The Rural Marketing Association of India (RMAI) has appointed Pradeep Kashyap, CEO, MART, as its next president. The appointment was announced at the fourth annual general meeting of the association held in Delhi. Kashyap takes over the reins of the association for two years (2009-10) after having served as its vice-president.
Kashyap, speaking on the appointment, said, “There is lots to be done for rural markets in India in terms of creating knowledge and creating interest in these markets. I will work towards enhancing the scope of the association with the help of the young team we have in place.”
Kashyap takes over from RV Rajan, chairperson, Anugrah Madison Advertising, who is also credited with laying the foundation stones for the association. Rajan held the office of the president for the last four years. He was re-elected after the initial two-year term.
“Rajan laid a strong foundation for the association and from there, it can only go up. Now, we are ready for the take-off,” quips Kashyap.
The other members who were elected at the general meeting of the RMAI are Raj Kumar Jha of Ogilvy Activation (VP); Sanjay Kaul of Impact Communication (secretary); and R Parthasarathy of Kripa Outdoor (treasurer).
The members of the executive committee of the association include RA Patankar of Sampark; Pradeep Lokhande of Rural Relations; Askari of Insight Communication; Sandip Bansal of Xpanse Asia; Sanjay Pragat of Vision Force; Atul Mandale of Maadhyam; and Rajat Iyer of Saarthak.
Talking on the agenda ahead, Kashyap says that the association will carry on building on its on-going programmes, while also focussing on knowledge sharing with other South Asian countries and building on the increased support from both the government and the corporates.
“For the last two years, the Indian Government has increased its focus on the rural markets through initiatives such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Similar initiatives are becoming instrumental in increasing the purchasing power of the rural population, which in turn is leading to increased sales of the corporate products in these markets. This, in its turn, provides a stimulus to the corporates to invest their time and money in rural India.”