If consumers find purchasing vegetables a big pain in the neck or
just do not have the time to visit market or  skills to pick the
freshest vegetables from crowded market places, here is some good news
to them.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, in
coordination with the state marketing department, will launch an
initiative, ‘Manakuragayalu’, to provide vegetables at people’s doorstep
in about 100 locations in the twin cities.

The fresh vegetables
on wheels will involve unemployed youth forming into self help groups
and sell fresh vegetables grown by farmers and farming entrepreneurs.

The
directorate of marketing has identified as many as 100 locations to
sell fresh vegetables at citizens’ doorstep. The department will act a
facilitator between  farmers and consumers as direct marketing of
vegetable produce will eliminate middlemen and makes the farmer directly
responsible for selling his/her produce through SHGs who, in turn, will
sell to the consumers at their doorstep.

Chief executive officer
(CEO), Rythu Bazaar, MK Singh told Express that the initiative would
have three benefits. Farmers in the cluster of Rangareddy and Medak
districts will supply freshly harvested vegetables to unemployed youth
(SHGs), who collect vegetables from farms and carry them to the
designated mobile vegetable sales outlets listed out by the department
and sell the vegetables in retail which will be cheaper than the market
price.

‘’We are in the process of finalising the details with the
GHMC shortly and the initiative will be launched on Ugadi’’ Singh
added.    

The consumers will get quality of vegetables at cheaper
rates. The prices will be a little higher than those at Rythu Bazaars
but the vegetables can be bought at one’s doorstep, he added.

The
GHMC will provide bank linkage to the SHGs for purchasing vehicles by
providing 50 percent loan subsidy and will identify 100 groups for
selling vegetables,  additional commissioner (UCD) D.Jayaraj Kennedy
said.

GHMC officials said that the dreams of farmers and
unemployed youth would come true by fetching them better rate and
offering lower prices to consumers, thus avoiding exploitation by
middlemen.

Chief secretary PK Mohanty is keen on the scheme and
wants the GHMC and marketing department to start the process at the
earliest. The two held a meeting at the HGHMC’s head office near Tank
Bund on Tuesday to discuss the nitty-gritty of the operations.