Saras Aajeevika Food Festival 2025

Union Minister for Rural Development, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, inaugurated the Saras Aajeevika Food Festival 2025 on 1 December at Sunder Nursery, Nizamuddin, New Delhi.

• The festival is organised under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).

Purpose and Significance

• The festival has become a major platform for providing market access and recognition to women from Self-Help Groups (SHGs), including hundreds of Lakhpati Didis.
• Key aims of the festival:
  • Financial empowerment of rural women
  • Creating self-employment opportunities
  • Inspiring more rural women to join SHGs
  • Promoting local cuisines, traditional recipes, and regional food entrepreneurship

Culinary Highlights

Visitors are enjoying a wide range of regional dishes, including:

• Himachal Pradesh: Himachali Seeddu
• Uttarakhand: Tandoori Chai
• Jammu & Kashmir: Kalari Kulcha
• Telangana: Chicken dishes
• Hyderabad: Dum Biryani
• North East: Momos
• West Bengal: Hilsa Fish Curry, Bengali Fried Fish
• Rajasthan: Kair Sangri, Gatte ki Sabzi, Bajra Roti
• Kerala: Malabar Biryani
• Bihar: Litti-Chokha
• Punjab: Sarson ka Saag with Maize Roti

Participation and Diversity

• The festival offers a vibrant glimpse of India’s cultural and social diversity, with participation from multiple States, including:
  Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Gujarat, and others.