DRDA helps rural women set up grocery shops

Gooty (Anantapur): District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) has conceived a scheme to help small kirana traders, who are members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) to sell healthy and quality commodities and goods in villages and also boost their business volume and make reasonable profits.

Normally, the rural petty kirana shops purchase poor quality commodities at high prices from private suppliers and sell the same to the people in villages and earn a small profit. The DRDA established a central market at mandal-level for supplying healthy food stuff and essential commodities to the village-level kirana shops at fair prices and thereby helping women to earn reasonable profits.

The DRDA invested Rs 10 lakh on the central market run by DWCRA (Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas) women and asked every member of DWCRA groups to invest in share capital of Rs 5,000 each and thereby procure goods and commodities from multi-national companies including ITC, Walmart and Wipro etc and other wholesale Kirana merchants thus ensuring quality products sale at wholesale prices so that the central market, retail shops at village-level and even the consumers are all benefited by sharing profits equally.

This arrangement had given a big boost to the retail village-level business and even increased the volume of business thus inducing all villagers to shop in the DWCRA kirana shops in all villages. DRDA project director Rama Rao talking to The Hans India says 44 women from 32 villages have been identified in Gooty mandal for implementing the pilot project.

This apart, DWCRA women products including paper plates, soaps, ragi malt and other products were being procured by the central market in turn supply the same to MNC companies. Women are now so happy that everything including procuring commodities and selling them are all done hassle-free with no outside interference or fear of losing business or supplies from big traders.

Netamma, an ST woman trader from Basinapalle thanda speaking to The Hans India at her tribal hamlet said that with the central market supplying branded items at fair and wholesale prices and the quality being excellent, the volume of business has increased due to the hand holding by the DRDA.

Every day, she is registering a business of Rs 3,000 to 4,000. She stated that the central market had supplied goods worth Rs 90,000 to her. In March, she earned Rs 5,849, in April Rs 2,497, May Rs 29,678, June Rs 52,718 and in July Rs 53,992 and around same volume of business during August to October.

The figures suggest a gradual increase in business. Netamma says that apart from the essential commodities, she also sells eggs, milk and even millets. The 44 women in Gooty mandal have similar success stories to share. DRDA PD says that with the success in Gooty mandal steps are being taken to expand to 12 more mandals in the district including Nallamada, Uravakonda, Gudibanda and Shinganamala.

By Ravi P Benjamin