Commissioner Secretary Rural Development Department & Panchyati Raj, Mandeep Kaur today inaugurated a three-day food festival at Umeed women's Haat Boulevard here.
The food festival titled as ‘Aalaav’ is being organized by J&K Rural Livelihood Mission in collaboration with Gian Foundation,IUST and SKUAST Kashmir.
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole; Mission Director National Rural Livelihood Mission J&K, Indu Kanwal Chib; Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Aijaz Asad; SSP Srinagar Rakesh Balwal; Additional Mission Director JKRLM Kashmir, Riyaz Beigh, representative of Islamic University of Science & Technology and other concerned were also present on the occasion.
Commissioner Secretary took a round of all the stalls where several traditional Kashmiri foods were on display. The three-day food fest is showcasing different traditional Kashmiri dishes prepared from local veggies and other plant species.
On the occasion, she interacted with the women from different Self Help Groups who informed the chief guest about the health benefits and revival of these traditional Kashmiri dishes.
Speaking on the occasion, Mandeep Kaur said that the food festival is the first of its kind being organized in Srinagar and added that such earlier these kinds of initiatives were taken in the handloom sector or other traditional areas, but now women are successfully entering different service sectors and areas. She congratulated JK Rural Livelihood Mission and the women associated with it for taking such initiatives for women empowerment.
She reiterated that from the past two to three years JKRLM has done remarkable and unprecedented work in the field of women empowerment through several women-centric initiatives.