Reviving Virudhunagar

<<Post delayed due to my mini-vacation at home>>

For people who don't know: I hail from a place called Virudhunagar (VNR), a remote town with less than a lakh population and about 50 KM south of Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Recently visited my home town after a long time - Was wondering how the town has changed over the last 10-20 years.

Let me start with the education in VNR.  A large number of people in the town spent insane amount of time and money to build free schools offering quality education. No wonder the Ex-TN CM Mr. Kamaraj was born here. Do you believe that such a small town had once produced many IIT students and NTSE scholars, all through free local coaching?  While JEE coaching is no longer available in the town for the last 15 years, the town continues to get reasonable success with NTSE.

Today, my school is glimmering with lots of new buildings, new tie and lots of young staff . Also, it's now the proud host of the annual, month-long-exhibition during summers. The pink color half-sarees have vanished from our main rival school. I am sure the rivalry between the 2 schools would continue as long as the human race continues to have men and women. Ok, to put it differently, I feel the town is yet to see a good co-ed school.

Today, the town also has a technology / engineering college.  You may ask which town doesn't have one today! Still, this one is special as it's not  promoted by a cine-actor or a wealthy business man. Am very delighted to know that  the college has established a name for itself within years of commencement.

While it feels nice to bask on the good things of the town, there are areas where it is significantly laid back - conspicuous among them are Infrastructure and Economy.

You see excellent highways till the point you reach the town. Just when you think things have improved, you are in for a rude shock. Be it roads, water, drainage or power, I see least difference from the town 20 years back and now. I know it's not just the bane of my town, but for many towns in India. Nevertheless, I am very disappointed with the mountainous corruption and the lousy job carried out by the politicians and the officials.

It's quite unfortunate that even with a good bunch of smart people, the town hasn't made much economic progress - the real economic growth has been pretty stagnant over the decade or so. The town once had the advantage of being the manufacturing center of edible oil and a trading hub of almost anything tradable. While it still has some dominance over oil production (thanks to companies like Idayam group), the trading business is dwindling at a phenomenal rate. Yes, thanks to the trend of  disintermediation in today's businesses.

Added to the woes are the emerging demographic profile of the people - As one of my old teachers said, "Today's youngsters with decent education no longer prefer to stay in the town."  Decreasing percentage of working population could have following implications:

• On demand side: Consumption shifts predominantly towards essential commodities and healthcare (sounds like the economies of Italy / Japan?). This leaves the town with significantly limited business opportunities (as Government plays a significant role in both of those sectors.)
• On supply side: The town as a whole could become more risk averse - could lead to slowing of innovation, entrepreneurship, pursing new business opportunities and ultimately very low capital investment

These two implications are not independent and once they get into a cycle, they could produce disastrous results.

Oh, enough of cribbing about the problems. Are there ways to get out of this cycle and revive the town. Of course, where there is a will, there will be a way!  Here are some quick ideas which can be explored..

• First and foremost: For anybody in the who town wants to do something good: please forget all your politics, ego and constant complaints and join hands with each other to do something constructive. It's high time you work for the people than your name and fame. [I know there are still many people doing excellent job with good intentions - but a better coordination and a swift action at war pace is required to achieve anything significant!]
• Next, create a master plan for the growth / revival of the town with clear milestones. It needs to take the inputs of, and have plans / benefits for all stakeholders - politicians, public servants, business entities, women, students and children. Everyone cooperates, contributes and benefits.
• Please be ready to develop new skills than preparing & eating "poricha" parotas (i.e. fried Indian Bread) We need to have more skill development programs for students and adults. Create crucibles for generating ideas and businesses. The program should develop real confidence and capabilities for the participants.

And a last one...

With economy being the backbone of the entire issue - Once it's revived, there is a good chance of the overall revival. I feel VNR needs to choose and specialize in a new industry. And it can't rely on its internal consumption to grow further. It needs to get synonymous with an industry - the likes of Tiruppur and Sivakasi or Kanchipuram or Naamakkal. It should use the existing capabilities and resources in the best way possible to create a not-so-easy to replicate idea / industry. It needs to create a niche for itself. Let's explore options..

• Primary sectors? With unfavorable weather, land and poor supply of weather, pure play agriculture would be a distant dream. Nor do we have oil or forest. However agribusiness and food processing (can be categorized as Manufacturing  as well) seem like potential candidates. India with its humongous population and very poor food processing capabilities, it's seen as one of the sunrise sector. The town's history of trading in agricultural products should help in its favor.
• Tertiary sectors?
  • Trading? Retail or Wholesale? Yeah, it had been our bread and butter in the past. But with the changing structure of industries, having a centralized trading hub seems impractical. With the advancement of technology, there is less opportunity which is aligned with existing people's capabilities. So, for now, it is ruled out.
  • Services? How about IT, Hospitality, Finance, Entertainment or Healthcare etc? Sounds interesting and new - But do we have enough skilled labor pool? I doubt it.  Yes, we can create yet another Rural BPO, but creating the likes of Bangalore or Gurgaon for IT doesn't seem feasible. I didn't mean we should shun any opportunities in services. Just that it being a differentiator for VNR in the short to medium term is questionable. Also, the development won't be inclusive of the entire population.
• Secondary sectors?
  • Manufacturing? I think it's good way to go. Its proximity to 3 ports in South India and the well laid out rail and road network should benefit geographically. The existing cost of land and labor are very low as well. I think manufacturing industries such as food / dairy processing, mass electronic / semiconductor products, cement / concrete products (there are some 3-5 cement factories near by), Health / personal care products, Furniture / durables etc are good candidates.

We just need few historians, technological experts, economists and business minds to sit together, brainstorm and identify THE industry. If the right industry is clearly identified and properly planned and executed, it could the revival, the people in the town have been looking for!