Sehore (Madhya Pradesh): The first women’s market set up in Sehore has failed to take off. The Municipal Council spent nearly Rs 80 lakh to construct women’s market by demolishing the library building in front of Mankameshwar Temple. Contrary to the plan, the municipal corporation is allocating shops to men, leaving women customers aside. In 2020-21, the municipal council of Sehore constructed women’s market building on the municipal land.
The two-storeyed building has 21 shops of different sizes, intended for women to run businesses. It is worth mentioning that there is no government-owned women’ market in the city. This was the first market where women could run shops independently. It has been almost four years since the market was built here, but out of the total 21 constructed shops, only eight shops have been auctioned.
Moreover, out of these shops, only two have been allocated to women, while six shops have been allocated to men. The price of a shop was Rs 13 lakh, due to which lower and middle-income families could not participate in auction.
Now the name of this market has also been changed, and it is being said that the proposal was brought to the council and its name was changed to Mankameshwar Market. Bhupendra Dixit, CMO, Sehore municipality, said that the name of the market had not been changed and it was still reserved for women. The process has stopped due to the model code of conduct. “I will look into it after election,” he added.
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