Several tribal villagers of Jawadhu Hills are now getting groceries at their doorstep. More than a month ago, Pudhu Vaazhvu Project introduced three mobile grocery shops for parts of the hills in Tiruvannamalai to reach the commodities to the villagers.
In the past, consumers had to travel 20 km to Jamunamarathur to get groceries. Now, these shops-on-wheels take the groceries to their doorsteps. “For instance, a villager from Puthur had to travel for 17 km to Jamunamarathur every Monday to get vegetables. They managed with this stock for three to four days of the week,” said C. Sevathan, district project manager, Pudhu Vaazhvu project, Tiruvannamalai.
The idea was mooted by Collector Prashant M. Wadnere during a hill area development meeting. The project officials responded to his idea with the concept of mobile grocery shops.
“The Collector asked us to discuss about how essential commodities can be taken to the doorstep of the villagers in the hills and that the services can be done through self-help groups (SHG). We discussed this with SHG members and three groups came forward. Following this, we rolled out three mobile grocery shops on May 20,” he said.
From then on, these SHG members, who were trained, have been running the show. They take the groceries in mini-vans to villages.
Three units
While Amutha and Sangeetha have teamed up to run the mobile shop in Puthur village in Nammiyampattu panchayat, Sivaperumal, a community disability facilitator, manages the shop at Gundalathur in Kovilur panchayat and two members — Shanti and Jayasudha — run the store at Velichanur at Melsilambadi panchayat.
“The three groups have invested about ₹17,000 to ₹25,000. While one group goes around the villages every day, two others visit on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. They sell vegetables such as onions and tomatoes, fruits, tamarind, pulses, soaps, shampoos, biscuit packets and chocolates. All things sold in petty shops can be found in these mobile units,” Mr. Sevathan added.
He said the project through its scheme, Amudhasurabhi, has extended financial support in the form of loans to these groups.
The official said the response for the mobile shops has been good among the villagers. “They are happy that the groceries reach their doorsteps,” he said.
