
The SARAS fair in 2011 had registered a turn over of Rs 51 lakh.
