Ruralnaukri.com's Ajay Gupta: 'Rural Jobs Can Provide Momentum to the Wheel of the Economy'

Like other countries the world over, India is facing a slowdown. One solution offered by economists is to create jobs, boost confidence and fuel consumer spending. The target for such activity is not the cities, however. "In view of contracting global demand, we have to focus on domestic consumption by primarily stimulating growth in the rural areas," acting finance minister Pranab Mukherjee noted during a recent press interview.

Ajay Gupta, founder and CEO of ruralnaukri.com, has focused on jobs in the rural sector for several years now. (Naukri can be roughly translated from Hindi as "jobs" or "employment.") Gupta graduated from the G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, holds a post-graduate degree from the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), and received a PhD from the Delhi School of Economics. Initially, he entered the corporate sector -- 10 years in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arena and five years in business development. He then tried to move to the rural development sector, but found that there was no organized placement platform for such jobs; people went largely by word-of-mouth. This realization led to Gupta's creation of ruralnaukri.com. Set up in 2001 under the umbrella of Rural Management Consultants Private Ltd., the organization has grown considerably since then. In an interview with India Knowledge@Wharton, Gupta talks about employment in rural areas and his initiative's expansion on a grassroots level.

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4362

When will other sports get their due share?

Was reading this news piece on Times of India where in Saina Nehwal (world no. 6 Badminton player) talks about Badminton players should get their share of media coverage and sponsorship to promote the game further after doing fairly well in recent times.. But is somebody listening?

Other sports like chess and boxing are also pretty much in the same state..wonder when our media will be able to play a constructive role or when our government will be rich enough to support other sports...


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/badminton/Not-far-from-being-the-World-No1-Saina-Nehwal/articleshow/5782381.cms