ARTICLE:CHANGING FACE OF RURAL INDIA

(Reported from Mhow MP)

“I have never seen anything like this before”, exclaims Lacchhmi as she looks agape at the huge plasma TV welcoming her in a slow rambling documentary decibel. She is here for the first time with her brother Thaman Lal Yadav from the remote village of Kulamba in M.P. She inhales the centrally air-conditioned super mart experience of ITC Echoupal Sagar with the same delight as Kalpana Chawla in her first expedition to space. This is no less an experience for the half dozen women who trickle in , in their ghungats, precariously perched behind their husbands on mobikes. Large and small families in tractors stream in to be initiated to their first ever experience of mall crawling right in the midst of nowhere this weekend. It is just as amazing for me. As they move around stealthily looking wide eyed at the neatly stacked fast moving consumer goods and the attractively arrayed consumer durables ,I try and capture every nuance of this changing face of India.

A rural facelift was evident in the wake of the huge churning process brought about by ICT (Information Communication Technology). It has since cut through hundreds of villages across India in lightening speed. Wherever it has made a connection it has gradually changed its bucolic backdrop into busy, bubbly hamlets. This is a historic moment indeed. To witness the on going economic and technological forces shaping the cultural configuration of a modern village, drive along with me on the NH-3. Some 45 kms from industrial hub of MP, Indore, skirting the sleepy little army garrison of Mhow; Amidst the vast expanse of soya and wheat fields and the Vindhiyas in the yonder;Out of the blue and literally so, E-choupal Sagar welcomes you like an oasis to a Guppie (Gurgaon Yuppie). On further enquiry you realise this is the procurement and soil testing centre of ITC 's E-choupals- extended to serves as a one-stop precinct complete with a supermarket, an fast food joint, a clinic, a petrol pump and a playground for children . This is infact just a month old store and second of its kind in entire India.

ITC, one of the leading private companies, which has pitched for rural marketing rather aggressively in the past, envisioned the e-Choupals as a unique information and an e-commerce hub, for every village square .Launched in June 2000 “e –choupals” are undoubtedly the largest and most successful private initiative in rural India . It reaches out to more than 3.5 million farmers today, growing a range of crops in over seven states (MP, Karnataka, AP, UP, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Kerala)-expanding at the rate of 3 to 4 kiosks a day. These choupals with the help a VSAT connection under the local Sacnhalaks (in every village) has had a huge impact in an average farmer’s life. Firstly it has empowered them with correct information at every step of their agrarian life from sowing to harvesting to selling. Secondly it has eliminated the middlemen and consequently the exploitation ingrained therein. Finally they have brought them out the credit loop and the clasp of the moneylenders by offering them to buy their produce cash down. The Echoupal Sagars are extension in the same scheme of things.

Here ,while Thaman Lals wait to sell their wheat and soya produce, Lachhmis hang around relishing the promise and opulence of a city life. The fact that these farmers are paid cash down right on the spot, empower them with choices they have never made before.

With just over 5 bighas of land Thaman Lal Yadav is a typical small farmer of India straddled with fragmented land holdings ,making barely enough to make two ends meet. Yet he is one of the very few to ride a motorcycle which he has bought on credit, against the wishes of his family. But the e-choupal concept is new to him and he wonders if he should sell his meagre produce to the ITC procurement cell like his friends, instead of going to the mandi. The echouplas give farmers more control over their choices, a higher profit margin on their crops and access to information that improves their overall productivity. Firstly it will help him cut transport costs and secondly he has been promised competitive rates “I have been buying soya at Rs 2000/- and selling it at the Rs 1200/- (that to on credit)”he muses .While he completes his enquiry for the harvest to be brought in by September, his sister along with some other village belles cannot resist the temptation of buying a perfumed soap…

Targeting the highway transit population, the local city dwellers and the farmers, these ITC stores have been adequately stocked with almost all supermarket items, down to mobiles , watches and CD’s. They are a one stop shop for agricultural inputs, household items and FMCGs from ITC and ITC partners. Apparently the grocery items alone make up for 30% of the sale . Mr Amar Singh, State Manager Operations seems happy with the response of this store which has been inaugurated only in Aug 15th. The second of its kind in the whole of India it may not enjoy its privileged places for long though. Amar Singh has already received orders to open the next store at Vidihsha on the state highway 86. On an average one store a month- Echoupal Sagar’s expansion plan is more than modest. “We are open 365 days a year with an exception of 15th Aug and 26th January,” informs store manger Vikrant Thakur.

At the turn of the century when the malls outnumbered the churches a new religious fervour swept over us . In India the wicked luxury of a weekend mall crawlling was restricted to a meagre 30 %.Not any more! Even rural India will know a few things about Monday Blues very soon, if it is of any comfort.