A marketing fair once confined to the capital is about to go everywhere. Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced on Thursday, October 15, 2026, that the Saras Mela — the flagship showcase for Self Help Group (SHG) products — will now be organised across states, and that a SHE Mart will be established in every district of the country.

Posting from the sidelines of the National Saras Mela in Vijayawada, Chouhan wrote: 'Saras Mela ab keval Delhi tak seemit nahin rahega' — 'The Saras Mela will no longer remain limited to Delhi; it will be organised in different states across the country, so that the 'deedis' (sisters) get the right platform. Going further, SHE Marts will also be built in every district.' The word 'deedis' — the affectionate term used for women SHG members — signals exactly who this announcement is aimed at.

From Delhi showcase to a national network

The Saras Mela has, for years, been a Ministry of Rural Development initiative: an annual fair in New Delhi where SHG women from across India bring their handicrafts, food products, and artisan goods to urban consumers. Exposure, yes — but access only for those who could make the journey to the capital, and only once a year.

Chouhan's announcement flips that model. Instead of rural producers travelling to one centralised fair, the fair travels to them — and to their consumers. State-level Saras Melas would create multiple, recurring points of sale. The proposed SHE Mart network goes further still: a permanent, district-level retail outlet dedicated to women entrepreneurs from Self Help Groups, giving products a year-round shelf rather than a ten-day stall.

The NRLM backbone this builds on

This expansion plugs directly into the architecture of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), launched in 2011, which has spent over a decade building SHG density across rural India. The mission's persistent gap has always been the 'last mile' of market linkage — women could produce, but reliable retail channels were scarce beyond local haats and the annual Delhi fair.

Decentralising Saras Melas to states and anchoring SHE Marts at the district level directly addresses that gap. It is consistent with the broader trajectory of NRLM implementation, which has increasingly pushed market-access infrastructure down to the block and district level across multiple state governments.

What the Vijayawada mela signals

The choice of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh as the venue for the National Saras Mela is itself a departure from the Delhi default — a proof-of-concept for exactly the geographic spread Chouhan is now formalising as policy. Andhra Pradesh has one of the country's most mature SHG ecosystems, making it a natural early host.

The specifics of how state governments will be roped in to co-organise the fairs, and the funding and operational model for district SHE Marts, remain to be detailed. What is clear is the direction: a permanent retail infrastructure for rural women entrepreneurs, scaled from one city to every district in India.

For millions of women who built livelihoods through SHGs, the question was never whether their products were good enough — it was always whether enough people could find them. That distance is what Chouhan is now promising to close.