Source: The Economic Times
Sahaj Retail is making a significant expansion to increase its footprint in rural India from 3.2 lakh retail centres to 6 lakh. This would make digital services more accessible in villages and remote areas across the country.
Essential services at Sahaj centres include Aadhaar card updates, PAN card applications, insurance, utility bill payments, and mobile banking. All services will be provided by local people who are called Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs). These VLEs will be trained by the company and will run the Sahaj Centre.
“We are working across rural India and have around 3.2 lakh centres at present. The idea is to take it up to 6 lakh shortly,” said Biswajeet Chatterjee, CEO of Sahaj Retail.
Different businesses or individuals own, operate, and fund each Sahaj centre. They play a significant role in their respective communities by enabling people to access important services which are typically not available close by.
“Owner of every centre is different and the person running each Sahaj centre becomes a change-maker in their village,” Biswajeet said.
The company has developed its own technology platform which, was built for low connectivity, making it useful for remote villages where the internet can often be patchy
In addition to basic digital services, Sahaj has now decided to make each of its centers a digital utility hub. The company is expanding its business to include supporting e-commerce, agricultural inputs, rural supply chain solutions, and skill development programs. This will allow villagers to have the opportunity to shop online, buy farming supplies, learn new skills, and receive better delivery systems.
Sahaj already works in states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, and parts of the North East. Now, it wants to expand its network in central and eastern India, where many villages still do not have access to digital services.
One of Sahaj’s goals is to empower more women and youth entrepreneurs through the VLE model. In generating employment, Sahaj is also helping to create an ecosystem to promote digital and financial literacy across rural areas.
Sahaj is one of many companies taking note of the “Bharat” market, the rural population of India. As demand for digital services continues to grow outside of city space, Sahaj is helping to connect this digital gap that exists between urban India and rural India.
