{"id":78227,"date":"2026-07-02T15:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=78227"},"modified":"2026-07-02T18:33:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:03:50","slug":"esaras-rural-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/02-07-2026\/esaras-rural-women","title":{"rendered":"eSARAS: Expanding Markets, Empowering Rural Women\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/eGovernance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Government recently emphasized the role of <strong>eSARAS (SARAS Aajeevika) <\/strong>in digitally empowering <strong>women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs)<\/strong> by linking rural artisans to national markets and promoting inclusive growth under the Digital India mission.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About <\/strong><strong><em>eSARAS<\/em><\/strong><strong> (SARAS Aajeevika)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is a digital marketplace for products created by women SHGs, rural artisans and producer collectives across India.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is developed by the <strong>Ministry of Rural Development<\/strong> under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana\u2013National Rural Livelihoods Mission <strong>(DAY-NRLM).<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Its objective is to provide SHG members with direct market access, eliminate middlemen, ensure fair remuneration and promote indigenous crafts and rural entrepreneurship.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Every product on eSARAS carries a story, and every purchase is a direct connection to the artisan behind it. It includes examples like:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chanderi sarees from Madhya Pradesh<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Marble artisans in Rajasthan<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pashmina producers in the hills of Jammu &amp; Kashmir<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Milestones: From Portal to e-Commerce Ecosystem<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>eSARAS Portal:<\/strong> e-Commerce portal launched for better and more effective marketing of Saras products<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>eSARAS Mobile App:<\/strong> Mobile app launched alongside the eSARAS Fulfilment Centre. It is used for processing, packaging and shipping of products.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>ONDC: <\/strong>SHG products made available across more than 11 buyer apps (more than 20 crore buyers on ONDC platform) with more than 800 handcrafted products listed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"d5dfe3\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"571\" height=\"571\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-24.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-78228\" style=\"--dominant-color: #d5dfe3; width:443px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-24.png 571w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-24-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-24-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 571px) 100vw, 571px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>UMANG:<\/strong> eSARAS listed on UMANG; platform now serves 2,572 services with 796.69 crore transactions (June 2026)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SARAS Shakti Collection:<\/strong> Premium curated gift collection launched at Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Sammelan 2026 for institutional and corporate markets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SARAS Aajeevika Gallery:<\/strong> It is a permanent retail gallery established for showcasing curated SHG products.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Features of eSARAS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Marketplace for SHGs: <\/strong>It focuses only on the sale of goods produced by SHGs and producer groups run by women.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Entrepreneurship amongst Rural Women:<\/strong> It is an effort at nurturing entrepreneurship skills in rural women.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Direct Market Linkages:<\/strong> It offers direct connections between the producers and customers, and minimizes reliance on middlemen, thereby helping increase the income of producers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Product Diversification: <\/strong>It has handicrafts, handlooms, natural &amp; organic foods, home d\u00e9cor, textile products, traditional artefacts etc. It helps promote the rich cultural and artisanal tradition of India.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digital Empowerment:<\/strong> It enables online registration, cataloging, digital payments and order management, and digital literacy and financial inclusion amongst rural women.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Market Access:<\/strong> It enables rural products to reach the customers throughout the country irrespective of the geographical constraints.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It contributes to the \u2018Vocal for Local\u2019 and Atmanirbhar Bharat agenda.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Inclusiveness:<\/strong> It gives livelihood options to the women, especially those belonging to marginalized communities and remote areas.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It supports the community institutions formed under DAY-NRLM.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Capacity Building:<\/strong> Continuous training in digital marketing, packaging, branding and quality standards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Logistics Infrastructure:<\/strong> Need for a well-structured supply chain and delivery system for order fulfillment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Technological Innovations:<\/strong> AI-based recommendation, multi-language interface, analytics and other such technologies for enhanced user experience.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Brand Creation:<\/strong> Creating region-wise brands and leveraging the GI-based product promotion to strengthen competitiveness.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Integration with Other Marketplaces:<\/strong> Convergence with ONDC, GeM and other major e-commerce platforms to enlarge market access.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Financial Assistance: <\/strong>Providing easy credit, working capital and insurance assistance to SHGs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Export Initiatives:<\/strong> Explore export options for the premium handicrafts and artisanal products.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/FactsheetDetails.aspx?id=150656&amp;NoteId=150656&amp;ModuleId=16&amp;reg=3&amp;lang=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source: PIB<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong><br \/>\nIn News<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">\n<p>The Government recently emphasized the role of eSARAS (SARAS Aajeevika) in digitally empowering women-led Self-Help Groups (SHGs) by linking rural artisans to national markets and promoting inclusive growth under the Digital India mission.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong><br \/>\nAbout eSARAS (SARAS Aajeevika)<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"\t>\n<p>It is a digital marketplace for products created by women SHGs, rural artisans and producer collectives across India.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">\n<p>It is developed by the Ministry of Rural Development under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana\u2013National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/02-07-2026\/esaras-rural-women \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78227"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78230,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78227\/revisions\/78230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}