Digital Communication To Provide Sustainable Solutions To Rural India

750 Million Indians, that is three fourth of of the countries population, lives in rural India. Yet, traditionally, companies have for the most part ignored this huge market in favour of urban markets. This could be because rural India contributed to only 30% of the countries GDP. This, however, is changing, with more and more companies targeting India’s rural segment. A reason for this shift is that nowadays, consumer goods have a healthy 30-60% rural share. Road Connectivity too is up to 70%. With the advent of an affordable Mobile Phone infrastructure, the villages have become connected to the rest of the country. Telemedicine, M-Banking and Community Radio’s too are making inroads in these markets. Says Ashok Khanna, MD of Communications for Accenture India, “ Communications have made a huge difference to the lives of people in rural India. Mobile phones, high-speed data networks enabled by satellite-based communication networks, and Internet kiosks are some of the technologies that have helped the rural population connect with the cities.” Innovation is a key in rural markets. Products need to be innovatively adapted for the changed scenario. Here are some examples: Nokia Money: Since Nokia sells a large number of low cost mobile phones in rural areas, they have launched their Mobile Banking service Nokia Money to give them a formal system of money. They also have Nokia Life Tools, which provide agricultural services like information on seeds, pesticides, market prices etc. in an array of local languages Fisher Friend: This is an app by Qualcomm and Tata Teleservices, which provides information on the weather, risk, opportunities and local market information. Telemedicine: This is where doctors from an urban area can help villagers with small ails and queries. This works out extremely well since villagers do not have access to doctors and have to travel an entire day just to get treated. This way they do not need to resort to exploitative quacks. “After two years of clinical trials by the Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation (ATNF) from Aragonda, the Indian Space Research Organization was convinced telemedicine could be a major thrust area for societal applications using space technology,” said ATNF President K. Ganapathy. “Attempts are being made to switch over to high-speed broadband Internet connection. Occasionally, VSAT connectivity is deployed,” Several Rural Companies too have sprung up in the past few years. Some examples are HarVa, Gram Vaani, A Little World and Ekgaon Technologies. HarVa, which stands for ‘harnessing value’, is a startup focussing on skills development and creation of Rural BPO’s. Present in 4 states through 14 centers, it employs over 200 women, most who do not have formal education. Says Founder and Chairman, Ajay Chaturvedi, “”No one has been able to tap the rural market in India because they are only focusing on selling, but not on creating value.” There are, however, still a lot of challenges to be faced. High delivery costs, fragmented markets, low population density are some hindrances to expansion plays of many market players. However, the biggest stumbling block is convincing stakeholders to invest in rural resources. A government-private tie up is a possible solution to this. How can we encourage more companies to invest in Rural India? Is the onus on the government or on private companies?

[via WATBlog.com - Web, Advertising and Technology Blog in India]