IT-enabled services needed to uplift rural India: Rekhi

MUMBAI: In order to uplift the standard of living of people in rural areas in India, there is a need to use IT-enabled services, an industry expert said here today.

"India, which is expected to grow to $ 30-trillion by 2025, is the world leader in IT services and should not miss the opportunity to use IT-enabled services to uplift the standard of life of people in rural areas," KPMG Head of Advisory, Richard Rekhi, said during an event organised by the Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC) here.

A Madhya Pradesh Minister speaking at the same event said that his government has already set up IT kiosks in rural areas for providing much needed information about prices of farm inputs and produces, healthcare, education and transport facilities to villagers.

"At present, Indian farmers do not have enough means to know the latest market prices of farm inputs and outputs. Intermediary traders are also exploiting the farmers.

We have attempted to end this exploitation by providing market information to farmers through our IT kiosks," Madhya Pradesh's Minister of IT, Commerce and Industry, Kailash Vijayvargiya, said.