New Delhi, Feb 14 Common Services Centers (CSCs), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), on Wednesday joined hands with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to enable e-commerce access to rural citizens across India.
With this joint venture, CSC's e-Grameen application will be integrated on the ONDC network as a buyer application, allowing rural citizens to access the network's extensive e-commerce services.
"Providing services in remote villages of the country has been a challenge. Because of middlemen, producers are not able to get fair prices for their products. After today's partnership, these problems will be curbed and a new path for rural development will open," S. Krishnan, Secretary-Ministry of Electronics and IT, said in a statement.
CSC services will become a part of the ONDC Network in two phases. In phase one, it will be onboarded as a buyer-side platform, allowing citizens visiting CSC to place orders for essentials via the Grameen app.
With over 4 lakh CSC points across India, this will enable millions of new users to access e-commerce, through their trusted neighbourhood CSC.
In phase two, CSC sellers registered on the Grameen e-Store will be able to receive orders via ONDC. This will boost entrepreneurship opportunities and incomes for village-level entrepreneurs, driving the vision of Gram Swaraj.
"Through the trusted and widespread network of CSCs, millions of citizens will now have access to essential e-commerce services. Together, we hope to tap into the entrepreneurial promise of village-level entrepreneurs to boost rural incomes aligned with the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision," said T. Koshy, MD and CEO, ONDC.
On this development, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary-Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, said that through ONDC, every business operator, be it small, medium-scale, or large enterprises, are open to selling their goods and services directly to their customers.
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