Employment
a compound annual growth rate of 91 per cent , compared to 35 per cent nationally . So , replicating this model in India , we can just imagine how this surge can alter the rural jobscape , which is in need of policy interventions . The experience in Taobao villages has sparked strong interest among policymakers to tap the potential of e-commerce as a tool for poverty alleviation , financial empowerment for stay-athome employment and rural vitalisation . The breakthrough was seen most in the ratio increase of women-to-men entrepreneurs in e-commerce being at near parity , compared to a ratio of 1:3 in traditional businesses .
The Alibaba Group initiative of the Rural Taobao Programme , in collaboration with the Government , supported rural clusters with real-time access to a wide range of goods and services , replacing the expensive brick and mortar shop-floor business model . This helped farmers earn more for their produce as they could directly sell their produce to urban consumers in online platforms . The programme required jobstepping multiple initiatives to streamline cross-country linkages in infrastructure by laying the ground work for service networks in counties and villages ; providing training in e-commerce and promoting entrepreneurship ; and developing rural financial services through the Ant Financial subsidiary of Alibaba .
The Rural Taobao Programme has now expanded from 212 villages in 12 counties in 2014 to more than 30,000 villages in 1,000 counties in 2018 , spreading from the coast to inland . It focussed on improving rural e-commerce supply chains , promoting connectivity between agriculture and commerce
The Rural Taobao Programme has now expanded from 212 villages in 12 counties in 2014 to more than 30,000 villages in 1,000 counties in 2018 , spreading from the coast to inland . and enhancing e-commerce training . The scheme grew rapidly and by 2018 , had supported 1,016 demonstration counties , covering 737 povertystricken counties ( 89 per cent of the total ), including 137 counties with extreme poverty ( 41 per cent of the total ). The experience in China offers a compelling model to pursue as a ‘ Global Best Practice ’ prototype for India . The report demonstrated how digital technology has the potential to harness inclusive growth , unlike previous revolutions , especially when policies and public-private sector work in synergy . Experience in other developed countries has made for a compelling case to adapt and integrate digitally enabled ecosystems as an engine for transformational growth in providing jobs and enhancing livelihoods to the rural population at their doorstep , without the need to migrate to
18 Legacy India | June 2019 www . legacyindia . in