Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu remotely launched the Chandranna Village Mall in Guntur and Vijayawada as a pilot project in the State on Tuesday.
The existing Fair Price Shops (FPS) will function as Chandranna Village Malls. In the first phase, the government is proposing to develop 6,500 malls across the State. There are about 28,000 FPS outlets in the State. The idea of mall is to take facilities available at the malls in urban areas to the doorstep of villagers.
“The government will supply goods/commodities in lieu of rice being supplied to the poor at the malls. The commodities will be worth equal to the rice being supplied right now,” the Chief Minister said.
When contacted, Civil Supplies Minister Prathipati Pulla Rao said the government would continue to supply rice to ration cardholders. The consumers, however, would be given an option. They can take either rice or commodities worth equal the rice they were entitled to. There would not be any compulsion. Nor would the government do away with supply of rice, he said. This was being thought of as offtake of subsidised rice was coming down steadily as not many people seem to be interested in it.
Speaking to shopkeepers and a few villagers through video conference, Mr. Naidu said that the objective of the village malls was to provide branded products at affordable prices to consumers living away from urban areas. The village malls would be accessible online soon, and they can save time and effort with the help of technology. The shopkeepers would have to give respect to the customers and maintain cleanliness and standard of malls, he said.
The government is proposing selling 500 types of commodities of various brands in these malls at 4% to 35% less than the Maximum Retail Price (MRP). The dealer will get 40% of the discount offered by the companies, while consumer enjoys a benefit of 60% , he said.
All kinds of essential goods are sold at the village malls at lower prices compared to open market, but allowing a small commission to the dealer. The plan is to link suppliers or manufacturers with the Village Malls and enable supply of goods at prices lower than the MRP.
The government chalked out plans to launch the malls in partnership with Reliance Retail and Future Group. The State government would bear 25% of the establishment cost while another 25% would be provided as loan to the dealers under the Centre’s Mudra Yojana. Products manufactured by women self-help groups and Girijan Cooperative Corporation would also be sold at the proposed malls along with the agriculture produce procured directly from farmers.