Village Service Centre (VSC)

“A Unique Approach to Serve Communities”

Rural economy in India is heavily dependent on agriculture and this holds true for Gujarat also. The earthquake coupled with other natural disasters worsened the situation, further pushing the informal sector poor workers deeper into the clutches of poverty. However, a new light dawned on the people of Gujarat as a result of the reconstruction activities after the earthquake.
ICECD as a part of building capacities of the affected people for alternate livelihood options worked in some blocks of the Kutch district, providing employment to 1500 people. Thus, through Technical Training Programmes, ICECD provided alternate livelihood support and social and economic securities to hundreds of families.
It was an encouraging experience to create this kind of awareness and build local capabilities. As a result of the training in skill development, many trained youth (over 950 out of the total 1500 trained) became involved in activities like carpentry, plumbing, electrical, pre-cast products and small business/trades, using the tool kits provided by ICECD. This created a new momentum and resulted in the emergence of a new class of service providers in the earthquake-affected areas.

However a critical drawback was that these entrepreneurs operated from their homes and lacked any specific infrastructure like machines and space.

ICECD developed the “Innovative Concept of Village Service Centre” (VSC) to cover three important aspects:

The Coverage
Village Service Centres have been established in 10 villages of Anjar, Rapar, Bhuj and Bachau blocks of Kutchh district catering to business requirements of 75 villages.
Each VSC has six enterprises and involves 6-18 entrepreneurs.
Enterprises established within the VSC cater to different services of customers from the particular village and nearby villages. The VSCs act as display centres of various products, generating orders from visitors and traders. Services catered are electrical, plumbing, pre-cast products, carpentry, fabrication and handicrafts. Each VSC has the necessary furniture, fixtures and telephone facilities to promote business.

What is unique about The "VSC" ?
The Village Service Centre or the VSC is termed as a pioneering concept by ICECD in the rural context, as nothing similar has ever been introduced in the district. It provides business services to 75 villages by housing various entrepreneurs with different micro enterprises at one common place and provides business services to customers at a nearby place at the most competitive price.

International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career Development (ICECD) with support from Japan Consulate, Mumbai is creating the "ICECD Small Business Incubator (ISBI)" for women in the rural area. The ISBI will provide the requisite infrastructure (building, electricity, computer facility and machinery), training and counseling to enhance productivity and income opportunities. It has been found that in the rural areas, self-employed women and women entrepreneurs find it difficult to become full-fledged businesswomen in the absence of adequate infrastructure facilities and market linkages. The project is being implemented in Veda and Ambaliyara villages in Gujarat.

Capacity building training has been provided to the applicants for conducting market survey and making business plans. The women are in the process of developing their business plans through visiting markets, meeting business men/traders for exact details about pricing and calculating income and expenses.

Four Self Help Groups have already been formed while a number of aspiring women have submitted letters of interest for different businesses such as :

	Saree fall interlocking and stitching
	Mini oil mill
	Readymade clothes
	Making rexine items
	Paper ruling and note book making
	Plastic hand moulding items
	Renting mandaps/vessels fore ceremonies
	Beauty parlour and cosmetic selling
	Hardware shop
	Grain grinding and flour selling

	To increase the visibility and reach of the entrepreneurs by creation of higher business opportunities for catering to people within and outside their villages.
	To provide an infrastructure for better working space and conditions.
	To provide self-employment to capable entrepreneurs.