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Virendra Pandit

To offer wider variety of goods & services; sport new logo

Gandhinagar , Oct. 2

The Gujarat Government's plans, in public-private partnership, to open or upgrade around 1,000 fair price shops into new-look retail stores by March 2007, and another 2,200 in the next financial year, may give the corporate czars setting up big, organised retail outlets across the State a run for their money, primarily in smaller towns and the rural areas.

At present, Gujarat has 15,993 fair price shops in the urban, semi-urban and rural areas. Henceforth, all new fair price shops will be licensed to the self-help groups (SHGs) of women and the unemployed. These will be in the larger format of a modern retail store, selling, among other things, mobile phone recharge vouchers, SIM cards, handsets, non-subsidised cooking gas cylinders, cosmetics, certified seeds, all packaged-goods, toiletries, fertilisers, iodised salt, biscuits, batteries, pulses, ghee and ice-cream, postal supplies — in short, a wider variety of goods and services than ever offered by these shops. Already, nearly 400 fair price shops have been upgraded as the State Government facilitated loans of Rs 2 lakh to the licensees for setting up new shops in a larger format. The loans, without any collateral security and at a 9 per cent rate of interest, have been advanced by Dena Bank, Bank of Baroda and ICICI to tap these places for spreading their credit net and use them as links for financial products, Dr S.K. Nanda, Principal Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, told Business Line.

What would the shopkeeper get in return? So far, he was officially getting a commission between Rs 1,500 and Rs 3,000 per month. His income is likely to increase up to Rs 30,000 per month now, said Dr Nanda, who conceived the scheme. In order to make the licensees responsible and accountable, the State Government is also tying up with mobile service providers to create a data bank of the shopkeepers who would be sending daily stock and price lists by SMS to the authorities.

Leakages and diversions of commodities from the vulnerable people to profiteers would be kept in check.

The innovative concept is a multi-level plan to establish higher level of accountability and to attract customers, giving them quality products packaged with minimised instances of lesser weight and adulteration.

The minimum standard space for each new-look shop is 400 sq. ft. with basic facilities such as toilets, drinking water, sitting arrangements for the customer and at least four windows and so on. They would cater to the shopping needs mainly at the local level. The shops would sport a new logo and common design strategy.

Easy access

There would be one such fair price shop for a population of 2,000 in the rural areas and every 5,000 in urban areas so that the maximum walking distance to the shop does not exceed three km. At present, the State Government plans to open or upgrade 3,224 new fair price shops out of which orders have already been issued for 2,342 shops.

The new scheme is a multi-level plan to make fair price shops viable business centres that would also continue to perform their original duty — supplying essential commodities to the people living below the poverty line (BPL) and holding ration cards at subsidised rates.

Loose items such as sugar and wheat would be supplied to the beneficiaries at subsidised rates, but those seeking to buy packaged items would get these at normal rates as applicable to other customers.

Village Malls planned

Besides upgrading these fair price shops in a phased manner, the State Government is also preparing to set up "Village Malls" to cater to the needs of a cluster of villages, as a bridge between the city malls and the village.

Would the new-look, or "model" fair price shops face competition from the private sector's organised retail chains? Dr Nanda said the licensees, only in order to ensure their own survival in the business, would have to provide services and goods in competition with their business rivals. Market forces would make the necessary corrections. But the State may also witness the rise of homespun retail czars at rural levels.

More Stories on : Policy | Retailing | Gujarat | Rural Development

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