tEA launches women street vendors programme in Arunachal

DIMAPUR — After Nagaland, Manipur and Assam, the Entrepreneurs Associates (tEA) launched its ‘Uplifting women street vendors programme’ in Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday.

An update from tEA stated that a brief programme to mark the launch of its programme was conducted at St. Francis School in Dadam block of Tirap district, which was attended by 124 women. The participants comprised of women who are regularly engaged in producing and marketing of local farm yields in Dadam and neighbouring town of Khonsa.

It stated that the women engage in door-to-door sale or dot the streets with their local produces ranging from variety of fruits and vegetables, both farmed and foraged from the wild.

The programme was moderated by Chanem Thingnok, CEO of Khajen Farmers Producer Company Limited, wherein Chubatemjen, content writer at tEA, spoke on the origin, vision and mission of tEA and the relevance of the uplifting women street vendors programme especially in rural spaces. He elaborated on the impact of the initiative since its inception under the mentorship of the executive director of tEA, Neikule Doulo. He further substantiated on strategies for women to attain financial freedom and the vital role that blue collar jobs play in sustaining the economy.

The release also stated that Khiapgi Agi, CEO of Pedmoahty Farmers Producer Company Limited, spoke few words of encouragement to the women and the importance of savings in this modern era. Besides, he briefed the women on the various profitable saving pools trained under tEA.

It was followed with a speech delivered by Senya Lowang, a lawyer and CEO of Sunphiak Farmers Producer Company Limited, who enlightened the women of their legal rights as street vendors and the availability of seeking free legal aid from the state legal service authority.

Liamja Sumnyan, president of Dadam Catholic Church, expressed his delight at tEA for pioneering such an empowering initiative in Arunachal Pradesh, specifically with regards to Dadam.

The programme concluded with a vote of thanks and felicitation from the moderator and followed with an interactive session.

It mentioned that ‘Uplifting women street vendors programme’ is a flagship programme of The Entrepreneurs Associates, which launched in October 2017 to empower women involved in the network of marketing farm produce. The programme is unique to tEA and one of a kind in the entire NER India. It engages women street vendors, producers who also sell their yields and aggregators who link rural products with the urban markets.

It stated that tEA has trained and worked with 7000 women street vendors in Nagaland, Manipur and Assam till date with plans to branch out to other neighboring states in the upcoming days.

Under the programme, tEA has been providing training on financial and business management, skills training, health and legal services, mentorship and linkages to markets and zero interest loans.

tEA expressed hope that by 2025, 10,000 women street vendors would be impacted under the programme.