Shilp Samagam Mela 2026 Concludes in Guwahati, Assam

The eight-day Shilp Samagam Mela 2026 held at Farm Gate, Khanapara, in Guwahati, Assam, has ended. The fair is run by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and its purpose is plain: let traditional craftspeople sell to buyers face to face rather than through a chain of middlemen. Guwahati was the second leg of the Shilp Samagam series for the financial year 2026-27. The opening leg closed at Mysuru in Karnataka on 19 October.

Who took part

Seventy-five artisans set up stalls, 31 of them women, and between them they offered roughly 40 distinct varieties of handloom and handicraft goods. Work from the North-Eastern States stood beside crafts from the rest of the country, among them the Assamese Mekhela Chadar, cane and bamboo craft, block-printed fabric, embroidery, leather craft and handloom textiles. The fair is meant for artisans from the Ministry's target groups, that is Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes, Safai Mitras and Denotified Tribes. Selling directly let them read what buyers want, collect feedback and keep the earnings.

The BHARAT-TULIP push

The programme carried through the fair was BHARAT-TULIP, whose expansion is Traditional Artisans' Upliftment Livelihood Programme. It wins shelf space for artisans both in physical outlets and on e-commerce platforms, joining inherited skills to the channels through which people shop today.

Pavilion and visitors

A dedicated Ministry pavilion used interactive LED displays to explain the welfare, financial assistance and skill development schemes run by the Ministry's three national corporations, namely the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation, the National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation and the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation. Sudhansh Pant, Secretary in the Ministry, toured the stalls and the pavilion with Prabhat Tyagi, Chairman cum Managing Director of NSFDC, and senior officers of the three apex corporations. He spoke with artisans about their skills and the markets open to them, and placed the fair within the doctrine of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'.

Culture and reach

Traditional music and folk dances of the North-Eastern region were staged every day, and the performances were livestreamed through all eight days so that people far from the venue could follow them. The Ministry reads the turnout and the artisans' sales as evidence that market access, public awareness and cultural display do more together than any one of them alone.