K Raghu
Bangalore, Nov. 5:
It pays to go into the hinterland. And a
few successful initiatives by both the private and government agencies in using the
information technology to reach rural India is not only creating a silent revolution, but
also generating revenue.
The initiatives are also expanding across
many regions as the e-choupals of ITC, the agri-food major has established.
"We want to expand into over one lakh
villages in 15 states in the next five to seven years. But, the success of our model shows
the power of the small scale entrepreneur," Mr. S. Sivakumar, chief executive, ITC
Agribusiness said here.
ITC’s e-choupal, the online kiosks
which provide information to farmers on agriculture produce, weather and market prices
reaches over six lakh farmers in 6,000 villages across four states. Presently, over 1,000
kiosks have been installed in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh
among others.
The company adopted the time-tested model in Indian
conditions such as the STD booth revolution and the cable TV operations where low cost
access to many people is the success mantra. "It has improved the productivity of
farmers and provide better price to them. For ITC it has helped in better sourcing of
products and a vehicle for many FMCG companies to market their products," Mr.
Sivakumar said.
