In our lives whenever there is a financial emergency we have the privilege of access to a whole gamut of banking and financial services. We could walk into a bank avail a loan , use our credit cards. But there is a vast majority in our country who don’t even have access to a bank account.

That is where ‘Microcredit’ comes into play. Microcredit refers to providing small loans to low income households – mostly to start a micro-enterprise like livestock rearing, tailoring, grocery store etc. These income generating activities enable poor households to become self-reliant and get out of the vicious circle of poverty.

One can simply register on rangde.org to become a social investor. Choose borrowers to make a social investment of as little as Rs. 100. At the end of the repayment schedule, the investor receives a 2% interest on the investment.

Here’s an interview with Smita Ram, Co-Founder & COO , Rang De:

What was the whole idea behind starting Rang De?

The idea behind starting Rang De was to create a sustainable initiative that will address a problem at its roots. Prior to starting Rang De, we were dabbling with several ideas relating to child labor, domestic help, media etc.

But soon we realized that most of these problems had poverty as its root cause and unless we address poverty, the rest will continue to exist. While we were researching these problems, Mr. Mohammed Yunus won the Nobel Prize in December 2006. That’s how we were introduced to the concept of micro-credit. Something that intrigued us was the interest rates that the borrower paid and how little people like us knew about the concept.

Thus Rang De was born as an initiative that facilitates small loans (micro-credit) for Indians that do not have access to credit. You can lend from Rs. 100 onwards on www.rangde.org to entrepreneurs identified by our partners across India. Join us to make poverty history in India!

What kind of hurdles you had to face during setting up the organization?

There were plenty of challenges right from registering the entity, to attracting talent to getting funds. We continue to face similar and other challenges but that is what makes working for Rang De enjoyable.

Rang De has a fabulous repayment rate, how do you guys achieve that?

We follow a model that is similar to the one propagated by Mr. Mohammed Yunus. We lend money usually to individuals in groups.The group could be a self help group or a joint liability group. In both cases, the group members vet each other and the group leader signs as a guarantor. The group also agrees to pitching in with the repayments if one of them fails to repay. This is the main reason for the repayment rate. Apart from this, we have a criteria for the selection of the borrowers which our field partners follow.

What has been the response of the social investors?

Our social investor base is growing slowly but steadily. We have a little more than 1000 social investors and in some sense, we are a close-knit community. Those who invested their money first have also now begun to invest their time to make Rang De more efficient.

In how many states does the organization have its presence?

We currently have a presence in 10 states – Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Kerala, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,West Bengal.

Although the impact is quite evident, could you tell us some anecdotes of the social impact of Rang De, on individuals and the community in general?

Women entrepreneurs we are reaching out to in Orissa are getting access to loans for the first time. Their loan size is as small as Rs.1000. They are able to borrow money for the first time because it is affordable.

Any plans of making it a for-profit organization?

No. We do not plan to make it a for-profit organization.

How do you plan to take it forward? Where do you see it 5 years down the line?

We would like to be able to reach out to people across all states in India and go deeper into the territories where we have started to work. We would also like to provide a wide range of social investing options to the investors and make social investing a norm.

The Better India team wishes Rang De all the best of their mission to create a macro impact through micro credit.

Contact Details
Do visit www.rangde.org for more info
Twitter: http://twitter.com/rangde
Facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/127485?m=96aaaf39/

Sittilingi is a remote village in Dharmapuri district, 125 km away from Salem town in Tamil Nadu, which used to be a god forsaken land caught under the spell of quacks and black magic. Noisy drums and fake injections were all they had to cure illnesses. This is when Dr. Regi and Dr. Lalitha took the plunge. This doctor couple went ahead to provide medical services to the tribals of Sittilingi, leaving their promising careers in the cities.

The couple found their calling in service to the underprivileged and wanted to use their knowledge where it was needed the most. Their hunt for the right place to offer their service ended at Sittilingi, a totally neglected and ignored tribal village. They ventured into the village, faced tough resistances and now they have emerged successful in establishing a full-fledged medical center for the tribals. A service beyond praises! 

Regi and Lalitha called their service the Tribal Health Initiative (THI). Their perseverance and continued service has brought about dramatic change in the living conditions of the natives. Infant mortality rate in Sittilingi has reduced to 20/1000 and there are no mothers dying in childbirth for the past 5 years. The nutrition levels of children and the general well being of the people have improved to a great extent.

Another striking fact about the Sittilingi initiative is that the girls who serve as nurses at the medical center are personally trained by Regi and Lalitha. When Regi and Lalitha saw that it was extremely difficult to get nurses to work at this tribal village, they decided to go choose smart and trainable girls from the village. This became such a wonderful uplift to the self esteem of the girls that they are extremely proud to be part of this initiative and to serve their community.

THI’s approach to medical care went one step ahead in educating the people and ‘helping the tribals help themselves’. They wanted to create a general understanding about health and health issues and make the natives acquainted with basic first aid. Today, over 21 neighbouring villages are benefiting from the Tribal Health Initiative that sprung at Sittilingi.  

And, the couple didn’t stop with medical facilities. They organize educational programmes, cultural activities and community development initiatives. There is a library facility that is available for children who also get to listen to motivating stories from a community worker every month.  Truly commendable, right?

It is very heartening to know about the selfless and committed service of Regi and Lalitha and many others who are supporting them. You can visit them at Sittilingi and get to know their service better. We also encourage you to support the initiative by contributing to the cause. Visit http://www.tribalhealth.org/

Global Warming. Unemployment. How do you come up with a solution that addresses both these issues? S M Raju, a civil servant in Bihar has done just that. Raju has started a campaign to encourage unemployed village folk to start planting trees. This campaign has been linked with the government’s NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and thus the village people earn money by planting these trees.

Amarnath Tewary writes in this article at the BBC:

An Indian civil servant, SM Raju, has come up with a novel way of providing employment to millions of poor in the eastern state of Bihar.

The article quotes that about 44% of Bihar’s population is under the poverty line. And Bihar has not been able to successfully spend the NREGA funds allocated to them mostly due to lack of awareness. Here comes Raju’s idea of bringing in tree plantation as part of NREGA.

Raju’s program has brought in significant benefits, as he says:

“So the idea struck to my mind, why not involve families below the poverty line in social forestry and give them employment under this scheme for 100 days?

“Under the scheme, each family can earn a minimum of 10,200 rupees ($210).”

Read the complete article here, which lists how Raju conceptualized and executed this successful idea. A special thanks to reporter Amarnath Tewary for writing about this.

Link to original article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8257563.stm
Link submitted by: Deepak and Prakash

Introducing SourcePilani, a company that is bringing the concept of BPO to rural India, starting off from the small town of Pilani in Rajasthan.

SourcePilani provides high quality and low cost BPO services by leveraging the hitherto untapped talent that rural India has to offer to the growing Indian economy. In addition to providing employment to the local people, SourcePilani is also providing the rural youth an exposure to the paths of progress being witnessed in the bigger Indian cities.

The basic model followed by SourcePilani includes identifying youth from various schools/colleges who are interested in taking up a BPO career. Since most applicants are from Hindi medium of instruction, they are put through an English training course for a period of 3 months. Post this, the recruits are put on the job under the supervision of team leaders who groom the new comers and make them able to handle the tough requirements of a BPO career. As an outcome of all of this, the youth of Pilani have been able to increase their income levels and over a period of time the economic spectrum of the town will also be enhanced. This is a wonderful way of executing inclusive growth and progress. Here is a sample of a couple of recruits who have joined SourcePilani and how their lives has been transformed:

Rajendar Singh (Raju). Qualification: 10+2 (Hindi Medium) Raju like many of the youth in this part of the country was aspiring to get into the Indian army, unfortunately after several trials he couldn’t get through. His father is a Technician in the workshop in BITS Pilani and he was the only source of Income for a family of 4. Before joining SourcePilani, Raju lived the life of an unemployed for more than 3 years and SourcePilani gave him a chance to build his career in the BPO space. One year back he used to struggle to talk in English and his keyboard skills and computer skills were minimal. After undergoing a 3 month training Raju was put into on-the-job training where he honed his skills and improved upon his language capability. He started off with a petty salary which was <100 rupees a day a year ago and today with his hard work and sincerity he has been promoted to the level of Team Leader, for SourcePilani’s Internet Marketing Team. He manages complex jobs like Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing and he heads a team of 5 members. Currently he draws a Salary of 5000 rupees which is a significant financial support for his family.

Pooja. Qualification: BSc. (Hindi Medium)
Pooja has been working with SourcePilani for over a year now. There are very few girls in the organization today and this is mostly because of the cultural aspects in Rajasthan. Pooja and her parents made the right decision to send her to work, by neglecting all the peer pressure from the society. Like Raju, even Pooja started off with a petty salary and today she earns a salary of over 5000 and she is able to fund the education of her two younger sisters.

Check out the following table to get an idea of the impact that SourcePilani is having on the economic progress of the town’s inhabitants:

To get a visual idea of what SourcePilani is doing and their impact on the society, please check out the video embed below:

If you are unable to see the embed above, please click here to view the video.

You can know more about SourcePilani and contact them at their website: www.sourcepilani.com

Khabar Lahariya a weekly newspaper in Bundeli (local dialect of Bundelkhand) is being run by a group of women from various sections of the society from the interiors of Chitrakoot and Banda in Uttar Pradesh. Their main objective is to reach out to the nearby villages and provide them with ‘infotainment’.

Despite having a limited exposure to the literacy and information, their ability to interact with various people in public sphere and coming up with innovative ideas is extremely remarkable. Their works have been acknowledged and credited by leading National Dailies including The New Indian Express, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Tehelka and various other dailies and weekly’s.

In 2008, the Khabar Lahariya group registered themselves as an independent organization, Pahal. With the incredible support from Nirantar, which is an acclaimed centre for gender and education, Pahal has now found its place in rural women’s media collectives of our country.

Khabar Lahariya carries out news that is of primary importance to the masses in and around these areas. Although they do have sections regarding current affairs, national and international news, they strongly highlight the cases of violence against women, issues on Dalits and more. This 8-page newsletter also covers issues on institutions like schools, marriage, health care and more.

Although these journalists do not come from strong literary background, they do ensure the quality does not receive a set back. Significant efforts have been made in order to improve their technical skills, their reporting and writing skills and more. Apart from the above, they also encourage public interactions and gather inputs to cater to the specific needs of the women. Meanwhile, frequent workshops are also being conducted by these women to encourage more writers and volunteers to have an in hand practical experience of running a newspaper.

Depending on the need of the hour, they hold meetings at their editorial office to divide their beats and after enormous research and writing they go all the way to the nearest city Allahabad for printing.

Click on the image below to read an issue of Khabhar Lahariya:

These phenomenal revolutionaries, who have gone beyond their capacity to go on fields, have received the prestigious Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Mediaperson. Also, three members of the group have received fellowships from the Dalit Foundation in 2004, for reporting on issues related to rights of the Dalit community.

Overwhelming technological cloud has also been bestowed upon the offices of KL as they now work on computers with broadband connections. The challenge of consistently making an outstanding appearance in the face of media and having an unbiased opinion regarding the political scenario of our country comes very easily to them. They aren’t restricted in writing what their leaders want them to write. They write information regarding subjects that pertain to them. Hats off to the women behind this initiative, they have managed to achieve what many of us with enough resources have been unable to do!

Read more details about Khabar Lahariya, including how the paper is produced, edited and distributed at Nirantar’s website: NIRANTAR

This article written by guest reporter Jheel Parekh.
All images courtesy NIRANTAR.

In this article, we talk about a successful cooperative initiative called The Apple Project launched by Shri Jagdamba Samiti (SJS), an NGO led by Mr. L.P. Semwal.

SJS launched this project in Uttarakhand with the realisation that small farmers in a market-oriented agribusiness get further marginalised mainly due to the dominance of mandis, a chain of well-organised intermediaries who control the entire process from credit supply for farm inputs, transportation and marketing of produce. The apple project hence strives to create a model of business-driven, decentralised independent and small-scale production with coordinated arrangements for processing and marketing by providing technical, managerial and investment support to enable farmers collectively to move up the value chain. The ‘collective’ feature of the business model is promoted to save individual time, distribute risk, maintain price assurance, pursue damage control and save on handling costs such as storage and transportation.

Empowerment beyond economic gains

The Centre apparently did have an empowering effect among the community beyond mere economic gains. First, market dynamics and the apple business as such became more transparent and easier to understand for everyone. Thereby, people were enabled to participate actively and accumulate broader ownership instead of depending on traders and middlemen. Also, people were encouraged to view and understand power no longer purely along the lines of traditional class boundaries, but become aware of the power and possibilities for participation they have. Also, the Centre has an empowering effect on women. It was for instance repeatedly noted that women were for the first time participating in public meetings, and daring to speak up in public.

Breaking the prevalent market cycle

A main strategy of the Apple Project is to break the dependency of small and marginal farmers on middlemen through a process of a joint marketing via the Centre. This has both strong economic effects, as it raises the farmers’ direct gains significantly, and empowers them by reducing their risk of being exploited by middlemen. However, breaking entirely away from a highly organised network of middlemen is not an easy task. Middlemen still keep a tight control of crucial stages of growing as well as apples’ post-harvest processing. Sometimes, middlemen also operate transport services and buy apples from farmers at their orchards, but at a very low price. It is hence not easy for small farmers to delink themselves from the system controlled by middlemen. A sustainable, comprehensive alternative system should be in place.

The role of SJS as an external agent

The commitment, entrepreneurial competence and perseverance of the leadership of the farmers’ association and the Centre staff have been the main contributory factors for the success of business operations. SJS as an external agent has, however, played a distinctive role as a facilitator of the process. SJS’s main contribution has been to come up with an innovative business model for small and marginal apple growers and to build capacities of farmers to own and run such a business operation. SJS’s role in this regard has been building capacities of farmers in general and leadership of the farmers’ association in particular. The other important role that SJS has played as an external agent is to mediate power-play in relation to forming the farmers’ association.

Matching economic goals with social goals

The uniqueness of the Apple Project is its business model which is based on the functioning of the business operations whilst at the same ensuring social goals. If economic benefits are only used for consumption purposes there is no clear link to social change. Hence, it is important to monitor what the money is spent for (e.g. education, better health care etc.).

Story Telling Workshop for the Apple Farmers (Courtesy: CDC)

Promoting a value-driven business model

Organising small and marginal apple growers is not simply an economic activity. The story of apple growers in Bawar area suggests that power structures and politics play a major role in village life and an economic activity cannot circumvent or keep aloof from such realities. The new farmers’ association and the Centre promoted a principle of political neutrality and a leadership model which is based on competence instead of party affiliations. Promoting a new form of economic activity with a social goal based on political neutrality and competence had been possible due to the values of inclusiveness and tolerance of diversity, which the Centre stands for. Drivers of change must hence incorporate the values they aim to promote, and these should be reflected in all areas of operation.

Enabling farmers to jointly move up the economic chain

With support from private investors, originating from successful business families, a new model for advancement of small and marginal farmers is now being tested in India and other countries. This model is an attempt to find a healthy entry point for rural development by concentrating on setting-up healthy agro-businesses in which farmers themselves gradually gain economic ownership.
Similar to the self-help groups and cooperatives, the aim is to set-up healthy business in handling, processing and trading farmer’s commodities on a commercial basis. The main difference of the new approach is that the farmers are equal business partners of the investor: they will only gain full economic ownership if the investment is repaid fully. No paternalistic form of aid, but a sound economic partnership between an investor and a (farmer-owned) company. The investor assists the farmers in setting up commercially-run businesses (private Limiteds), based on a solid feasibility and business plan, and makes available a full (guaranteed) loan to the new company. The companies are to generate sufficient profit to pay back the loan, capitalize the company and invest in new profitable business ventures (allowing the farmer to move further up the value-addition chain). Part of the profit flows back to the farmers in the form of better prices for their commodities and possibly dividend payments.Some of the guiding principles behind the projects where the new model is being tested, are:

The above article is excerpted from the original article by CDC with due permission from SJS.
All images courtesy CDC and SJS.

Azadpura is a village in Bundelkhand region. This area faces acute water scarcity and one problem that the women faced was a faulty well which required urgent repairing. The women aired this problem on Radio Bundelkhand and within four days the concerned authority replaced the missing wheel of the well. This is the power of Radio Bundelkhand, an initiative of Development Alternatives.

Community Radio for facilitating dialogue and interactive communication

The purpose of setting up Radio Bundelkhand, as identified with the help of our communities in the radius of the radio station, is to work along with them to use this communication medium to create awareness, give information, participate in local self governance and provide entertainment – all based on requests and feedback from the community. The audience includes the communities in the radius of the broadcast range – with special attention to women, youth and the marginalised groups.

Listening to Radio Bundelkhand

Community Members on the Radio

The community and DA, jointly manage the station. There are five community reporters and six community coordinators. The villages these reporters represent are Azadpura, Ramnagar, Sitapur, Basova, Bagan, Bhagwantpur, Ghatao, Jamuniya, Gujerra Kalan, Mathrapur and Ghatao. There is also a Management Committee comprising the Sarpanch (elected village-head) of Basova Village, doctors, farmers and Self Help Group members.

Until now, Radio Bundelkhand has the longest duration of programming of four hours a day, seven days a week, in Bundelkhandi and Hindi amongst the government licensed community radio stations in India. The Government of India has given licenses to several NGOs throughout India to start community radios in their project areas. DA is one of the first to set up such a radio with the communities it has been serving for more than two decades in the Bundelkhand region.

The communities have decided that they would like information related to employment and livelihood opportunities, development of women, girl’s education, legal rights, farmers’ issues, training, their culture and history, how to ensure the availability of basic infrastructure such as water, energy and roads, development issues, and any other information sought by the communities. The broadcast timings in the morning and evening have been selected by the communities, with the women preferring the morning and the men the evening.

The programming, based on issues and content identified by the communities, is broadcast in the formats which they have preferred, that include the use of traditional Bundelkhandi songs, folk music and nataks, discussions, reports, commodity prices, phone-ins, experts speak, coverage of events in villages, jokes and satire, listeners’ letters and feedback. The Wireless Operating License was issued on July 31st, 2008 and the first transmission took place on August 15 2008 with the broadcast of the national anthem. Meanwhile the selected community reporters were trained over three months and a woman from Sitapur village inaugurated the station on the eve of Diwali. Community radio broadcasting/narrowcasting has allowed the rural poor to develop their communication in a language they understand. Community radio fosters debate on issues, facilitates access to government, decision-making and helps community members to organise themselves and evolve to manage their own affairs. Radio Budelkhand is characterised by its signature tune and jingles which declare that it is “Apna Radio Apni Baatein” – Our radio Our conversations.

Reaching our communities

The reach of the community radio is in a wide range of approximately 5-10 kms and 25 villages with a population of 15000 in the coverage area that are benefiting through the infotainment-based programmes. So far, Radio Bundelkhand radio has penetrated to the rural communities settled in and around TARAgram Orchha like the villages of Gundrai, Chandravan, Bagan, Orchcha, Sitapur, Azadpura, Lachmanpura.

The targeted beneficiaries are the marginalised and poorest with special emphasis on women and the unemployed youth who are the most vulnerable but also the potential change-makers. By selecting women community reporters, marginalised community reporters in an average age group of 20 we hope to reach them better.
The Management Committee also has a woman self-help group head. DA aims to ensure the participation of local people for the programming, broadcast and management of the station by the community itself.

The above article was written by Indira Mansingh, Chief Advisor, Development Alternatives.

Thank you Purnima Gupta for sending this across!
Previous article of Development Alternatives – Click here.

Neetu (13) is a student of class seven. Her village, Rampur located in Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh, has a primary school (up to standard five), so she has to go to the adjoining village Mathanpura for her schooling. She has two sisters and one brother. All of them go to school.

Her cousin Rinkoo studies in class eight. But she does not go to the school and would appear for the exams only (because of the social constraints). Almost all boys in the village go to school but girls study up to class 7 or 8 only, because after 5th they have to go to the school in adjoining village.

Neetu’s mother, Girija devi works at home and helps her husband in the field. Both the Neetu’s parents can not help her in her studies. Neither do they have any tuition facility. Neetu has to do her home work by her own and she does it under the kerosene lamp, as the village has no electricity.

Most of the energy demands in Rampur depend on the fossil fuels. Here kerosene lamps are used for the lighting purpose, diesel pumps are used for irrigation, cow dung for cooking and so on. There is no TV, fan etc in the village (although they can afford it). Children study under the kerosene lamps in unhealthy conditions. Women try to finish their cooking etc before it gets dark in the evening.

Although the village is economically sound – Rampur has a good groundwater table and acres of cultivable land are being transformed into a model farm with multiple cropping (three crops in a year) – it is still backward with harsh living conditions and no electricity.

There is a lack of knowledge about the importance of education, water management, health and hygiene etc.

But then there came a ray of hope.

The village was electrified under the village energy security plan of Development Alternatives in collaboration with the Scatec Solar, a Norway based company to promote Solar Energy. The goal of the project was to provide electricity by tapping renewable energy (solar energy), as well as provide educational and training support to the villagers in the areas of Education, healthcare, raising agricultural productivity, and improving water management.

A Village Energy Committee has been formed with local people’s representatives plus experts actively involved in the development of the area. This committee plans, implements, monitors and controls the project activities. The committee is helping to construct, operate and maintain the center as well as to mobilize the rural masses for various community activities.

Sports equipments have been provided in school for the children by Development Alternatives.
The work on the power plant has been completed on a fast track and it was inaugurated on 26th Jan 2009.

So after this republic day Neetu and all her friends haven’t been studying under the kerosene lamp. They now study under CFL. Girija devi watches TV and has installed a fan to get relief from heat and mosquitoes.

But, still, there is a lot to be done.

There is a need of a program for the children specially girls to improve pre-school, middle school and high school education plus need for vocational training in skills development.

A need to teach villagers water management practices such as the use of holding ponds, provision of potable water, sustainable agricultural practices, and health services.

Rural transformation in India rests in the hands of women. You may have heard that if you give money to the woman of the house, she takes care of the family. If you give the same money to the man of the house (in rural India), the woman and children will see little of it.

The idea is to encourage and promote women empowerment by providing them basic necessities, resources and income generating skills that will go on to improve the quality of their life.

Article submitted by: Suman Raina. Thanks for your contribution!

Picture Courtesy: Scatec Solar