Sisir Saras from 6th Jan at Biju Patnaik Play Ground, Baramunda

Bhubaneswar (26/12): Odisha Rural Development & Marketing Society (ORMAS) under the Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water Department, Government of Odisha will organize the National Level Handloom, Handicrafts & Natural Food Products event SISIR SARAS MELA-2024 in the month of January, all the line departments and organizations will provide necessary support for making the fair a grand success like last year. Shri. Sushil Kumar Lohani, Principal Secretary, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department, stated in the preparatory meeting of SISIR SARAS-2024 that the cooperation of all the line departments and sponsor organisation is of utmost importance for a successful mela.

The meeting was organized in the MGNREGS Conference Hall, on the premises of SIRD Campus, Unit-8, Bhubaneswar, on Tuesday. Poonam T. Guha, Director-cum-Chief Executive Officer, ORMAS, while delivering the welcome speech stated that this year’s SISIR SARAS-2024 fair will be held from 6th to 15th January at the Biju Patnaik Play Ground, Baramuda. In this national level fair, a total of 400 stalls will be erected by Women Self Help Groups (WSHGs), Producers Groups (PGs) & Producers Enterprises (PEs) having various handicrafts, handloom & food spices products from 26 states.

A special food court with 20 stalls and theme stall depicting the ORMAS activities like Marketing, Livelihoods and Skill Development will be the centre of attraction for the revellers in this year mela. A detailed discussion was held in the meeting regarding the government IEC stalls of flagship programmes and schemes like; Drinking Water, Housing, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) & Transport etc. Renowned artists will perform in the Cultural night every evening at the fair.
Director-cum-CEO, ORMAS also informed in the meeting that battery-powered rides for senior citizens and differently able persons, special kids zone for the entertainment of children are also being arranged. The officials present in the meeting informed that all kinds of cooperation will be provided by the police personnel mainly for crowd control during the fair. On behalf of various private and state-owned banks, they provided information on installing ATM machines, coin vending machine, drinking water supply, etc. in the fair premises.

Special parking zones are also being arranged for two-wheelers, three-wheelers and four-wheelers (light vehicles) for those coming to the fair. A detailed discussion was also held with the BMC officials to keep the fair-grounds clean. It has been informed by the organizers of the fair that efforts will be made to make the fair polythene-free as far as possible.
Open quiz, drawing competition for school students and many entertainment programs will be organized. Senior officials of Commissionerate Police, Traffic Police and Fire Department, BMC, BDA, WATCO, SSEPD, TRIFED, SC&ST Dept., Health & FW Dept., Culture Department along with officials of various state-owned and private banks officials and representatives of various line departments were present in the meeting.
In 2023, SISIR SARAS-Mela, was organised during the F.I.H. Odisha Hockey (Men) World Cup Championship. At this time, the National Fair SISIR SARAS was organized in Bhubaneswar along with Mini Pallishree Fair in 30 districts of Odisha.

Along with the promotion of the World Cup Hockey match, the fair generated good sales of rural products. While a total business turnover of Rs 75 cr. was generated in all these fairs, ORMAS informed that a total business of Rs 23 cr. was generated only in SISIR SARAS- 2023 mela.