Last night in cyberspace, we had a 60 minutes case discussion using a web collaboration tool, MS TEAMS. The case discussion in the Supply Chain Management class of MBA semester 2 did not happen inside the classroom. It was a country-wide classroom case discussion mediated by high-tech. The participants spanned across the country from Meghalaya to Maharashtra and Punjab to Kerala.
The participants were my students spread across India from Meghalaya to Mumbai, Delhi to Trivandrum and were discussing on the Agricultural supply chain challenges across the country and beyond, during these Covid times..
The discussions started on a sober note at 8 pm. We had a bit of noise and disturbance in between as about 23 students attending the discussion needed to raise their opinions, all at the same time. The main purpose of the discussion was to sensitize the student community on the challenges faced by the agricultural supply chains across the country during these Covid times ..
While some students were of the view that the all important agri supply chains in the country were operating without any stresses, others were of the view that there were challenges. The suppliers were actually depleting their safety stocks to supply to organized retail chains like Reliance Fresh (Ambani), Star bazar (Tatas) and More supermarkets (Birlas) and others, the effect of which they felt, will be experienced after 6 months.
Only these organized retail stores, spread across the country with a strong supply chain, are open these days helping the common man. Mom and pop corner stores, which account for 90% of the retail landscape, frequently run out of stock as replenishments are not reliable because of the transportation lock down. Organized retail accounts for just 10% of India's total retail trade of $60 billion.
In Andhra, the govt has ensured that there are shops selling provisions and vegetables every 2 km distance across the state. Reliance Fresh arranges home delivery in some parts of Andhra too. Here in Bangalore we stand outside in queue for 50 minutes to enter inside ghe store and spend another 40 minutes inside before checking out.
As my student from Meghalaya told, in North East which has not yet seen a Corona death, the situation is more relaxed, though they are taking precautions, practicing social distancing and self quarantine, avoiding social functions.
Also in remote Jharkhand or Assam, the situation is same, tense yet relaxed. In Assam, except for rice, dal and aloo, other estables are really difficult to procure and stock. Vehicles were not playing on roads making stock replenishment in stores difficult. Police are trying their level best to avoid prople crowding at public places, malls, supermarkets etc ..
While the demand for household items, provisions, vegetables, fruits, cleaning materials etc. was not varying much, the supply chain was found to be stressed not because of dearth of items but for lack of reliable transportation modes across the country. The inactivity happening in the farming fields and orchards will reflect in reduced supplies to the market in six months time to a year, which could bring price increases on reduced supply. The anti-social activity of hoarding has been unheard of so far.
Really, the Covid virus pandemic is a great case study in effective leadership. Kerala public never thought the Kerala CM, Pinarayi Vijayan would emerge as a good leader even surpassing Modi in arranging fast, effective responses, motivating lakhs of volunteers across the state irrespective of party affiliations to join in nation building. .. 👍👍👍
George
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