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MISL to create awareness and provide services for insurance to farmers in
villages of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
Hyderabad: Megatop
Insurance Services Limited (MISL) an Associate
Company of ITC Limited has signed a contract with
the Financial Deepening Challenge Fund (FDCF),
sponsored by the Department for International
Development (DFID) Under this contract, MISL will
create awareness about insurance and provide best
possible insurance services to farmers at their
doorstep in the villages of Andhra Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh through ITC’s existing e-choupals.
For this purpose, FDCF will provide grant of
Rs5.80bn (GBP 729, 285) over a period of three
years to enable MISL to reach out to and serve
these farmers. This is the largest project of FDCF
in India.
ITC’s e-choupal is the biggest IT intervention by
any corporate in rural India. The e-choupal model
is a value-driven mechanism where each participant
derives benefits from his association. This model
truly exemplifies “the competitive advantage of
corporate philanthropy”. Similarly, FDCF is a
pro-poor initiative with focus on commercial
viability. Thus, it is a partnership of two
similar initiatives trying to create opportunities
for the poor.
Deloitte Haskins & Sells has been appointed as the
administrator of FDCF. It will also monitor and
supervise the funded projects.
“This grant will help us provide the best possible
insurance services to rural customers and become
the most preferred choice for farmers in rural
India. We aim to be the largest Insurance
providers in India with major customer base in
rural markets. We are leveraging ITC’s e-choupal
network to penetrate rural markets,” stated C.V.
Sarma, Director, MISL.
Garry Whitby, Global Fund Manager – FDCF, who
signed the contract in Hyderabad on behalf of DFID,
said, “We are proud to be associated with this
project. We believe this is a step in the right
direction as e-choupals would be the supermarkets
of tomorrow in rural India.”
Chandrika Shah, Country Manager – FDCF, added
“FDCF funding will further enhance the utilization
of the e-choupal network to bridge the digital
divide by adding financial products to its gamut
of services”.
-MK
Reachout's News Bureau
Jan'
2004
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