Young entrepreneurs in Silchar launch "Daily Bazaar", will deliver groceries, fish, meat at home

With the number of COVID positive cases rising thick and fast in Cachar, especially in Silchar town, stepping out of the home has become a risky affair. At the same time, without stepping out arranging for groceries and other edible items is also a problem. To address the issue, three young minds in Silchar decided to launch a new e-commerce platform, Daily Bazar

“The idea is simple, Daily Bazar aspires to be the Big Basket of Silchar,” says Soumitra Biswas one of the three founders. The other two are Subrata Sen and Raju Das Choudhury. Biswas and Sen have been working in the sales and marketing space while Raju Das Choudhury has his own hardware business. Apart from being one of the founders of Daily Bazar, Soumitra Biswas is a cricket coach at Silchar District Sports Association.

Biswas informed that Daily Bazar will take orders, buy items, and then deliver it at the doorstep. “One can order grocery items, meat, eggs, fish, vegetables. The order can be placed using the app which is already available for download in google play store” said Biswas. He added, “If someone cannot download the app and order digitally, we will also accept orders on call.”

Biswas claims that ‘Daily Bazar’ delivers orders within “40 to 45” minutes. At this stage, they are delivering in “Silchar town area.” “We have appointed six delivery boys to ensure a quick and prompt response from our side,” added Biswas. He believes Daily Bazar can decongest the markets in the town area which will help in following social distancing and therefore restricting the further spread of the virus. “The other ambition is to create employment,” said Biswas.

While it is a noble move to create jobs in the middle of a crisis, what is also critical is to ensure that the delivery boys are following all the protocols and not carrying the virus. E-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart are delivering products across the country including those areas where there are one or many COVID positive cases. However, e-commerce giants have laid strict protocols for the delivery-boys to follow. “We have also trained our delivery boys. Provided them with gloves, sanitisers and face shield. We encourage digital transactions but in case someone insists we do transact cash too,” said Biswas.

He informed that most of the customers pay using Google Pay. Going forward, as the market gets more accustomed to digital transactions, Biswas plans to completely stop cash transactions in order to make delivery 100 per cent contactless.

Apart from the risk involved in delivery, the country has expressed concerns about data breach too. Apps bring in the risk of data breach and compromise of personal assets that might be located in the phone or other handheld devices where the app is installed. Biswas said the Daily Bazar app has been developed by a “Guwahati based technology firm,” after duly following all the norms.

At a time when the Prime Minister has urged the country to be self-dependent, (Atma Nirbhaar) and vocal for local, it is indeed encouraging to see that Silchar youths are attempting to unlock the opportunity.

“Daily Bazar” has already started delivering in Silchar and its social media pages claim to have many happy customers. Will the Silcharians be ‘Vocal’ about this ‘Local’ innovation, remains to be seen.