The Hindu Business Line : Affordability key challenge in serving the rural populace: Kamath

New Delhi, Aug. 19 Citing affordability as the key challenge in serving the bottom of the pyramid, the President of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Mr K.V. Kamath, said, “While technology was improving accessibility to cater to the rural population, companies also had to design cost-effective solutions and make it affordable.”

To substantiate, he said, “With ATMs reaching various parts of the country, banking transactions at our branches have come down to less than 15 per cent. Similarly, the spread of mobile telephony could fuel the growth of the banking and financial services industry in the country where no physical transfer of goods is required.”

Commenting specifically on ICICI Bank initiatives, Mr Kamath said the bank had partnered with various micro-financing institutions to penetrate the rural areas and was also collaborating with companies entering such markets. Mr Suhel Seth, Managing Partner, Counselage India, who was chairing the summit, stressed on market creation as opposed to the conventional ideas of retaining market share.

In context of services industry, Mr Aditya Nath Jha, Vice-President & Head-Global Branding, Infosys Technologies, shared that as a company it thrived on the finest talent. “Yet, for us, it is about extending opportunities to those who are at the bottom of the pyramid by providing employment opportunities to students from such backgrounds without compromising on our standards.”

To quote an example, he said that 20 per cent of the company’s entry-level professionals hired from about 1,000 engineering colleges in the country were graduates without parents.

Moreover, through its “campus connect” programme, it was also working closely with engineering colleges’ students and teachers by training them with industry-relevant curriculum.

It was thus expanding the scope of opportunities for the underprivileged section, he stated.

More Stories on : Rural Development | Events

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page