THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The city has an array of Onam fairs attracting huge crowds, where they have access to a variety of products, including organic vegetables, organic pesticides, ayurvedic medicines, traditional indigenous tribal medicines, non-timber forest products and green milk produced by the district panchayat. Many of the products are made by self-help groups with the help of IRDP which gives them subsidy and loans. An Onam rural sales mela has been organised jointly by the IRDP, Swarnajayanti Grama Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) and Kudumbashree at the S.M.V School ground Thampanoor.
As many as 140 stalls have been put up at the venue. “These melas being organised since 1998 are aimed at empowering the rural poor, especially women,” said Anil Kumar, project director of Poverty Alleviation Unit under the Rural Development Department. At the stall of KERAMS, a rural product society, leather bags, school bags and handmade ornaments are available. Designer kurtas, frocks and hand bags made by students of fashion designing Polytechnic College, Kaimanam, are also on display. Laminated painting in Malaysian bamboo stick, Raman knives from Palakkad and Balaramapuram handloom products are other attractions.
