Walmart Vriddhi Empowers Karnataka SHGs with Digital Skills

Bengaluru, Nov 4 (PTI) The National Livelihood Mission (NLM) under the Department of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood on Tuesday partnered with Walmart Vriddhi to strengthen digital marketing and online sales capabilities of Women SHGs, officials said.

Under this three-year collaboration, Walmart Vriddhi--through its program partner, Ideas to Impact Foundation--will provide free digital learning resources, business tools, and mentorship to Self Help Groups (SHGs), enabling them to grow, scale and thrive in both domestic and international markets, they said.

According to an official statement, there are more than 5,000 SHGs across the state producing a variety of daily-use products. Until now, most of their sales were limited to periodic government-organised fairs.

With the Walmart Vriddhi partnership, SHGs will be trained in digital literacy, e-commerce and marketing, eventually allowing them to sell their products directly through Flipkart, a Walmart-owned online platform, it said.

The MoU, an initiative of Skill Development and Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil and Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, was signed by NLM Director R Snehal and Parul Soni and Santosh Wagh representing Walmart Vriddhi, here.

"This initiative has great potential to transform the SHG ecosystem. It will open new markets and create better income opportunities for thousands of women. Earlier, SHGs lacked digital marketing skills. With Walmart Vriddhi's support, we can expect their products to reach a wider audience and earn fair value," Patil said.

Chief Secretary Rajneesh observed that the move would give global visibility to Karnataka's SHG products.

"Until now, their products were sold only during departmental events twice a year. With this partnership, SHGs will have opportunities to sell throughout the year. We had local talent; what we needed was external expertise like Walmart Vriddhi to take them global," she said.

She also announced plans to set up an exclusive SHG products centre at Kempegowda International Airport, strategically located in a high footfall area to attract both domestic and international travellers, the statement added.