India

rural enterprise and technology

The way rural entrepreneurs have moved towards digitization, they have been able to compete with the market competition efficiently.

Sushil Kumar Singh

The way rural entrepreneurs have moved towards digitization, they have been able to compete with the market competition efficiently. From the commodity industry to artistic products, their access has been made only due to the digitization of the market and their goods are reaching the masses.

India today stands at such a juncture from where information and communication technology is no less than a big weapon to fulfill the aspirations of one hundred and thirty six crore citizens of the country. Even though it was experienced decades ago, its digital form has emerged as a new force in the present times. The expansion of Digital India will not be limited to urban digitization only, but it will have to reach every rural of the country with strong infrastructure. Significantly, there are six and a half lakh villages and 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in India. Statistics show that two years ago, nearly half of the gram panchayats were connected to the high-speed network.

The rural population of India is associated with agriculture. Thus, a large area of ​​employment and entrepreneurship can be tested and tested here in agriculture under an inclusive approach. Now digital entrepreneurs are being prepared in villages too. More than eight crore rural women are preparing products by joining self-help groups. For these products to get market in the country and abroad, the government is emphasizing on ways to increase e-business. It is worth noting that as of 30 June 2021, under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM), about seventy lakh women self-help groups have been formed across the country, to which more than eight crore women are connected.

A survey based report by the Internet and Mobile Association states that in the last year i.e. 2020, the number of Internet users in rural areas had reached 300 million. If seen, on an average every third villager has internet facility. The special thing is that forty-two percent of those who use it are women.

These figures are helpful in understanding that it is possible to provide a strong base for online marketing of rural products through digitization. Clearly, the share of women in the labor force in villages is increasing. The participation of women in the agriculture sector is still on the rise with 60 per cent. Not only this, saving rate thirty three percent of GDP is possible from these. Women constitute ninety-four percent of the total employment in dairy production, while the participation of women in small-scale industries is only fourteen percent of the total labor force.

To understand the scale on which SHGs can play their role in the development of rural economy, it is necessary to understand rural economy and digitization. In fact, one of the major causes of poverty in villages is the lack of access to financial resources of the rural population. It may be noted that in the Rangarajan Report on Financial Inclusion in the year 2008, it was said that self-help groups will not only prove effective in the empowerment of women, but will also help in developing social capital.

By the year 2025, more than ninety crore people in the country will have access to the Internet, which will help in promoting the market in the true sense. Presently the country is also moving ahead on the mantra of ‘Vocal for Local’ for which having a digital platform is inevitable. It is only through digitization that local products can be made accessible to remote areas and abroad. This will give a new path to the rural entrepreneur. Actually digitization is dependent on the financial position and the financial position depends on the sales of the product. In such a situation, the use of technology will have to be made practical on a large scale to give a big shape to the market.

It is worth mentioning that in two hundred and fifty backward districts of the country, additional facilities are being given to Self Help Groups. The government told in the Rajya Sabha that the rate of loan repayment by self-help groups is more than ninety-seven percent. There is no doubt that increasing labor in rural areas and increasing discipline regarding finance is helping rural entrepreneurs to take a wider character, which is benefiting the women associated with them. This change has also become possible due to the online system.

The question is also that what are the other aspects necessary to give a big shape to the digital entrepreneurial women participation in the village? Is it enough to just provide finance, skills and markets to the villagers? Rural systems running on the test of livelihood are grasping the demands of the times with manifold strength. Should the efforts of the government in this matter be considered developed with full determination and capability?

Slogans are being raised to strengthen the rural economy, but the market which should be there for the sale of local goods is not fully available and even if it is available, it is facing massive competition. Right price of the product and making them spread as a brand as well as connecting with digital service at cheap and accessible rate is not less than a challenge even today. Agriculture and farmers are at the core of the Indian economy, mere access to the Internet is not the full criterion of development. Self-help groups which have been disintegrated due to the Corona epidemic and are facing financial crisis also need to be looked into.

Competing local products and adapting to the global market remains a major challenge at present. The way rural entrepreneurs have moved towards digitization, they have been able to compete with the market competition efficiently. From the commodity industry to artistic products, their access has been made only due to the digitization of the market and their goods are reaching the masses. However, it remains a puzzling question whether marketing strategy cannot be given a larger dimension targeting the larger consumer in rural areas.

There are many companies that are making huge profits by branding rural products. It is obvious that rural entrepreneurs will be in difficulty in achieving efficient development by being confined to the village market, whereas if digitization is made more common and reaches 2.5 lakh panchayats and six and a half lakh villages of the country, then there will be a huge facility in dissemination of products. . Rural entrepreneurs are also facing a new challenge regarding the way many companies make rural-friendly products and consume them in the rural market by making villages the basis. However, it is the market which is better, that will last forever.

Years ago, the World Bank had said that if India’s educated women take the form of workers, then India’s growth rate will take an increase of four percent. Looking at the facts and facts from this point of view, at present, India is in the process of making a big leap financially. The target is to become a five lakh crore economy by 2024, for which it has already been estimated that such a growth rate is possible only in the double figures. There is no doubt that this figure is not possible without female labor.

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