NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Rinchen Norbu Wangchuk

While many parts of the country are witnessing long lines outside grocery stores during the current nationwide lockdown, the administration of a remote district in Arunachal Pradesh and MeeBuddy, an Andhra Pradesh-based online app are coming together to ensure residents get their essentials delivered home.

It was sometime in February when the Lohit district administration first reached out to MeeBuddy, an app which is like Big Basket, OLX and Urban Clap rolled into one for semi-urban and rural areas.

It delivers daily essentials, agricultural items and services like plumbing, carpentry and electrical work, while also providing a platform to purchase and sell local and used products like agriculture tools, electronic gadgets, and handicrafts across semi-urban and rural areas through affiliated dealers (franchisees).

Photo courtesy of Ronit Bhattacharjee.