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Novel ways to insure rural India
LIC is getting street smart. It has taken to the streets, literally,
and is all set to speak the language of the masses of rural
India through the street plays it has been organizing for the
rural folk. What better way to convince the rural folk?
Street plays with local people performing skits with overtones
on the importance of insurance and the disadvantages of not
being covered adequately will hit the right chord. But for a
mammoth 44 year old organization as huge as LIC is it even more
easier to initiate brand recall and find takers for its products
considering the brand equity it already enjoys – an asset
be it in urban or rural India.
With private insurers tearing into LIC stronghold the latter
is trying ways and means to retain dominance. While it scores
on the government guarantee factor and brand value its products
lacked customization which off late has been addressed.
Talk of rural India and private insurers have a long way to
go. With the cream business being urban folk, private insurers
are known to have only been doing the stipulated bit to cater
to the rural folk.
But if you thought private insurers have yet not stepped in
to hawk risk products in rural areas you could be wrong. If
its street plays for LIC it is e-choupal for private insurers.
E-choupal introduced by ITC, the traditional tobacco and cigarette
company is perhaps India’s answer to Wal-Mart of the US
albeit a little differently.
The e-choupal network model, a distribution network has connected
a number of remote villages in four States of Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in order to enable
easy procurement and distribution of FMCG products.
The model aims at providing every required data to the village
farmer on commodity prices, weather updates or any other and
aims to change the lives of over 20 million people. As of now
it covers 6,000 villages only and soon about 1 lakh villages
will be covered.
The model, since it touches rural India in a fairly major way
is expected to be explored by big companies targeting the hinterland
to spread their distribution network. And insurance companies
cannot be left behind. ICICI Pru Life and LIC are already selling
their risk covers through e-choupal and several others are still
exploring the possibilities.
Options of selling non-life covers are also being explored.
Among others this would include crop insurance, weather insurance
covers and several other that can be tailor-made to suit the
changing needs of the farmer.
With increase in awareness levels on insurance be it addressing
sale of the farmers produce, the quality, quantity or finding
suitable markets or even selling his product at the right price.
For all these and a lot more may be rural India will turn to
insurance for cover.
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