When the National SARAS Mela opened in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh in 2026, it did something no previous edition had done: it left Delhi-NCR. All 117 national editions before it had been held in the capital region. The shift, with participants drawn from 34 States and Union Territories, is not merely logistical. It signals that the platform has outgrown its origins as a Delhi showcase and is being repositioned as a genuinely national market infrastructure for rural women.
SARAS Mela began modestly. The first national edition was organised in Delhi in 1999 with approximately 65 beneficiaries. It has since expanded across national, regional, state and district tiers, with States and UTs expected to organise at least two state-level melas annually, contributing to roughly 50 such events nationwide each year. Annual sales across the platform now exceed ₹200 crore. The institutional architecture behind this growth involves NABARD and the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR), alongside government and private-sector stakeholders who support product branding, buyer-seller linkages and logistics.
SARAS Mela is best understood as the demand-side complement to the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), India's flagship rural poverty alleviation programme. DAY-NRLM works primarily through Self-Help Groups (SHGs), using them as the basic unit for delivering credit, skill training, technology access and institutional support to rural women. The mission addresses the supply side of rural livelihoods reasonably well. What it historically struggled with was connecting that supply to markets at scale. SARAS Melas fill that gap by creating a structured, government-backed venue where SHG products — handlooms, handicrafts, traditional textiles, natural products, processed foods and regional cuisines — reach consumers and institutional buyers directly.
The Lakhpati Didi initiative sits above this as the outcome-measurement layer. Launched under DAY-NRLM, it sets a concrete income threshold: SHG women must achieve sustainable annual household income of at least ₹1 lakh, assessed over at least four agricultural seasons or business cycles. The target has escalated rapidly, from 2 crore women in 2023 to 3 crore in 2024, with the 3-crore milestone achieved by December 2025. In February 2026, the government announced a further revised target of 6 crore Lakhpati Didis. SARAS Melas support this trajectory by enabling the direct sales and income diversification that move women from subsistence livelihoods toward sustainable microenterprises.
The 2026 edition reflects a broader transformation in how the platform operates. Physical exhibitions offer only periodic market access. To address this, the eSARAS platform was developed as an e-commerce marketplace where consumers can discover and purchase SHG products year-round, independent of any fair calendar. The SARAS Mela Digital App, launched in 2025, streamlines the operational side by handling SHG nominations, attendance management and event information. At the transaction level, UPI-based payments are actively promoted, while alternative payment arrangements are retained for financial inclusivity.
These digital layers represent a shift in ambition: from organising periodic exhibitions to building sustained market participation for rural women entrepreneurs. The Vijayawada edition, with its geographic departure and its digital infrastructure, is evidence that SARAS Mela is being scaled as a policy instrument, not just a promotional event — one whose success is now measured against the hard income targets of the Lakhpati Didi initiative rather than footfall alone.
With reference to the National SARAS Mela, which of the following statements is correct about its first national edition?
The Lakhpati Didi initiative sets a specific income threshold for SHG women. Which of the following correctly describes this threshold as stated in the article?
Which of the following institutions form part of the institutional architecture supporting the SARAS Mela platform, as mentioned in the article?
