Page 64 - TRI Annual Report
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Transform Rural India
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Annual Report 2022-23




          Accelerating Rurbanisation         circular flow of income,           data on weather, soil                            seekers and employers. This        There is a need to rethink         Kissan Samman. India is
          Present times are marked by        increasing individual              conditions, and other factors                    can improve India's largely        and prepare of the emerging        investing heavily in social
          expansion of cities into mega      incomes and expanding the          that can impact farm                             informal and fragmented job        future of work and for             protection programs, but
          cities and industrial corridors    collective economy.                productivity. With this data,                    market which has not kept up       required relevant skills.          accessing them remains a
          and also by the emergence of                                          farmers can make better                          with increased labour mobility.    With budgetary allocations,        challenge. UBI could
          large villages, towns and                                             decisions and improve their                      Digital technologies can quickly   India can use this                 complement existing poverty
          districts transforming into                                           yields.                                          and accurately match job           opportunity to green the           eradication programs
          “mega districts”. These areas                                                                                          seekers with available             economy and develop                particularly for marginalised
          are emerging as central points     Rise in Technology |               In the education sector, digital                 opportunities based on their       location-specific rural             communities like women,
          for investments by large           Inter-connectedness &              tools and technologies can be                    skills, experience, and interests.  policies that can fuel this.      SC/ST, the unemployed and
          businesses. Agriculture will       Convergence                        used to teach millions of                                                           Investments in practice            other minorities.
          continue to dominate               India is now one of the fastest    students through standardised                    The emerging tech                  adoption and skilling are
          employment in rural areas, but     growing markets for digital        content for improved learning                    ecosystem can create new           needed for new jobs in both        India’s winning leap cannot
          technological innovations in       consumers with 700 million         outcomes. The retailing format                   job opportunities such as          mainstream and emerging            be realised without rural
          primary and ancillary industries   active internet users. According   shows gradual shift from                         data experts,                      sectors.                           India. A "future ready rural
          will not only make farming         to Nielsen’s India Internet        brick-and-mortar stores to                       digitally-enabled field                                                economy" requires a
          profitable but also create a new    Report 2023 rural India            e-commerce, with a greater                       agents for farm input                                                 whole-of-economy
          generation of farmers and          accounts for 425 million users,    surge in rural customers on                      companies, delivery agents                                            approach that includes a
          micro-entrepreneurs. The next      which is 45% higher than the       various e-commerce platforms.                    in e-commerce companies,                                              place-based, hyperlocal,
          generation of farmer families      urban users. The growth of         Going forward, these areas will                  and various gig employment                                            economic opportunities
          with better access to education    technology in rural India will     not only serve as a market for                   opportunities.                     Universal Basic Income (UBI)       model. This is a start, but to
          and technology and a better        create significant economic         e-commerce companies but                                                            The concept of Universal Basic     achieve impact it needs a
          understanding of the issues in     opportunities for consumers,       also enable the growth of other                                                     Income is gaining traction         whole of society approach
          their areas; together with         micro entrepreneurs, farmers,      businesses such as                                                                  post-pandemic as the               where markets bring in
          government and market              government, and other              warehouses and rural                                                                government looks to revamp
          support, the rural tech sector is   stakeholders. Emerging digital    producers using e-commerce                       Green Transition                   social safety nets. The idea to    innovations and
          emerging potential to create       ecosystems are already visible     platforms to sell their goods                                                       guarantee a minimum income         investments, the government
          jobs and provide decent            in precision farming, digital      and services.                                    Green transition is underway.      through cash transfers to all      enables, and rural
          employment locally.                healthcare consultations, and      Healthcare is witnessing many                    India announced its net-zero       citizens to ensure a liveable      communities drive change.
                                                                                                                                 emission goal by 2070 at
                                             the logistics sector. Rural India   technological innovations,                      COP26. The 2023-2024 budget        income, in a nascent form has
          Special economic hubs and          needs to prepare to seize these    particularly in telemedicine,                    allocates $4.3 billion to achieve   come with Pradhan Mantri
          zones at the district and          opportunities.                     which can attend to around                       this target. It's a massive task
          sub-district levels can play                                          30% of OPD patients, thus                        that requires a collaborative
          a fundamental role in              Agriculture is already seeing a    reducing the cost of in-person                   effort from businesses,
          catalysing economic                surge in tech uptake. The          consultations. In rural areas,                   governments, society, and
          activities at the cluster level    potential areas of growth will     patients often rely on                           investors to tackle climate
          through multiple modes of          be in universalizing agri          unqualified local medical                         change. Rural India has its own
          engagement with local              marketplaces, enabling farmers     practitioners to save on travel                  climate action agenda, and we
          entrepreneurs, social              to access buyers from across       costs and time. These                            need to develop
          enterprises, and                   the country. Customised            innovations can lead to                          location-specific rural policies.
          community-based                    learning platforms can benefit      economic benefits as well as                      Empowered rural communities
                                             farmers in many small
          organisations. These               businesses. Another area is in     better healthcare for citizens.                  can accelerate circular and
          enterprises would not only         digital farmer financing, which     These technological                              bio-economy by promoting
          improve the livelihoods of         will provide cheaper credit in a   innovations also generate                        sustainable land management,
          individual entrepreneurs but       data-driven environment. With      online data, which can aid                       renewable energy, and
          also provide locally               better access to finance,           policy makers to make                            decarbonization of transport
          relevant goods and services.       farmers can access newer           better-informed decisions                        with advanced physical and
          As entrepreneurial activities      technologies such as               about annual budgets and                         digital infrastructure.
          expand, more local jobs will       networked satellites and           infrastructure expansion.
          be created, resulting in an        terrestrial sensors and probes.    Lastly, job markets can be
          influx of investments in the       These technologies can             upgraded to online                                   Scan to watch
          local economy and a                capture and analyse real-time      marketplaces that connect job





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