BPO in villages too

When the BPO culture entered the urban cities, there was a revolution of sorts. Now, with the opening up of the first rural BPO by HDFC bank in Nellore, it is again a time for some revolution.

Rural Development Department’s EGMM (Employment Generation and Marketing Mission) imparts training to rural graduates from underprivileged families. These people then get a chance to work in rural BPO where they perform simple non-voice based operations like scanning and data processing. The BPO in Nellore is handled by 325 such EGMM trained graduates. Initially, HDFC bank was apprehensive about the quality of the training of the rural masses but after conducting interviews, all their doubts have vanished. Recently, another of its kind has opened up on 25 July in Tirupati. It is to be handled by 1500 such graduates.

The rural BPOs have given a new lease of life to the people whose incomes have substantially increased. With more income, they have become an asset to their household. These young men and women have been empowered to outgrow their family profession (i.e. agriculture) and have become a part of the white-collar jobs.

No doubt, these rural BPOs have changed the lives of the people dramatically. However, on a deeper exploration I feel these rural BPOs might just end the very ‘essence’ of a rural area. If sons and daughters of farmers start working in MNC based companies, who would look after our basic need for food? Is the future of agriculture in danger?

I am not against rural development but what exactly is rural development has always confounded me. Is rural development about ‘urbanization’? Do we want to transform villages into cities? Is it about teaching and training them to be a part of the so-called urbane jobs?

I feel rural development should be about developing rural areas with respect to the resources which they have the capability to utilize. Thus, the foremost focus of Rural Development Department should be agriculture.

Agriculture still remains the mainstay of the Indian economy, providing employment to more than half of the labour force. But its sorry state of affairs is reflected by the fact that it only contributes to one-fifth of the national income. Therefore, the need of the hour is to revive our agriculture in such a way that better opportunities, money, resources and facilities are made available in villages itself. This would also curb the rural to urban migration.

Such innovative measures are always welcome but the significance of agriculture should not be forgotten.

/Let villages be villages\…