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Services offered include: -

Information: Daily weather forecast, price of various crops, e-mails to farmers and ITC officials, news - in the local language and free of cost.

Knowledge: Farming methods specific to each crop and region, soil testing, expert advice - mostly sourced from agriculture universities, for free.

Purchase: Farmers can buy seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and a host of other products and services ranging from cycles and tractors to insurance policies. Over 35 companies have become partners in the e-choupal to sell their products through the network.

Sales: Farmers can sell their crops to the ITC centers or the local market, after checking the prices on the Net.

Development Work: NGOs working for cattle breed improvement and water harvesting, and women self-help groups are also reaching villages through e-choupal. In some states, farmers can even access their land records online, sitting in their village. Access to health and education services through e-choupal begins soon.

HLL Project Shakti

HLL launched Project Shakti in the year 2001 with an objective to create income-generating capabilities for under-privileged rural women, by providing a sustainable micro enterprise opportunity, and to improve rural living standards through health and hygiene awareness.

Under the project, HLL offers a range of mass-market products to the SHGs, which are relevant to rural customers and impart the necessary training to these women to manage their enterprises. For the SHG women, this translates into a much-needed, sustainable income contributing towards better living and prosperity. Armed with micro-credit, women from SHGs become direct-to-home distributors in rural markets.

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* Contributed by: -
Shruti Rustagi,
Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.