By Y.S.Rana ; Chandigarh: He grew up like any other small-town child, completing his schooling, going to college, and doing his bachelors. But unlike others of his ilk toeing the dotted line, Varun Kashyap was obsessed with the thought of doing something to make a difference to the society. He wanted to do something different or do the common things differently. It is perhaps these urge that made him turn down a lucrative job offer from a corporate house his glorious academic (B. Tech) and sports career brought him. Inspired by the success of the Amul experiment, Varun thought of a similar-looking idea to serve the end-consumer. After giving the idea a careful thought, he floated ‘Suvidha Bazar’ (Convenience Market) to supply fresh vegetables and fruits to the consuners right at their doorsteps, that too, at prices cheaper than the market.
“It is a mobile retailing platform where fresh produce is picked up from the farms and supplied to end-consumers at their doorsteps, eliminating the long chain of middlemen, and the wearing down effect on the produce caused by the time lag. It ensures a win-win situation for both the farmer and the consumer providing them price advantage”, Varun said. Having engineering background, he designed an eye-catching three-wheeler, equipped with latest technology and the required cooling mechanism. “The availability of large variety of fresh vegetables and fruits, exact weight, reasonable price coupled wuth the convenience of delivery, is catching the fancy of consumers,” quipped Varun.
Buoyed up by the encouraging response to the venture, he now plans to raise a team of dedicated youth for institutional sale of fruit and vegetables who would also contact hotels and restaurants. The entire operation being scalable, it can be taken to any extent by involving more youths, and increasing the area of the market. “And this is where the scope lies for turning the initiative into a new revolution”saysVarun. Interestingly, it was never a problem for Varun to start Suvidha Bazar as he learnt the basics as NSS volunteer where he was asked to purchase fruits for fellow ranks. It is there that he noticed how a consumer was fleeced on weight, price and quality by the players in the game.
It was there that the idea struck him to do something unique to bail out the end-users. On an experimental basis, he limited his venture to the confines of Chandigarh, but now plans to expand it. His venture narrows down the huge difference between what the farmer gets and what the end-consumer pays, which ranges from 200 to 400 per cent. Besides, it will help reduce the daily wastage of fresh produce which accounts for $ 27 million, by 30 to 40 per cent. Hailing from Mandi District in Himachal Pradesh, Varun did his senior school from Govt Model Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh, and ICSE from St. Stephen’s School, Chandigarh, by scoring 83 per cent marks.
He is B.E in Mechanical Engineering from PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh. Imbued with entrepreneurial spirit, Varun held many leadership positions. He was awarded the Sheilly Sachdev Memorial Gold Medal for social activities in 2010 by the university, and bronze standard of the International Award of Young People awarded by the Duke of Edinburgh. More than fifty medals (15 gold, 20 silver and 16 bronze) in his kitty, he was awarded the Advisor’s Gold Medal for overall outstanding performance in sports for 2006-10. Winner of four college colours for dedicated work, Varun will be awarded best NSS volunteer award (2009-10) by the Chandigarh Administration on June 5, 2011. Varun is also a kind hearted man. He is a member of the Rotaract Club, Chandigarh, raised INR 1.2 million at Heartline Concerts to sponsor surgeries of 11 children from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Africa.
He is also the senior student coordinator for PEC Shiksha Pariyojana, an inclusive growth initiative to teach 10 students of poor families and help them achieve excellence in their academic career. The PEC University has sanctioned Rs 50,000 per year for the project.