UP IAS Officers' Wives Association Hosts First Diwali Mela for Women Artisans

The Uttar Pradesh IAS Officers' Wives Association (UP IASOWA) held its first-ever Diwali Mela on Saturday, turning the CSI Club in Lucknow's Raj Bhawan Colony into a marketplace for artisans and women entrepreneurs from across the state and beyond.

The one-day fair put traditional crafts — Bhadohi carpets, Khurja pottery, Firozabad glass bangles, Banarasi and Chanderi sarees, Jaipur apparel and Kachchh jewellery — in front of a large crowd of buyers and visitors. For many of the women selling there, it was a rare chance to reach customers outside their home districts.

Who opened the mela?

Meenakshi Singh, a 1993-batch IRS officer serving as chief commissioner of income tax in Prayagraj and wife of UP DGP Rajiv Krishna, inaugurated the event. UP IASOWA president Neelu Goel, wife of chief secretary S P Goyal, led the organisation's side.

Goel said the event aimed to give artisans and women entrepreneurs a platform to showcase their skills, products and cultural heritage. The association's member base — spouses of senior civil servants — gave the fair immediate access to Lucknow's official and social elite, and the footfall reflected that.

Singh, in her remarks, framed the mela as an economic bridge, not just a seasonal bazaar. She said it created a platform for artisans and women entrepreneurs to connect with a wider audience, helping strengthen their livelihoods and economic empowerment. She congratulated UP IASOWA members for bringing together artisans from different regions.

She then walked the stalls herself, stopping to look at and appreciate the products on display — from the carpets of Bhadohi to the glasswork of Firozabad.

What was on sale — and on the sidelines?

The vendor mix leaned heavily on handloom and handicraft clusters with deep regional roots:

• Bhadohi carpets, from UP's carpet belt
• Khurja pottery and Firozabad glass bangles
• Banarasi and Chanderi sarees
• Jaipur apparel
• Kachchh jewellery, from Gujarat

Beyond shopping, the mela ran food stalls, cultural performances and children's activities. It also carried a public-service layer: health check-up camps and blood donation facilities operated on site, drawing participation from visitors alongside the commerce.

What did senior officials say?

Chief secretary S P Goyal lauded the initiative, saying it would encourage artisans and women entrepreneurs while promoting traditional crafts.

DGP Rajeev Krishna and principal secretary to the chief minister Sanjay Prasad attended, along with UP IASOWA office-bearers, members of Akanksha Samiti, artisans, entrepreneurs and other guests.

Goel also used the platform to highlight Akanksha Samiti, the association's social arm, which supports women and girls through programmes focused on education, healthcare, skill development and income generation. That linkage matters: the mela's stated goal of economic empowerment ties into a longer-running welfare structure rather than standing as a one-off event.

Why a first-time fair matters

For UP IASOWA, Saturday marked the debut of a format it has never run before. The association pulled together crafts from multiple states, sitting officials from the state's administrative and police leadership, and a welfare organisation under one roof — a combination few local fairs can assemble.

For the artisans, the economics are straightforward: wider audiences mean wider sales. Singh's argument that such platforms strengthen livelihoods is the one the exhibitors came to test.

If the association repeats the event, the Diwali Mela could become an annual sales channel for craft clusters that usually depend on middlemen and seasonal tourist traffic. As a first edition, it drew the officials, the crowds and the product depth to suggest a repeat is worth watching for.