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    e-NAM: An idea that began as modest experiment in Gulbarga APMC eight years ago

    Synopsis

    There are about 7000 mandis in the country with about 5000 of them being small and medium ones. The rest are either large or medium ones.

    GettyImages-582262844Getty Images
    The ambitious programme of connecting India’s Mandis actually began in a modest way at the APMC in Gulbarga in December 2011.
    BENGALURU: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the Centre will work with State Governments to allow farmers to benefit from e-NAM or electronic national agricultural market -- a large seamless market for farmers to sell their produce -- instead of restricting themselves to selling their produce in the local agricultural produce marketing committee (APMC).

    There are about 7000 mandis in the country with about 5000 of them being small and medium ones. The rest are either large or medium ones.

    e-NAM is nothing but an Amazon or Flipkart for agricultural produce -- an electronic platform connecting the buyer and the seller. But to get the full benefit of e-NAM platform, States have to come on board, and begin to slowly dismantle the APMC system, something easier said than done. That is why the FM sought cooperation from States.

    She said: “The Agriculture Produce Marketing Cooperatives (APMC) Act should not hamper farmers from getting a fair price for their produce. Ease of doing business and ease of living both should apply to farmers too.”

    The ambitious programme of connecting India’s Mandis actually began in a modest way at the APMC in Gulbarga in December 2011. The man who came up with the concept but began in a small way in Gulbarga is R.Ramaseshan, a former IAS officer from Karnataka. He established India’s first online platform, not as a government servant, but after resigning IAS and moving into NCDEX as its CEO. He believed only a technology-led market design can create a national market for agriculture and save farmers from distress sale. But he was not sure how APMCs would take the idea as there have always been strong lobbies controlling them. The success of the pilot, however, led to the neighbouring Telangana (then undivided AP) asking him to replicate it in its regulated mandis.


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