Anandpara, a small village in Rajkot district with a population of around 4,000 and milk procurement of 2,000 liters per day, has created history. Anandpara Village Dairy Co-operative Society of Rajkot milk union has adopted a new digitalization method by installing the first Micro ATM payment center at the doorstep of milk producer members. Rajkot District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited, Gopal Dairy, an affiliated dairy union of Amul, has taken the initiative and a concrete step to digitalize the rural economy.
On this occasion, Gordhanbhi Dhamaliya, chairman, Rajkot Dairy, has virtually inaugurated the Aadhar-based Amul Micro ATM facility for the milk pouring members of Anandpara Village society. He said that any member could visit the milk society, withdraw the money through Amul Micro ATM, and immediately get the payment. It is a big relief for farmers as members need not visit banks and incur time and travel costs. He also mentioned that such types of transactions are safe during a pandemic, and there is no need for any kind of credit or debit card as the entire transaction is based on a thumb impression.
Valamjibhai Humbal, vice chairman, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF) (Amul), congratulated the team of Rajkot Dairy for implementation of such a unique project and added that this project would give confidence to small, marginal, and landless farmers and will cultivate a saving habit for future needs. Since demonetization, we are working on this project, and it is a matter of pride for us that we have started the project from Rajkot.
Shamalbhai Patel, chairman, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF) (Amul), has also attended the function virtually. He said that milk producer members are linked with the digital payment system by adopting the Micro ATM technology. He also emphasized that member unions of GCMMF will roll out the Amul Micro ATM project in all village cooperative societies at the earliest.
Dr. R S Sodhi, Managing Director, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF) (Amul), said the lack of digital banking technology in remote villages had given the idea to start this project. Under the project, around 4,000 village milk cooperative societies across Rajkot, Surat, Bharuch, and Surendranagar districts were surveyed to get an idea about the actual difficulties faced by them.
He added that member unions of GCMMF had opened more than 25 lakh bank accounts for milk producer members after demonetization during demonetization time. He also informed that there are three main advantages of the project – increase in transparency in all financial transactions and credit worthiness of individuals, which would be beneficial for them for availing any kind of loan. It will further cultivate a habit of savings.
Vinod Vyas, managing director, Rajkot Dairy, has conveyed his sincere thanks to all Chairman and Managing Directors who attended the function. He has also informed that under the project, not only milk producer members but all villagers will be benefitted. He also congratulated the dedicated staff of Rajkot dairy, Digivridhi (Fintech), and Federal bank to implement the pilot project successfully.
The Amul Micro ATM system has been developed with joint efforts by GCMMF (AMUL) Fintech Company, Digivridhi with banking partner Federal Bank who arranged the cash delivery at villages which was the key challenge of this project. Raghvan from Digivridhi, Executive Director, Federal Bank, Atul Kumar Agrawal, Senior General Manager (Finance), GCMMF, were also present on occasion.
