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Shiv Nagar village, on the western edge of Uttar Pradesh's Muzzaffarnagar district, is as remote as it can get. Yet, the village that cannot be located on a map is making news because it wants to change its name into Snapdeal.com Nagar.
Shiv Nagar did not have access to clean drinking water and villagers had to travel a kilometre for it. Then e-commerce company Snapdeal.com decided to adopt it as part of its corporate social responsibility. The company installed 15 hand-pumps in the village.
Overwhelmed, the villagers reciprocated in a unique manner — by announcing a change in the name of the village, Mr Kunal Bahl, CEO, Snapdeal.com, told Business Line . The village elders took consensus from community members and filed an official application with the Block District Officer, who cleared it. The application is now with the Sub-District Magistrate.
“What can be a more basic need than water? It changes the lives of people significantly. It did not cost us much and was a fairly simple thing to do, and… the villagers decided to change the name of their village,” said Mr Bahl.
“We have not seen our MLA after the elections. When this company came and did something for us, it was only proper to show our gratitude,” says Mr Rajkumar, a villager. The one-year-old company does not plan to adopt more villages as a part of its CSR, but over the next five years, it plans to work on the school, hospital and other infrastructure of the village. The village gets electricity for only two-three hours every day and there are only three schools till class eight, said Mr Bahl.
“We cannot build schools but will ensure they get functioning computer labs and basic amenities. We spoke to the BDO to ensure there is stable electricity in the area, which is necessary for installing computers,” he said.
The company, with a 500-strong workforce, is not ambitious. Mr Bahl says, “We are not a Fortune 500 company and can do only so much. There are thousands of companies like ours in India and if they all supply drinking water to villages, the impact would be significant.”
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