In a bid to understand rural business models,about 45 market research students of the Punjab college of technical education(PCTE) spent a few days in poorly developed areas. The experiences were enriching with the students beginning to think of ways to resolve the problems these men,women and children faced in the slums and rural area,living under the poverty line, said Harpreet K Kang,Deputy Dean,PCTE Group of Institutes,who had initiated the exercise. As for the students,they claim to have developed ideas to provide commodities at cheaper rates for the slum residents without compromising on profit margins. Jyotsana,one of the students along with her group worked on making an Indian mattress for Rs 250,which costs anything between Rs 550 to Rs 650 in the market. The student says she would use scrap from the Ludhiana textile market,which is for Rs 6 or 7 per kg,for stuffing the mattress. An ideal mattress needs 4- 5 kg stuffing,and another 25 rupees for stitching,she claims. Suvra from the same group said,We will make a good 100 per cent profit if we adopt this model,and get the people in the slums to have a literal 100 per cent discount on the product as well - an absolute win-win situation. Amit Sharma,along with his three group members designed a solar bulb,where in a two litre bottle filled up with mineral water,stuck half way through the roof,while the upper half is exposed to the sun,is all it takes to light up a dimly lit usually dark rooms in shacks and slums with no windows to the walls. Vikram Bajaj,another student,after having spent a night at a vehra,where painters and masons live,has decided to launch a product with a shaving cream in a sachet with a cap on it. He explained that while a simple shave costs Rs10 at the barber,his sachet with shaving cream would be for Rs 5-6 and would last three shaves. Besides a blade for Rs 1 ,which is disposable. In all it is no more than Rs 10 for three shaves he summed up. Prabhjeet S Bhogal claims to be working on a prototype of a portable dirt cheap chullah (stove) made out of scrap iron,with wooden handles to lift it and carry it around. He explains that a typical home in a village has two to three chullahs,because they need to move inside the house from morning to afternoon,and again outside by the evening. He said also families change locations between summers and winters. He now also has a model with exhaust,and blower fixed to it,and two hubs over the challah to cook simultaneously with. Ashu and Sheenu are two girls,who spent two nights in a village on the outskirts of the city and realised that health for both kids and adults was grossly neglected. They spoke to a couple of doctors and noticed that there was l no intake of milk in this market bracket,with milk being an expensive commodity. They have finally decided to launch bottled soya milk,which they say is far cheaper and could last for six months.
