With the Economy of India badly affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic add the loss of jobs for lakhs of migrant workers during the lockdown, a scheme by the name of ‘Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan‘ or ‘Rural Job Scheme’ was launched by the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi in the district of Bihar on 2oth June 2020 to cope up with this problem. The scheme will support migrant workers and other rural workers by giving them jobs and livelihood support. The scheme was launched by the PM via video conferencing. The Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar was also present at the video conference when the scheme was launched.
After the scheme was launched, Nitish Kumar informed the PM that he interacted with the migrant workers who came back to their homes in Bihar during the lockdown. He said that the workers now want to work in Bihar only and do not want to leave as migrant workers to other states. He also said that the scheme will be greatly beneficial for these workers and that it is a gift from the Central Government to them. He also promised to include these workers in other schemes of the Bihar State Government.
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi interacted with some of these migrant workers and tried to understand the problems that they are currently facing. According to Prime Minister Modi, he got the idea from migrant workers that were quarantined in a school building in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. Instead of wasting their time, they utilized their skills and painted the whole school as an act of gratitude. The PM addressed all the migrant workers of Bihar and informed them that they will be getting jobs in their own state under the scheme, and urged them to use their talents and skills for taking their villages forward and for the overall development of Bihar.
PM Modi Launches Garib Kalyan Yojana
What Will the Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan Provide?
The scheme will provide 125 days of employment under 25 sub-schemes to the migrant workers of 116 districts. These 116 districts are spread across 6 states including Bihar. The other states are Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Odisha. The scheme aims to provide guaranteed employment to about 6.7 million migrant workers.
The scheme will mainly focus on the development in rural areas. It will contain projects such as the building of roads, the building shelters for animals, drinking water supply, house constructions, the building of community toilets, and more in which the workers will be employed. The scheme has been launched with a budget of ₹50,000 Crores which is roughly half the budget for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), previously known as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) which aims to provide 100-day employment to almost 140 million workers of rural areas. Some of the state governments have requested to increase the employment period to 150 days to provide jobs to many workers who have returned to their native places all over the country amid the lockdown. In 2021-2022 the budget of th scheme increased and become ₹98,000. In 2022, total 3.62 billion person days of work were provided. The MGNREGA has seen a sharp rise in the number of people applying for jobs since May, the reason that many people have lost their jobs due to the lockdown. The new ‘Rural Jobs Scheme’ or the ‘Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan’ will help overcome the unemployment in rural areas to a large extent. This scheme will also give a boost to the Indian economy which is currently at a standstill. It will help many workers by giving them employment in their own states.
Benefits of Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan
Some of the benefits of Garib Kalyan Roazgar Abhiyan schme are:
It will create employment opportunities for migrants.
It will create good infrastructure and the rural area will experience developement.
There are number of different works that are given to the workers according to their skill and they will have employment for 125 days.
The rural livelihood will experience a development with the help of the scheme.
FAQs
When was Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan launched?
Garib Kalyan Rijgar Abhiyaan was launched in 20 June 2020.
Who launched Garib Kalyan Rojgar Yojana?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Yojana.
What is Garib Kalyan Rojgar Yojana?
Garib Kalyan Rojgar Yojana is a scheme that will provide migrants and rural workers with job or livelihood for 125 days.
The Rural areas in India are still deprived of the fast internet connections as well as e-services that are available to the Urban population of the country. India has been advocating the concept of Digital India for a very long time and it has been really successful in the Urban areas of the country, whereas there has always been a digital divide between the urban and rural population. In order to solve this problem, the Union Cabinet has come up with a project. In this article let’s look at more information about it.
Bharat Net has recently announced to widen its connection and services to around 3.61 lakh villages in around 16 different states in India. The broadband connection will be offering a high-speed data and enable better access to the rural India towards e-services that are offered by various Government Agencies.
Bharat Net will also enable the rural population to attend online classes, OTT, e-commerce, skill development, tele medicine and other applications of the broadband service.
The Union Cabinet had conveyed on 30 June 2021 that it would launch a revised implementation strategy of the broadband service through a Public Private Partnership in 16 states of the country.
How can Startups participate in BharatNet?
The Union Cabinet has announced that this expansion procedure is going to be undertaken through a Public Private partnership model, this will enable the startups to take part in the bidding process and provide their services in setting up the connection.
The revised strategy includes not the creation but also the upgradation, maintenance, operation and utilization of the broadband service. The company which will be receiving the tender will have to undertake everything.
The tender will be decided based on a competitive bidding process and the estimated maximum viability gap funding that was approved by the Union Cabinet for the public private partnership is INR 19,041 crores.
What is BharatNet Project?
BharatNet is said to be connecting all the inhabited villages beyond gram panchayat under this project in the 16 states. The 16 states that are approved by the Union Cabinet include Kerala, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.
As per the estimation, around 3.61 lakh villages will be covered under this project which includes Gram panchayats. The Union Cabinet has also given permission to provide the services to other inhabited villages in different states as well as Union Territories.
The Department of Telecommunication has announced to work out the modalities for the remaining villages in the other states and the Union Territories.
The extension in the reach of the broadband services that is reliable will enable better access to the e-services that are provided by the Central and the State governments.
The main advantage is that there would a source of revenue that will be generated from the rural India through different sources which include the proliferation of broadband services to individuals and institutions, fiberisation of mobile towers, e-commerce, sale of dark fiber and many more.
The extension will also enable to reduce the gap between the Urban and Rural divide of digital access and will increase the achievement of Digital India. The penetration and proliferation are also expected to increase income generation as well as direct and indirect employment in the rural sectors.
Advantages bought in through the PPP model
The PPP model will bring in a lot of consumer friendly advantages that include the use of innovative technology for the consumers by the private sector, faster development of network and quick connectivity to the consumers, OTT services and other variety of services to the consumers, access to all online resources, faster deployment of network and quick connectivity to consumers.
The PPP model is also expected to bring an equity investment and is also expected to raise resources towards the capital expenditure.
Conclusion
The PPP model towards Bharat Net will improve the quality of service, customer experience, efficiency, entrepreneurship, leverage private sector enterprise and capacities for accelerating achievement for digital India.
FAQ
What is Bharat Net project initiative?
BharatNet project is a project to provide on demand, affordable broadband connectivity in rural areas. BharatNet is said to be connecting all the inhabited villages beyond gram panchayat under this project in the 16 states.
Who has the largest fiber network in India?
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has the largest fiber network which is nearly 8 lakh km long.
The emergence of Rural and Remote areas into marketing is untapped potential and so there’s an emphasis on the need to explore them. Marketers over the past few decades, with innovative approaches, have attempted to understand and give opportunities to rural markets. Rural marketing is an evolving concept, and as a part of any economy, has untapped potential; marketers have realized the opportunity recently.
The rural population has shown a trend of moving to a state of gradual urbanization in terms of exposure, habits, lifestyles, and lastly, consumption patterns of goods and services. Rural per capita consumption expenditure grew by 11.5 percent while the urban expenditure grew by 9.6 percent.
Rural marketing is a process of developing, pricing, promoting, and distributing rural specific goods and services leading to the desired exchange with rural customers to satisfy their needs and wants, and also to achieve organizational objectives. The concept of Rural Marketing in India Economy has always played an influential role in the lives of people. In India, leaving out a few metropolitan cities, all the districts and industrial townships are connected with rural markets.
Rural Marketing
The rural market in India generates bigger revenues in the country as the rural regions comprise of the maximum consumers in this country. The rural market in the Indian economy generates almost more than half of the country’s income. Rural marketing in the Indian economy can be classified under two broad categories. These are:
Rural Marketing in India Economy covers two broad sections
1.
Selling of agricultural products in the urban areas
2.
Selling of manufactured products in the rural regions
There’s a simple 4A model to streamline rural business is total customer-oriented. And if implemented, then your own rural business could skyrocket. The 4A’s are Affordability, Availability, Awareness, and Acceptability.
There’s a simple 4A model to streamline rural business is totally customer-oriented. And if implemented, then your own rural business could skyrocket. The 4A’s are Affordability, Availability, Awareness, and Acceptability.
1. Affordability
The design of the product should match the needs of the customer. The Customer should not think that they cannot buy it, which means it should be in their buying capacity.
2. Availability
The greatest problem in the rural market is to reach the customer or retailer. It’s the logistics way to make the product available there.
3. Awareness
The Awareness program should be in such a manner that it should reach the customers’ mindset. The only way of reaching the customer is through the commercials on media like TV, Radio, and banners.
4. Acceptability
The customer should think that they can buy the product by putting extra money on that. They should feel that the product is designed as per their needs and it should deliver a great solution to the customer.
How To build business in Rural markets? By Maanav Yashroy
Remote areas are a goldmine for any business person for a long time and who are obviously willing to take the risk. Such business not only increases your income among the rural folk but it’s clearly visible that there has been an improvement in consumer purchasing power, and therefore there is a demand for products and services. Although it’s never easy to establish the market in a remote area. You will face challenges such as underdeveloped infrastructure systems and a lack of proper distribution channels among others.
Here are ways in which you can overcome these challenges and run a successful business in remote areas
Strategies To Run A Business In Remote/ Rural Areas
1. Conduct Market Research
This is the most important factor in a business in a remote area. You need to understand the target customer base for your product. Get to know the income levels of the communities residing, the purchasing power of the basic family in that community, their needs, and how much they would be willing to spend for that product. This will not only help you identify your prospective customers but their characteristics too, such as age groups and social class among else. Also, have a look at what grants you could get in a rural area.
Promote small business in remote areas
2. Gain the Trust of the Local Community
Urban businesses are usually profit-centered and there’s no need for extra hard work like what’s needed in remote businesses because they are community-centered. If you want to achieve long-term success in a rural area, then you need to earn the trust of the people around you. Establish a long-term relationship by providing consistent, efficient, reliable, and cost-effective products. And if the community is satisfied with your services then, you will be able to retain existing customers and attract prospective ones.
The success of any business totally depends on the product or service reaching the intended customer base. It i often difficult to access them. What you can do is, you can develop a multilayer distribution channel where you have sub-distributors at different points. You can also have a delivery van to take the product to the customers’ doorsteps. To ensure you have excellent communication with your retailers and always ensure, the product is always available to the customers.
Distribution channels through supply chains
4. Use Rural Marketing Strategies
Businesses in remote areas need marketing strategies tailored to rural areas. One of the best marketing strategies for rural area business is to identify and develop rural talent into the business. They are always in a better position to understand the mindset of their people and then you can work with them easily. Locals are also likely to embrace business that gives opportunities to their own community. There is no better strategy for a remote business than training and promoting a local up among the ranks. You can also use the services of local influencers and opinion leaders to market the business.
Inventory management will help the business have a clear vision of how best they can cater to the needs of their customers, where they are doing and where they need to improve, and whether their marketing strategies are working or not. This sort of inventory helps keep a regular update of which products are moving and which ones are slow, and how the different categories of customers are responding to the different products.
How to market and build a business in rural araes?
6. Have a Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a way of your business, to give back to the community. To gain strength, participate in the development of communal infrastructure and facilities such as the construction of dispensaries, environmental conservation efforts, and giving scholarships to needy students. You can also organize workshops for the unemployed rural youth or uneducated youth to equip them with job skills even if they won’t be absorbed by the business. This will go a long way in helping the business integrate into the community and gain acceptance everywhere.
Farm Market in rural areas: MANDI
The concept of rural marketing in India is often been found to forms ambiguity in the mind of people who think rural marketing is all about agricultural marketing. However, rural marketing determines the carrying out of business activities bringing in the flow of goods from urban sectors to the rural regions of the country as well as the marketing of various products manufactured by the non-agricultural workers from rural to urban areas.
The rural market in India is not a separate entity in itself and it is highly influenced by the sociological and behavioral factors operating in the country.
If you analyze, it’s quite easy to market your rural business and it becomes super easy if you perceive a customer-oriented approach.
