Commonwealth Games, the Metro, a new airport, Gurgaon Expressway, new malls…. all these are part of Delhi’s exciting transformation that’s currently underway. Progress on these projects, their launch( and the opening glitches!) are stuff that newspaper headlines and party conversations are made of.
But the other side of this magnificent urban development is something that rarely makes headlines. The Savda Ghevra story is part of that ‘other side’.

 
For these families(‘below-poverty-line’ migrants originally from Eastern   Uttar Pradesh  , West Bengal, Bihar , Assam & Gujarat.), hasty and unplanned re-location has led to every kind of imaginable problem- lack of livelihoods, basic water & sanitation, adequate education and primary health services.
Savda Ghevra is symptomatic of the problems being created by rapid urbanization and migration. As Deepa Bajaj of NGO, Child Survival India(CSI) says, “As per the estimates of Economic Survey of Delhi (2000), the combined  population of  such resettlement and slum areas  is 72.5 lakhs ,which is  more than half of the total population of Delhi . Since  late nineties & 2000 ,the Delhi government has relocated a lot of slums from main city  to the rural outskirts of the city”. 

I first heard about Jaipur Rugs Co from the ‘Rural Business Hubs’ team at CII. But, when I finally made the trip to Jaipur and met them, it blew my mind.

N.K Chaudhary, M.D, Jaipur Rugs, is one of the most unassuming and modest persons I have met. But, his dreams for rural artisans have been anything but small.

From modest beginnings in the late-90s, his ‘Jaipur Rugs Company’ has built its entire business model around having village artisans work as entrepreneurs. Today, 25000 artisans- mainly women- engage in weaving or reeling as a home-based occupation. Jaipur Rugs Co provides ‘door service’ to these artisans by delivering raw materials, providing training and quality checks, arranging financing for looms, and picking up the semi-finished carpets and rugs.
The scale and efficiency of this outsourced manufacturing model is astounding, and clearly a win-win arrangement for the company as well as artisans. Weavers across eight states( Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, Jharkand, Orissa, West Bengal and Nagaland) earn 80/- to 100/- per day. Before Jaipur Rugs Co came into the picture, they could typically earn just about 30/- with middlemen pocketing most of the margins.

With his belief that “enabling is more important than charity”, N.K Chaudhary is committed to adding 5000 looms and engaging 30,000 more artisans in the near future.
An important outcome of my trip was that we got his agreement to try out the same model with urban poor, by working with us in Delhi.

2008 started off on an interesting note as I spent January 1 checking out  ‘Khushi Clinic’ at New Delhi’s Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar on the outskirts of the city. A joint initiative by Gates Foundation & TCI Foundation, Khushi Clinics are a great example of what happens when a business icon focuses on social change.

While the focus is on HIV/AIDS amongst a specific high-risk group, viz. truckers, what’s different is the Microsoft-like approach to planning( thorough!),scale( nation-wide!) and results( metrics!). Through a partnership with TCI Foundation, 17 truckers’ ‘halt points’ across the country are being targeted under this initiative.
At the Transport Nagar I visited, the ‘Khushi Clinic’ is positioned as a general health clinic for truckers, while simultaneously emphasizing behavioral change with regard to their sexual practices. Tucked away in the heart of Transport Nagar, the clinic- which operates for 8 hours – offers free consulting, and medicines on cost-to-cost basis.  High-quality, standardized communication via films, street plays, etc promote safe behaviour and condom usage. Innovations like ‘Khushi passport’ – which each trucker carries- ensure that medical history is seamlessly transferred to other ‘halt points’ in the country.
As yet another example of how a successful business practice has been transferred to the social sector, it was fascinating to see how nationwide presence has been achieved by using the best-available, local ‘channel partner’. In the case of Delhi, the ‘Khushi Clinic’ is run by the highly-competent Deepa Bajaj of Child Survival India( CSI).

During the time we spent with Deepa, it was evident that the original vision of Khushi Clinics has been completely internalized by Deepa, who in turn, evangelizes it with equal passion and commitment.

Results are meticulously tracked. For instance, Nov’07 saw 1600 footfalls, of which 2/3rd were STI cases.
Watching all this, it is reassuringly clear that social initiatives can be scaled up professionally, and in a business-like manner.

It was the day after Gandhi Jayanti that I got on to a train to Deoghar, in Jharkhand. My friends at Pradan (Delhi-headquartered NGO, active in seven states) had been nice enough to help me plan this trip.
Deoghar district, like neighboring Godda & Dumka, figures in the ‘Most Backward 100 districts’ list, published by India Today few years ago.
So, it was a fascinating coincidence that, as the CII-sponsored ‘India @ 60′ celebrations got underway in New York – the epicenter of the globalized economy- here we were, in Jharkhand, about to witness an experiment in home-grown Gandhian model of economic development.
Without sounding hopelessly romantic or impractical, I must say I came away reasonably convinced that Pradan’s Gandhian-style economic model, juxtaposed with the western-style market economy, can actually be a recipe for inclusive growth. I got a glimpse of how Pradan has organized 100,000 families into 5300 Self-Help Groups (SHGs), to enhance their livelihood options, and escape poverty.
Although most families in Jharkhand own 1-2 acres of land, but they are constrained by the uneven terrain, quality of land, and lack of irrigation. In such a situation, Pradan identifies and develops enterprises suitable for local needs, provides resource persons, and creates linkages with government and financing agencies. So you have Tasar plantations, poultry, dairy, horticulture, and vegetable farming becoming available as options. Also, through better ‘watershed development’, farmers can improve the yield from their land holdings.

In Titariya village (Banka district, Bihar), Pradan’s Pranjal Saikia (a veterinary scientist from Assam) introduced us to the Village Watershed Committee (VWC). He has been working with the VWC to bring in a set of revolutionary innovations that are transforming waste land. Whether upland, mid-land, or low-lands, these districts have a lot of land rendered waste due to their inability to retain water for cultivation. In such a situation, innovations like ‘5% Method’, ’30 ft by 40 ft’, ‘Staggered trench’, and ‘Drip Dams’ now enable farmers to prevent soil erosion and retain water. The outcomes are unbelievable – a 2nd paddy crop; mango, lemon and papaya cultivation.

Satyabrata Acharya has one of the most important jobs in India. As Programme Director, Jharkhand for NGO Pradan, he leads 12 teams who are responsible for guiding over 100,000 families out of poverty.
Dhrubaa Mukhopadhyaya heads one of these teams. When, after graduating with an M.Phil from Jadavpur University, she joined Pradan in 1995, her teachers and classmates thought she was nuts! Today, she and her team of Executives, Subject Matter Specialists (SMS), and Development Apprentices work with 250 villages in two districts of Jharkhand and Bihar- helping them improve their land condition, increase agricultural productivity, and explore additional livelihood options.

Sericulture expert, Prabhati, and Development Apprentices, Meena (Patna University,’07) & Bhavna (BHU,’07) are three young ladies roughing it out in the villages. Working as part of Dhrubaa’s tight-knit team, they display a passion that is hard to find in urban centers today. I witnessed Prabhati and Meena training villagers to produce Tasar cocoon, while Bhavna sang & danced with tribal kids at a mobile crèche being run by Pradan at village Raksha( while the mothers were busy at the Tasar reeling centre).

Having been a spectator to the HR mayhem in metros and mini-metros, where youngsters driven purely by material gains, accept and leave jobs every six months, it was something else to see this young Pradan brigade in action.
Pradan carefully hires and nurtures this young talent. Sujata Nath, the talented HR Executive who traveled with me on my field visit, filled me in on the details of the intensive 12-month apprenticeship that all Pradan hires go through. But, as Pradan scales up its operations to meet its Vision 2017(of working with 1.5 mn poor families), it needs as many as 100 teams(= 800 people) across the country. For Pradan’s HR Director, Nivedita Narain, this is the real HR challenge. On the one hand, Pradan needs to hire such large numbers; on the other hand, retaining this trained and committed team is an equally big challenge. As these executives reach their late-20s or early-30s, and have families, they feel the need to move to an urban centre, in order to get better housing and education.
One way to overcome this hiring challenge is for Corporates to collaborate with large NGOs like Pradan. 4 to 6 years of Pradan training produces some of the best managers who understand rural markets; for corporates addressing mass markets, this could be a boon. By working together with corporates, Pradan could continue to hire the best youngsters, while offering them a road-map (to a corporate career) after 4-6 years.
Are companies like ICICI, Unilever, Asian Paints, and Mahindra’s ready?

Remarkable People! 

In 1929, two women in Mumbai founded Swami Samarth Sangeet Vidyalaya, a truly-unique women’s institution, that has not just imparted high quality music lessons in Hindustani classical music, but has focused on making music a means for building self-confidence, development, and employment of many women.

Today, a young scion of the family, Hemchandra Javeri( “Hemu”), is all set to build on this rich heritage and experience. He visualises The Swami Samarth Program as a potential means of uniting and energizing less fortunate communities.

I have known Hemu well for 22 years since the time we went to IIM/C together. Also having witnessed his meteoric corporate career, I know that Hemu is extremely determined and serious when he says, “Music is the universal language that is an integral part of Indian psyche and culture. Music in India has many sounds and origins, but its overall importance, and its role in energizing and uniting us is unique and substantial. Over the years, women have played a big role in spreading the beauty and enjoyment of music.  We believe the guiding principles are relevant even today, and offer great opportunity of value addition to our lives, and the lives of the less fortunate”.

Hemu is in the process of fine-tuning these plans, but the broad contours are clear. Girls and young women will be taught Indian classical and modern music( with emphasis on the former) in key cities and towns across the country, within targeted, underprivileged communities. The primary focus will be on girls and young women, and to create social change through them, in their communities. The curriculum- a combination of theory and practical learning, with regionally-relevant content- will emphasise on creating a group of passionate students and teachers.

The program will ensure full funding for students and teachers, with wider scholarships for the deserving. By offering scholarships that allow students to use this money for their overall development and growth, it will enable many to improve their economic life.
It will also provide a tangible potential career and livelihood option for those who chose to do so.

Knowing Hemu as many of us do, this kind of rigorous planning and vision shouldn’t be a surprise. So, when Hemu concludes our conversation by saying that, “We will evaluate our success by the number of women and communities we are able to change and empower”, we have got to take him seriously.

I, for one, am especially delighted because Hemu has agreed to dovetail his initial program roll-out with my plans for ‘Growth-for’All’. As reality shows like Indian Idol, SaReGaMa, and Voice of India rock the TRP charts with unknown stars from small towns, the timing is just right for The Swami Samarth Program to make an impact.
 

When my friend, Anita Lobo, whom I caught up with after several years, told me that she was now working on social development projects using Sport as a medium of change, I didn’t quite believe her. I almost dismissed it as a PR spiel.

After all, apart from a few corporates like TATAs, who’re supporting athletes from weaker sections of the society, the “sports-based social inclusion” model is not used in India. (In Africa, on the other hand, the sports based inclusion model is gaining acceptance, with football and athletics being the chosen mediums).
But, as we continued chatting, and she gave me more details, it was intriguing. Spring Sport & Sustainability (a JV between Spring Worldwide & Perfect Relations Limited) is purely focused on community development, via Sport. In doing so, they involve corporate partners, who step in with time, effort and resources.

The first such experiment, titled ‘GOAL’, was rolled out in the relatively-underprivileged communities of Govindpuri, Aligaon and Sanjay Gandhi Camp, in Delhi. Multiple stakeholders collaborated in this project- NGOs (Naz, Deepalaya, Prerna and FXB); Netball Federation of India; schools and colleges; and Standard Chartered Bank.

70 girls were enrolled in the program, which entailed a 45-hour modular training course covering 3 broad areas of communication, wellness and entrepreneurship, including financial literacy. The girls also received professionally coached Netball sessions once a week. There were scholarships for meritious girls. What however, acted as a major impetus was the fact that the budding Netball team had a chance to qualify & become part of the national team.

38 Standard Chartered executives contributed their time and skills to the success of GOAL by designing the modules on Environment, Communication and Financial Literacy. 

Anjali Gopalan of Naz Foundation is excited about the program’s success. “We wanted the girls to have fun as they learnt. Our focus was to get them out of their shell & make them independent, confident individuals.  When the girls first came in they wouldn’t even lift their heads & now they play as if the world outside doesn’t exist.  They now conduct conversations with confidence”
 
An important indicator of success is the retention rate. An 80% retention was achieved, a very difficult proposition in any sustainable community development.  It has obviously struck a deep chord somewhere. A community elder and father of a girl who plays in the Aligaon netball team admits, “My daughter has changed for the better. When this program started, I wasn’t sure if it will actually work. Now I am sure that her life will be much better than I thought.” [Uska jeevan aur bhi sukhi hoga]

Standard Chartered Bank is committed to supporting this initiative, and plans to extend to Mumbai and Chennai by end of this year. 

Anita is passionate about this whole tri-partite approach involving poor communities, Sport, and companies. I completely agree with her, and eagerly look forward to integrate her ideas into the Growth-for-All movement.

CSR at work!

The last one week has seen an unusual amount of public debate, involving leading CEOs and others, about the kind of corporate social responsibility that makes sense for them.

While reporting on the Leadership Summit 2007, HT covered the views of Infosys’ Nandan Nilekani, and Unilever’s Harish Manwani. Nilekani, a leading philanthropist in his personal capacity, believes that corporates have limited ability to spend on CSR given the need to protect shareholder interests. Hence, he asserts that promoters and corporate honchos must do more in their personal capacity. An interesting viewpoint, but one that begs an argument. First, companies will build a foundation for future revenue growth by investing in the economic development, and thereby increasing the purchasing power of a large section of the Indian population. High revenue growths cannot be sustained by focusing on urban and middle-class markets alone. Next, companies need to build bridges with all sections of the Indian population in order to ensure that they don’t face a backlash, as corporate retailers currently are. It is, therefore, in the shareholders’ interests to support CSR investments. If presented correctly, they are likely to reward companies for CSR, as they have done for corporate governance, in the past. And, yes, of course, company promoters( who have a lot of money) and corporate honchos( who may not have as much) must also do their bit.

Harish Manwani’s view is that CSR, to be sustainable, must have a related business benefit also. For instance, Hindustan Unilever’s Project Shakti has enabled over 30,000 underprivileged women to earn Rs 1000/-+ p.m, by becoming sales entrepreneurs. So, while people get livelihoods, HUL expands its rural distribution and sales. Similarly, through its ‘Hand-wash Awareness’ campaign, HUL promotes hygiene, but there is an indirect benefit for brand Lifebuoy. (Similarly, I know that L&T offers vocational training to rural youth, and in the process, ensures that it has a ready workforce for its booming construction business, where talent is in short supply).

This point-of-view is perfectly logical, but it throws up several intriguing issues. For one, where do you draw a line? For instance, should one support a sales promotion where a company promises Rs ‘x’, per unit sold, to a social cause? Or, what about Posco’s sudden espousal of CSR when it faces a huge backlash on land acquisition? So, while companies like HUL may commit to CSR with all sincerity, there may be a nagging suspicion in some quarters, on account of the perceived business benefits. For instance, during my recent visit to Jharkand, an NGO told me that they had turned down an offer to be an alliance partner for Project Shakti, for precisely these reasons.

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers.

While we are groping for answers, there comes along an interesting newsitem in today’s Economic Times, about Nachiket Mor moving from ICICI Bank, to ICICI Foundation. The important part of the story was the likely commitment from ICICI Bank, to spend 1% of net profits on issues relating to inclusive growth. Now, that is an interesting development!

I have been debating the “right amount of spend” issue with several people, including at a corporate panel discussion that I was part of, yesterday. I think 1% is absolutely perfect: it is a figure that shareholders will support, and will make an impact. The important thing about this spend is the multiplier effect it has, on actual economic activity. During my recent trip to Jharkand, with Pradan, I was astounded to find that a Rs 1/- spend enables villagers to raise Rs 10/- from government grants or loans; and each rupee they raise generates economic activity worth Rs 10/-. So, the overall multiplier effect is 1:100 !

A final observation on how corporates execute CSR. Some, like Dr Reddy’s Foundation and Bharti Foundation, have set up their own, large teams, whereas others work with existing NGOs.  The former is not scaleable, and will raise questions about overheads, headcount, etc. Whereas, working with existing NGOs represents a long-term, low-cost option. There are literally a million NGOS in India, and many of them are extremely sincere, but desperately need financial support. This could be a win-win relationship for both. ( See an interesting article ‘The Silent Army’ in Economics Times)