News in Frames: Spotlight on Women Entrepreneurs

Swift Summary

• Ima Market, also known as Ima Keithel or Nupi Keithel, is located in Imphal, Manipur, and has existed since the 16th century.
• It is run exclusively by women vendors (5,000-6,000 in total), who sell vegetables, fruits, textiles, fish, utensils, spices, and other goods. Male vendors are prohibited by state law.
• The market comprises three large buildings with pagoda-style roofs and serves as both an economic hub and a tourist attraction.
• Vendors wear traditional attire like phaneks (skirts) and innaphis (shawls). Women from diverse faiths and tribes participate actively in running stalls here.
• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar praised the market’s contribution to women empowerment in November 2022 during his visit.
• Vendors view their participation as not just economic but social-supporting families financially while actively engaging in broader societal issues like harmony among communities across diffrent districts of Manipur.

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