DIGITAL INTERVENTIONS FOR OPTIMIZING MARKETABILITY OF TRIBAL PRODUCES: A SCOPE FOR INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRIBAL BELT OF GUJARAT

Tribal communities have been facing social and economic exclusion by the mainstream since time immemorial. In most of the tribal , due to their distant habitat has comparatively lower infrastructure than that of the rest. The popularity and adaptability of digital technology among the tribal community creates a new scope for inclusive development in Gujarat. The tribal community is located in the eastern tribal belt of Gujarat, in this tribal belt, lack of infrastructure and poor facilities for transport resulted into the developmental exclusion. Digital technology in the form of internet services has been catching up its popularity in these hinterlands. Digital technology via smartphones reached almost all households in the second decade of the twenty-first century. In reality, they can connect to the entire world on the internet but physical connection to even near markets is challenging. There is tremendous scope for digital technology intervention to create online marketing platforms for their products. This paper is an attempt to a solution of infrastructure bottle necks by way of an online platform of marketing to support tribal communities in eastern tribal belts of Gujarat. This paper is extracted from the recommendation that we submitted to the Tribal Research and Training Society (TRTS), Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of Gujarat titled of “Economic Development Vision for Tribals in Gujarat”. (Prof. Nimisha Shula and Naresh Chauhan, 2020)