Ministry plans agency to market rural produce

Parallel to the rural business hubs being set up by the panchayati raj ministry, the rural development ministry is planning a rural products marketing agency.

The proposed agency, like the rural business hubs, will work in partnership with corporates. It will be run on a public-private partnership model.

"Our village people produce quality goods like honey, handicrafts and household articles, all of which need to be given their proper place in the market," Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, minster of rural development, said.

The ministry first wants to set up outlets in all state capitals and important cities. The rural produce marketing agency would be established in due course, the minister said.

The ministry has also asked states to prepare a list of products made by the rural poor in various districts. It wants a federation of self-help groups (SHGs) to further boost the 23-lakh-strong SHG movement in India. These federations would be created at national, state, district, block and village levels.

The ministry seems to be following Andhra Pradesh where the six-lakh-strong SHG movement works at village, block and district levels.

To universalise SHGs in the 11th Plan period, the rural development ministry wants at least one member from each rural BPL family to be a part of the movement.

Other initiatives like regular meeting of state, district and block-level coordination committees to tackle the problem of credit flow to the rural poor and exploring opportunities for employment generation in sectors like textiles have also been suggested to states.