With the resolve to present the unique regional products under the One District One Product (ODOP), the ambitious scheme of the state government, now the railway stations will also serve as promotional hubs and showcase the products at their destinations through the One Station One Product (OSOP) scheme.
Under this initiative, the products related to One District One Product (ODOP) scheme of a district will be displayed at the most-visited and primary platform at all the railway stations of that particular district.
For an instance, if a train is passing through Ayodhya, then all the railway stations falling in this district (Ayodhya, Ayodhya Cantonment, Bilhar Ghat, Bada Gaon, Bharatkund, Devrakot, Darshannagar, Gauria Mau, Masoudha, Raujagaon, Salarpur, Sohawal, Gosaiganj, Rudauli and Acharya Narendranagar), will provide a platform to jaggery which is the ODOP of Ayodhya.
Similarly, if a train is passing through Amethi, Sultanpur and Prayagraj, the platforms will display the diverse and beautiful products of ‘moonj’. The stations of Pratapgarh will display the sweet and sour processed products of amla. The people will also be provided options such as home delivery service, and also be exposed to a new range of products with changing vendors.
Recently, a meeting in this regard was also held between Additional Chief Secretary (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) Navneet Sehgaland the officials concerned of the Railways.
Stalls of standard size (6×5 feet or 6 × 10 feet and height of 10 feet) will be made available by the Railways. As per the requirements, there can be more than one of these stalls at a station. The stalls will be both permanent and in the form of trolleys. The rent for 15 days will be Rs 1,000, which will be borne by the MSME department. The list of vendors and their rotation will also be prepared by the department.
Such stalls have been set up under pilot projects in Varanasi Cantonment and Pratapgarh.
The OSOP was first mentioned in the Union Budget for 2022-2023. The objective was to strengthen the identification of specific products of a particular place by giving them a bigger platform as well as a permanent market. The success of the stalls set up under the pilot project at Varanasi and Pratapgarh has prompted the authorities to expand the scheme across the state.
Sehgal said that due to its extensive network, the Indian Railways was a symbol of the unity and integrity of the country. He said Uttar Pradesh, being the most populous state, was also one of the states with the largest number of passengers who use railways.
In addition, Uttar Pradesh has also emerged as the favourite destination of tourists in the last five years. Therefore, the One Station One Product (OSOP) scheme will further expand the scope of ODOP and will accelerate its success.