Future Group to promote handicrafts

Anandadhara has tied up with the Future Group to sell its products in Big Bazaar stores in a shop-in-shop format. Initially, some 30 Big Bazaar stores in Kolkata will house Anandadhara shops having exclusive Bengal products. Then it will be 65 other stores in the eastern region and then gradually will follow a spread nationally through these stores.

Initially, the stores will have mostly non-food products but later processed FMCG products will follow. Products like handicrafts, handloom, aroma rice among others will reach stores within September.

In the first phase West Bengal is targeting to touch 50,000 beneficiaries, most of them likely to be women, under the Anandadhara scheme with a final target to increase the number of beneficiaries to 5,00,000.

Anandadhara's agenda is to mobilise the rural poor and vulnerable people into self-managed, federated institutions and support them for livelihood collectives. Anandadhara was inaugurated in West Bengal in May 2012. The focus of the mission is to help the sale of handicrafts and other products made by poor village women.