e-Choupal, an initiative of ITC Ltd. launched in 2000, endeavours to place computers with internet connectivity in villages in rural India. ‘Choupal’ is Hindi for ‘gathering place’: the computer facility serves to bring villagers together for exchange of information and as an e-commerce hub. Although the primary objective of the project is to bring efficiency to ITC’s procurement process, an important byproduct is the empowerment of farmers in areas where e-choupals are established.
. Start by comparing the state of Indian agriculture before and after implementing this initiative. . Explore the value chain of the agriculture sector in India, and where the redundancies are. . Understand how the e-Choupal initiative benefits farmers as well as ITC . Debate whether ITC could leverage on e-Choupal’s success to enter fields such as improving education and healthcare in rural India – is the model replicable in other social impact settings?
- e-Choupal
- Agriculture
- Technology
- ITC
- India
- Revolutionizing
- Farming
- Exchange of information
- Supply chain
- Farmer
- Computer
- Q11617
