Dharamshala
Even as the corona curfew continues in Himachal Pradesh, the cosmopolitan society residing in this hill town is asking farmers to board online with their produce of vegetables, fruits and milk. Links for such online applications to bring farmers to one platform on the Internet are being shared widely on social media groups of this society.
These online links give a free platform to farmers and buyers to locate each other. The application is known as “farmers near me”. The farmer has to upload his produce and location on the app so users nearby can locate them. The app has been developed by Puneet Thakur, a resident of Solan in Himachal Pradesh who is an aloe vera farmer.
The Coronavirus is considered a foreign virus in most of the localities here. Many foreign nationals were facing difficulties due to this local perception. Later, the district administration intervened to provide them relief. The foreign nationals had even been asked to leave the guest houses. However, the issue was later resolved.
Melanie Cordeaux, a foreign national who lives in the Sidhbari area near here, said that things are being handled very well by the authorities. However, considering the global scenario, such applications should be made common to help farmers and buyers both.
“I have seen this application shared in various groups where tourists, foreign nationals and people who are in love with Dharamshala from across the globe are there. We are trying to be aware of farmers here,” Cordeaux added.
There are many foreigners residing here. Many of them are either studying Buddhism or working for animal welfare and upliftment of societies. Such people have formed social media groups that involve some Indians also who are working here in various welfare projects.
Thakur, the founder of this app, said that after doing BTech, he worked in the IT sector in various fields and companies for more than ten years in Delhi, Gurgaon and other locations and finally returned to his native place to start aloe vera farming.
“I got familiar with the problems faced by farmers. Small producers can’t reach big mandis (wholesale markets) and large producers don’t get good rates after reaching there. So, I made this application after working on it for two years, and launched it during lockdown period last year,” Thakur added.
The application also has options to publish illicit practices adopted by middlemen in the agricultural sector. There are 300 farmers on board at present, said Thakur. Nearly 20 of them are from Himachal and more are coming on board gradually.