DRDA plan helps rural shops get healthy, quality commodities

Anantapur: District Rural Development Agency(DRDA) chalk-out a scheme to help small traders who are members of Self Help Groups to sell quality commodities and goods in villages.

Normally, the rural petty provisional shops purchase poor quality commodities at high prices from private suppliers and sell the same to the rural people and earn a pittance.

The DRDA has come up with an idea to set up a 'Central Store' at mandal level for supplying healthy and quality food items and essential commodities to the village level provisional stores and thereby earn reasonable profits. The DRDA invested Rs.10 lakhs to the central market run by DWACRA Women and asked every member of DWACRA groups to invest a share capital of Rs.5000 each and thereby procure goods and commodities from multi-national companies including ITC and Wipro etc.

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 DWACRA provisional stores in villages.

DRDA sources told The Hans India that 32 villages had been identified in Gooty mandal for implementing the pilot project and 44 women had been selected under the project. This apart, DWACRA women products including paper plates, soaps, Ragi Malt and other products were being procured by the Central Market to in turn supply the same to MNC companies by tie-up with them.

Shantamma, an ST woman trader from Basinapalle thanda interacting with 'The Hans India' at her tribal hamlet said that with the central market supplying branded items at whole sale prices, the volume of business has been increased. Every day, she is doing a business ranging from Rs.3000 to 4000. She stated that the central market had supplied goods worth Rs.90,000 to her. Last March she earned a profit of Rs.5,849, in April Rs.2497, May Rs.29,678, June Rs.52,718 and in July Rs.53,992 and so on registering a gradual increase in business.