About
The Ehsaas NGO Mela, organised by the Development of Corporate Citizenship (DoCC) at SPJIMR, is an annual event aimed at creating a platform for social enterprises, NGOs, farmer-producer organisations (FPOs), self-help groups (SHGs), and other micro-entrepreneurs to showcase their work and products. The event fosters collaboration, capacity-building, and knowledge-sharing among stakeholders. This year, Ehsaas hosted over 65 FPOs, SHGs, NGOs, and micro-enterprises from across India, providing opportunities for networking and visibility. For the first time, Ehsaas tried to provide a platform for micro-entrepreneurs from the transgender community.
The event has consistently served as a vital forum for fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems that empower communities while contributing to social impact. Ehsaas aims to establish long-term relationships between participants, scale up their ventures, and address systemic issues in agriculture, entrepreneurship, and sustainability.
Reflecting on the spirit of the event, Prof. Chandrika Parmar, Director of DoCC, remarked, “Ehsaas is a time to have some fun, but it is also meaningful as we connect small and micro-entrepreneurs with the community in and around campus. I shopped from traditional Gujarat, kala cotton to ajarak stole, jeera ginger and amala syrup, millet cookies to mukhwas. I shopped it all. We laughed, we learned, we shopped as we engaged with the micro-entrepreneurs.”
Explore past events
Event highlights
Mela exhibition
Every year, the event engages over 50 pan-India FPOs, SHGs, and NGOs to sensitise stakeholders and expand visibility and networking opportunities for FPOs, corporates and educational institutions alike.
Informative sessions
Mela engages stakeholders through knowledge-sharing sessions on policy making, legal compliance, financial linkages, business linkages, and government schemes. These informative sessions focus on industry insights and updates, challenges, solutions and best practices to address the concerns of the participating farmers, FPOs, SHGs, and NGOs.
Engagement activities
The mela also features entertaining activities such as cultural performances, interactive games, and food stalls, creating a vibrant and engaging atmosphere that keeps the audiences entertained and involved.
Event objectives
The event brings stakeholders from the agricultural ecosystem together to network, share challenges, and build synergies. Key objectives include:
- Address challenges faced by farmers and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and explore solutions.
- Facilitate discussions on market linkages and funding challenges for farmers and FPOs.
- Foster long-term relationships to develop an ecosystem that supports participating institutions.
- Provide a platform for participants to engage in marketing and business scaling opportunities.
- Offer capacity-building forums for farmers and FPOs. Identify and support the participants to scale their business.
- Create networking and cross-learning opportunities through interaction with buyers and sellers.
- Bridge the information gap for urban consumers about farmers and FPOs.
Contact
For further details, please contact: docc@spjimr.org