Tamilnadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa today unveiled a plan to help members of Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) find internatinal market(s) for their products and help lift their standard of living.

For this pupose, she has announced creation of an association at Rs 15 lakh and allocated a total sum of Rs 77.50 lakh for 31 districts.

An official press release here said, 'the Women Self-Help Groups are created by Tamilnadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa  with an aim to help women start their own businesses and attain econmic development in 1991-92. Today it has grown big and has presence in almost every nook and corner of the State. A total of 85.70 women form part of 5.56 SHGs across the State. This has helped usher welfare in the lives of women'.

Presently, the products manufactured by the women SHGs are made available in the market through district procurement and sales centres.

In a bid to ensure that these productrs are made available at national and global market, the Chief Minister has announced that a State-level procurement and selling centre will be established and allotted a sum of Rs 15 lakh towards it.

To ensure that their activities reach the common man and to upgrade their facilities, a sum of Rs 2.50 lakh will be allocated this financial year individually to the District Procurement and Sales Centre in 31 districts. Their works will be integrated with that of the newly-created Procurement and Sale Centre.

This will ensure that the women SHGs get national and international market for their products and get economically indpendent.

Meanwhile, it may be recalled that recently in an effort to improve rate of literacy among women, Jayalalithaa announced cash prizes to women self-help groups members of which are literate.

The statement said: 'It is the desire of the Chief Minister that members of the self-help groups should be literate. For that, she  announced a trophy and Rs 50,000 each as cash prize to 30 panchayat-level self-help groups the members of which are literate.'

It further said that Jayalalithaa announced appreciation certificates and Rs one lakh cash prize each to five self-help groups  which created awareness among the public on people's welfare, agriculture, social welfare schemes, dowry system, child marriage, illicit liquor and women's education.