No shortage of building materials, no inconsistency in prices, no variation in the quality, no running from pillar to post in state of bewilderment with regards to the material used, no trace of middle man swallowing a major chunk of the money. All these are the consequences of just one innovative idea, the Panch Mart.
Panch Mart, an acronym for Panchayat Mart, was conceived by Mukesh Kumar, IAS, incumbent Deputy Commissioner of Dumka, Jharkhand. Earlier the beneficiaries faced difficulties in procuring materials for the construction under different schemes in terms of getting best quality at a favourable price and adequate supply on a regular basis. Quite often they fell prey to manipulating persons who fraudulently siphoned off sizeable money earmarked for construction or supplied poor quality materials.
Elucidating the concept of Panch Mart, Kumar said that the objective of this initiative is to provide the beneficiaries good quality building materials at a fair price and to ensure that these materials are available on demand. This will not only ensure a credible supply chain but will also provide employment to the local youths especially the entrepreneurs. Alternatively, this will also help in achieving government targets on time as the frequent shortage of the materials is one of the major causes of lagging behind the target.
Initially five Panch Marts in each of the 10 blocks of the district was planned. Some of them have become functional and are catering to the needs and requirements of the beneficiaries. The response from the local entrepreneurs is overwhelming and the local youths are vying with each other to get into this business.
The role of administration in the entire scheme of things is that of a facilitator. The administration negotiates the prices of these things with the suppliers/manufacturers so that they are available at much lower price than those prevailing at the market. Later, it fixes the price of these items which are finally sold to the beneficiaries.
The Panch Mart has facility of cashless transactions also, they are being provided by POS machines. Panch Mart has made the life of the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, Swach Bharat Mission and MGNREGA, much easy and has given them reason to smile.
In future, these PanchMarts may sell their materials online through GeM (Government e Marketplace).