Which example in the video your group did find as the best example of

democratization of commerce and why? (Within 300 words in running text

format)
According to us, the best example of democratization of commerce is the E Choupal an
initiative by ITC Limited to link directly with rural farmers via the Internet for procurement
of agriculture and aquaculture products. More than 50% of the population of India is
directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture. Still the contribution of agriculture towards
the GDP of India is a mere 18%. This suggests that the agricultural sector is lacking
somewhere. Indian farmers are not well aware about the technological advancements in the
field of agriculture and hence are dependent on the old techniques passed on to them from
their fore fathers. ITCs E Choupal is aimed at solving that problem only. ITC Limited has
provided computers and Internet access in rural areas across the country, and the farmers
can negotiate the sale of their produce with ITC Limited. Online access also enables farmers
to obtain information on mandi prices, good farming practices, crop insurance schemes, and
to place orders for agricultural inputs like seeds and fertilizers. This helps farmers improve
the quality of their products, and helps in obtaining a better price. As we observed in the
video that regular reading of CBOT report helped the farmers save lakhs of money, thus this
initiative by ITC is really the democratization of commerce.