Congratulations, Shri Pawan Kumar Agarwal

Consumer affairs secretary [ Secy-ca@nic.in ]

Context :

Covid-19: 'Suraksha Stores' to meet daily needs on anvil / PTI | Updated: Apr 12, 2020, 15:20 IST

Extract :

Ø Ahead of extending restrictions on the mobility of goods and persons, the government plans to set up a chain of 20 lakh retail shops called “ Suraksha Stores “ across India, which will provide daily ESSENTIALS to citizen, while maintaining stringent safety norms

Ø The government will rope in private firms to implement this plan which seeks to ensure that proper protocol is followed in the entire SUPPLY CHAIN , right from manufacturing units to Retail Outlets

Ø Consumer affairs secretary Pawan Kumar Agarwal has held at least one round of discussions with FMCG companies to implement this ambitious plan through PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

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Dear Shri Agarwalji,

I am sure Govt does not plan to set up brand NEW stores but only rope in existing retail shops

Of course, converting existing 20 lakh ( 2 million ) stores into “ Suraksha Stores “ is certainly, a very ambitious plan

But, considering that there are 120 lakh ( 12 million ) retail stores in India, anything less would prove insufficient

PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP [ 3P ] is the only way to achieve this goal .

It will enable to, someday, convert all 120 lakh stores into “ Suraksha Stores “

As far as “ Proper Protocol “ is concerned, I suggest following :

Ø Sanitizing product packages before these leave the “ factory gates “

Ø Repeat sanitizing before these packages leave “ Wholesale Warehouse / Fulfillment Centre gates “

Ø Repeat sanitizing before Retail Store workers handover the packages to customers

Ø Installation of “ Disinfecting Chambers “ at entry of each Retail Store

Of course, the ideal situation would be to deliver ordered essentials to the homes of the buyers – thereby ensuring that citizen do not come out and crowd the stores . That would be the best SURAKSHA !

This is how that “ Suraksha Protocol “ will work ( as described in my following email ) :

[ source : “ India Post “ morph to “ India Retail “ / 12 April 2020 ]

How will this work ?

Ø Citizen will place online orders ( using Reliance Retail- RR - mobile App ) for essential items

Ø RR will transmit this order ( giving full details including item wise prices and buyer address / mobile no ) to :

# A Kirana shop ( Kirana shop owner’s Mobile ) , nearest to buyer’s home ( - could

be more than one shop , if all ordered items are not available in one shop )

# A post office branch nearest to buyer’s home ( on a postman’s mobile )

Ø RR will transmit ( on Buyer’s mobile App ), details of the concerned Kirana shop and the concerned Postman, indicating approx. “ Time of Delivery “

Ø Postman will visit the concerned Kirana Shop , pick-up the items and deliver to customer

Ø Every,

# “ Pick-up Transaction “ ( between postman and Kirana Shop ), and

# “ Delivery Transaction “ ( between postman and customer ) ,

will get automatically recorded when respective Mobile Phones are made to touch

each other ( using BlueTooth / NFC and BlockChain technology ) and

# Customer’s bank account will get debited ,

# Kirana shop’s bank account will get credited

Ø Concerned Post Office will get credited with 2 % commission ( on purchase value ) , out of which, it will pass on half to the postman concerned, if the delivery gets made within 6 hours of order placement . This will act as a Monetary Incentive for the postman concerned

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Dear Shri Agarwalji,

In the above-mentioned example, I have cited RELIANCE RETAIL TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM , for the reason that , it has , in its EcoSystem, some 25 lakh Kirana stores and plans to tie-up with 12 million Kirana shops by 2023

But , I suppose the government would want all the TEN MAJOR RETAIL CHAINS to join , what we may call :

ERDA = Essential Retail Delivery Association

In this case, ERDA should launch its own Technology Platform / Web Portal / Mobile App, to cover supplies from all

And following is a partial list of data which the Commerce Ministry’s central server will compile from usage of MOBILE-APP BASED HOME DELIVERY from 120 lakh retail shops , by 300 million families :

Ø Building up a very COMPREHENSIVE DATA BASE of all purchases comprising :

# WHO ( the buyers )

# WHAT ( the products )

# WHEN ( Day-Month-Year )

# WHERE ( the Retail Store concerned )

# AT ( Price paid )

# CPI ( Consumer Price Index/ Inflation )

# AVERAGE ( Monthly – Annual Purchase Bill

for essentials )

# TRENDS ( Regional Preferences of various

brands )

# SUPPLY ( Manufacturer wise )

This apart, there are other following advantages :

# Boost to Digital Payments / Decrease in Cash

payments

# Dramatic reduction in traffic and consequent

parking problems

# Reduced pollution / Cleaner Air

> Local kirana shops business flourish amid lockdown

Ø Retailers want govt to bring back migrant workers to augment supply chain

Ø Essential supplies severely impacted in hotspots

Ø Flipkart, Tata Consumer Products partners to supply essential products

Ø Tata Starbucks to launch drive-through, home deliveries

Ø RAI ( Retailers Association of India ) urges against panic-buying, assures enough food stock

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Dear Shri Piyush Goyalji / Shri RaviShankar Prasadji,

In short term , “ Suraksha Stores “ is our immediate solution for continuation of “ Social Distancing “

In long term, ERDA could be the foundation of our “ Social Re-awakening “

With regards,

Hemen Parekh / 13 April 2020 / hcp@RecruitGuru.com