Mahalle couple’s ‘Gramhit’ company in Forbes’ Asia list
| Date :07-Sep-2022 |
Yavatmal Correspondent
The ‘Gramhit’ company started by Yavatmal’s son Pankaj Mahalle and Shweta Mahalle (Thakre) from Warud (Tuka) has been included in the globally famous Forbes’ Asia list of 100 best quality companies.
Pankaj Mahalle, who is a farmer’s son, after taking higher education came to the village to help the farmers instead of doing a high-salaried job in any big city. It is commendable that a company founded by a farmer’s son in Yavatmal district has gained entry in the Forbes’ list at a time when farmers are committing suicides.
Even after toiling hard, the agricultural produce of the farmers do not get good price and the farmers who are in financial difficulties have to sell their goods at much lower price.
Pankaj and Shweta Mahalle took initiative in setting up a marketing system in mobile phone through their ‘Gramhit’ company. The company searched reliable buyers who offered better prices and the company that was limited to a few villages in Yavatmal expanded its branches to Akola district. Today more than 3,000 farmers are benefited through the ‘Gramhit’ company. A simple and trustworthy method of determining the quality of the goods on the mobile and selling the produce to the needy purchaser at a good price and to pay the whole amount to the farmer whose produce was sold without any deduction was the motto of the ‘Gramhit’ company.
When Pankaj was small, he had seen his father storing grain in large bamboo basket that used to be covered by a coat of soil and the grain used to remain safe for months.
Nowadays grains are stored in warehouses after spraying chemicals, that may be harmful to humans. Therefore, taking a cue from his father’s practice Pankaj has manufactured airtight containers in which the grain stored by farmers remains safe for 12 to 14 months. The grains can be sold in the market whenever they fetch good price.
After being included in the Forbes’ list both Pankaj and Shweta will get fellowship and will go to Washington for getting training. Before starting this company Pankaj had completed his BSW from College of Social Work, MSW from Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai. He worked on a high position in Jamshedpur in Tata’s CSR project.
Shweta after doing BE from IIT Hyderabad. Both of them left their high profile jobs and started the ‘Gramhit’ company three years ago. Taking note of the ‘Gramhit’ company’s work for the benefit of farmers Forbes’ Asia has included the company in the list of 100 quality companies.