REPORT ON

“MICROFINANCE”
-----an effective tool for socio-economic change

(Acutely based on the functionality and

implementation by SABUJ SANGHA for its micro-
credit program)

Compiled by
CHANDRA PRAKASH
B.Tech, 2nd
year
IIT, DELHI
c.p

1
rakash5030@gmail.com

PREFACE

I am really glad and consider myself privileged to get such a

grave opportunity to work as a part of Sabuj Sangha.

I did have a pleasant and unique experience of

learning through interaction, observation and abstract
conceptualization. Moreover, I had a chance to understand the local
community people, their language, culture, the estuarine and
tropical climate, socio-economic issues and of-course the Bengali
cuisine of rice and fish-curry (a rarity in Delhi!). Professionally, the
kind of rural exposure I had was very neoteric and exceptional. The
knowledge that I gained was very far apart and different, both in
conceptualization and implementation, from the conventional
bookish theoretical learning we had in our class-rooms.
My report consists of four
parts- part 1> an introductory statement about Sabuj
Sangha and Microfinance; part 2> structure, functionality
and facilities under its Microfinance scheme; part 3>
utilization of loans by the beneficiaries; and, part 4> my
inferences and reflections about reasons and possible
solutions.
Undoubtedly, there is a significant parity between the theory and its
applied practicality in a system. When I return, I would be a man of
more rationality, broader horizon and knowledge.

As pre-stated, its my first rural-

internship, and being a tyro in this sector, this being my first report-
cum-feedback type of thing (though full attention and care has been
taken to make it a better one!); I just hope that my efforts do stand
on to your expectations!

THE BEST OF WISHES TO ALL OF YOU!

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is never easy to work and learn in a new community of which

you never have been a part before, but on contrary consistent
assistance and co-operation of some of the people made me feel just like
home and I enjoyed my stay to the brim at such a beautiful and scenic
place.

I would first of all like to thank Mr. Asok Bhattacharya (preferably

Asok Da), the head supervisor of the Nandakumarpur center of Sabuj
Sangha, who efficiently coordinated and arranged for everything during
my stay and learning.

I would heartily like to express my gratitude and humble thanks to

Barnali Di, who played the role of a teacher, mentor and guide. Whatever
new things I did learn during my rural internship had been under her
kind tutelage.

A great thanks to Bakul da for making my stay a pleasant one and

for arranging yummy cuisines in lunches, breakfast and dinner
(meanwhile, I nearly gained near about 5kgs ! ).

A very special thanks to PRAVAH, the Delhi based NGO, which

provided me with such a great opportunity and platform to work and
learn with such a great organization, SABUJ SANGHA.

Furthermore, I would thank all the people whose best wishes and
efforts were involved in my entire rural exposure!

(Thanks to Mr. Bill Gates too for developing MS-WORD!)

********

CONTENTS

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 1. COVERPAGE
2. PREFACE Part 1
3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
4. CONTENTS
5. BRIEF ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE
6. INTRODUCTION TO MICROFINANCE
7. SABUJ JEEVAN DEEP PRAKALPA
Part 2
8. STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING
9. LOANS AND SERVICES
10. THE FINANCIAL NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE
Part 3
11. PIE-CHARTS SHOWING RESOURCE
ALLOCATION
12. CASE STUDIES
13. REASONS FOR THE NON-INCOME GENERATION
14. VIEWS AND SUGGESTIONS Part 4
15. EPILOGUE
16. POEM

Part 1: INTRODUCTION TO SABUJ SANGHA AND MICRO FINANCE

Part 2: STRUCTURE, FUNCTIONALITY AND FACILITIES
Part 3: UTILIZATION OF LOANS BY THE PEOPLE
Part 4: MY INFERENCES AND REFLECTIONS ON REASONS AND POSSIBLE
SOLUTIONS

A BRIEF ORGANIZATION PROFILE:

4
 Sabuj Sangha, an NGO based in West Bengal, started as a village club in 1954 in
Nandkumarpur in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. Since then it has never looked back and
has evolved as a dynamic and vibrant organization committing for holistic community
development.

MISSION:

“To empower marginalized people to access their rights and quality services through
education, health, better livelihood opportunities and infrastructural development with
special focus on the poorest of the poor, women and children”

OPERATIONAL AREA:

The organization operates in 13 gram Panchayats in Mathurapur I and II and

Pathar Pratima Blocks in Sunderban Delta region in South 24 Parganas district of West
Bengal. It also operates for the welfare of the disadvantaged communities thriving along the
railway tracks in out-skirts of Kolkata.

THRUST AREAS:

The whole activities of Sabuj Sangha are intended at following arenas of

development:
 Child Education and Protection
 Food Security and Livelihood Promotion
 Water and Sanitation
 Health and Hygiene
 Mobilization and Strengthening of People’s Organization
 Women Empowerment through SHGs
 Environment and Disaster Response

In the past couple of years Sabuj Sangha has prominently worked with
government boards and authorities, both Indian and foreign NGOs like GOAL (Ireland),
SUAS (Ireland), Railway Children (UK) and Japan Consulate for the upliftment and welfare
of the local communities.

The organization has operated over the funds of more than eight
crores in the last year and completed its 34 years of national service in the year 2008-2009.

We all hope that such Herculean efforts by Sabuj Sangha would continue in
the future and act as an ideal for other organizations working for the welfare of the
people and our nation!

WHAT IS MICROFINANCE?
Microfinance can be defined as the provision of financial services or assistance to
low-income clients which includes consumers and the self-employed who traditionally lack
access to banking and other such facilities.

5
 It incorporates a wide range of financial services,
not just credit but also savings, insurance and fund transfers.

In modern day scenario, when the disparity between the rich and the poor is
broadening, Microfinance has emerged as an effective and vital tool for the socio-economic
development. It is aimed at the alleviation of poverty and providing the destitute a chance to
establish their own micro-enterprise and become self-reliant.

The roots of such micro-credit

institutions were sown with the success of Md. Yunus, whose efforts since early 1970s of
financial development of the poor communities in Bangladesh through micro-finance were
very successful and became renowned throughout the world. His micro-credit institute today
is known as the Grameen Bank. He was awarded Noble Prize for peace in the year 2006.

Today, a lot of micro-financial institutes are operating throughout the world with the
largest concentrations in the developing countries particularly in India and Bangladesh. Due
to the lack of infrastructure and proper banking facilities in rural areas, the microfinance
initiative by various NGOs is the need of the hour. One of the possible options of the
government could be through the POST-OFFICEs, as they are one of the oldest and the most
wide-spread government enterprises prevalent in the country.

A genuine Microfinance-
Institution must provide its beneficiaries with money for their Lifecycle needs, Personal
Emergencies, Disaster mitigation and for Investment opportunities.

A GENUINE MICROFINANCE SYSTEM PAYS FOR ITSELF!

SABUJ JEEVAN DEEP PRAKALPA : SABUJ SANGHA’s

INITIATIVE OF MICROFINANCE

Sabuj Sangha has undertaken the scheme of Microfinance under its program named
as “Sabuj Jeevan Deep Prakalpa”. It was first initiated in the year 1995 and since then this has
6
been one of the major areas of focus of the organization.

The most striking feature of this program is that it

involves the local women folks in its implementation.
The members of the Self Help Groups (SHGs)
comprises of women only, giving them a chance to
be the basis of the community development.
Contrarily, South 24 Parganas records one of the
lowest sex-ratio in West Bengal and hence such-a-
program has great social importance!

• The potential members become representatives and

even get absorbed as permanent workers of the
organization.
• Moreover, they also act as medium of instrumentation of other programs and
initiatives of the organization like distribution of Solar-panels and lights at
highly subsidized rates to the people, construction of household toilets for
proper sanitation.
• They even act as the source or nodules of rationalism and propagation of
ideas and dissemination of knowledge in the society aimed at the betterment
of the people.
• Thus it can be established that it’s a Microfinance-cum-Women
Empowerment Program.

In the fiscal year 2008-2009 about 33% of the organization-funds was

allocated in the micro-credit program which amounts to more than 2.5 crores INR. These facts
subtly establish the importance Sabuj Sangha gives to this sector. All these money disbursed
to the people provide them not only with capital, but an opportunity to be at par with the main
stream society!

More than 10,000 women are the beneficiaries under this program and over 600
groups (SHGs) are prevalent in the entire operational area of this organization.

Broadly, the main objectives of Sabuj Jeevan Deep Prakalpa can be stated as follows:

 Community Organization and awareness generation

 Formation of homogenous SHGs (Self Help Groups) of women
 Capital formation through micro-savings activity
 Supply of adequate capital to establish their own micro-enterprises
 Provision of emergency assistance
 To usher an era of social empowerment of women.

With the passage of time, the program has evolved and has become a lot
diversified. It is providing financial assistance for business, agriculture, pisciculture, animal
husbandry, transportation and emergency needs of the village people.

7
 ************

STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONALITY

STRUCTURE:
Sabuj Jeeevan Deep Prakalpa, the Sabuj Sangha’s Initiative of Microfinance,
executes its micro-credit system in a well organized three-tier structure.
8
 MICRO-CREDIT SYSTEM

FEDERATION (apex-level)

CLUSTER (mid-level)

GROUP (grass-root level)

Basic structure

GROUP
 It is the grass-root level of execution.

 Also known as Self Help Group (SHG) comprises of minimum five to

maximum twenty village women members.

 Each group has a leader of its own, known as “DALNETRI” to glibly co-
ordinate the activities of respective groups.

 She acts just like an accountant of the whole of group and maintains the
micro-credit passbook that contains records of the loans sanctioned or
savings in reference to each member of the group.

CLUSTER
 A cluster meeting is held at least once in a month

 It consists of the Dalnetris of the entire village and any amendments in the
implementation procedure are discussed with the Dalnetris.

 It acts as a platform for them to rectify themselves, discuss their issues and
take any new resolutions.

 Every cluster has its own representative who is answerable to the upper
stratum of the system.

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FEDERATION
 It is an eighteen member team constituting of two representatives from each
of eight clusters (8*2=16), one Sabuj Sangha member and the
Anchaladhikari of the locality.

 It is the apex level of execution of the Sabuj Jeeevan Deep Prakalpa

initiative.

 All major and vital decisions and amendments in the procedure and
execution, solutions of the problems and fund allocations are done at this
level.

MOBILE TEAM:
 A mobile team consisting of 4 to 5 members has been formed to assist the
Dalnetris.

 It does and covers the most of the field works of the Microfinance-team.

 Each member is assigned their clusters to which they remain responsible.

 The Dalnetris themselves are the local women and hence they have acute
chances of committing mistakes in maintaining the accounts of the
members of the SHGs. The mobile team members scrutinize and rectify the
mistakes if any.

 In doing so, a copy of the ledger itself gets available to the concerned
NGO’s officials.

MAIN SABUJ SANGHA’S MICROFINANCE TEAM:

 The main and official Microfinance Team of Sabuj Sangha consisted of 4/5
members

 Each one of them had their own tasks like disbursement of loans to the
inhabitants, maintenance of records of accounts of individual SHG
members, distribution of pass-books and Emergency cards etc.

 Obviously, one member to efficiently supervise and co-ordinate the entire

function of the team and the total Microfinance system from the apex to the
grass root level of execution.

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THE CATEGORIZATION OF DEFAULTERS:
The members who don’t repay their loan in time are classified as D-x,
where x stands for the number of months passed since the time of the
repayment. For instance
D-1= who didn’t repay even after one month of the prescribed
time
D-2= who didn’t repay even after two months of the prescribed
time
D-3= who didn’t repay even after three months of the
prescribed time
D-4= who didn’t repay even after four months of the
prescribed time
.
.
D-x= who didn’t repay even after x months of the prescribed
time

*********

TYPES OF LOANS DISBURSED:

In total three types of loans are disbursed to the people-

11
 1. General Loan
2. Agricultural Loan
3. Emergency Loan

A. GENERAL LOAN

 Its granted for twelve months

 It has to be re-paid in ten equal installments
 A service charge of 2% is induced on the loan
 It is aimed to aid for any financial assistance, be it for setting of an enterprise, health
emergency, education etc.

A sample chart for calculation of interest for a general loan of Rs 1,000/- is shown:

sl loan balance month no. s.charge total

no. surcharge
1 1000 1 20 20
2 1000 2 20 40
3 1000 3 20 60
4 900 4 18 78
5 800 5 16 94
6 700 6 14 108
7 600 7 12 120
8 500 8 10 130
9 400 9 8 138
10 300 10 6 144
11 200 11 4 148
112 100 12 2 150

total repayment = Rs. 1,150/- (1000+150)

 Defaulters are fined too.

 A rebate of Rs.15 is given to those who repay on time.

B. AGRICULTURAL LOAN

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  It is aimed to finance for agricultural requirements or capital for the villagers.
 It is disbursed for a period of six months to account for the gestation period of
harvesting.
 It is repaid in the fifth and sixth month after procurement of loan.
 The interest rate is same as for general loan i.e. 2% p.m.
 The minimum amount of loan offered in this category is Rs 3,000/- and the maximum
amount is Rs 10,000/-

A sample calculation of the interest for agricultural loan of Rs 1,000/- borrowed in the
month May is shown in following chart:

sl. no. Month repayment s. charge

1 JUNE 0 20
2 JULY 0 20
3 AUGUST 0 20
4 SEPTEMBER 0 20
5 OCTOBER 555 20
6 NOVEMBER 555 10

TOTAL REPAYMENT= (1000+110)= Rs. 1,110/-

C. EMERGENCY LOAN

 An innovative system of Emergency card which is just like an ATM (Any Time
Money) card has been introduced.
 An amount of Rs 500/- is immediately disbursed to the applicant.
 It has been implemented to provide and aid the residents to respond adequately at the
time of any financial emergency or need.

 Who can avail the Emergency Card?

 All SHG members who have savings of at least Rs 600/- are eligible for
the Emergency Card.
 The SHG members who have repaid their loans in time are eligible for
this service too.

 Why Rs 600/- only?

Rs 100/- is the minimum balance required to be present in ones NGO
account. Rs 500/- is provided as financial assistance to the client and hence Rs 600/- is
the minimum required balance in the account.

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HOUSING LOAN SCHEME:

 Apart from above mentioned three types of loans which are targeted to the vulnerable
section of the community, a distinct HOUSING LOAN SCHEME is also implemented by
Sabuj Sangha.

 It is available for the school teachers and staffs of the locality who are employed in
the government schools to aid them in making their dream houses.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

 The micro-credit system has been made much more flexible.

 The amount of loan disbursed is increased for those who repay in time and are willing
to make their micro-enterprise a larger one.
 In return they have to deposit the requisite amount of savings, as shown in the
following table:

sl. no. loan amount range (in requisite deposit

Rs)
1 1st loan 1000 to 3000 10% savings
2 2 nd
loan 3000 to 5000 15% savings
3 3rd loan 5000 to 8000 20% savings
4 4th loan 8000 to 10000 25% savings
5 5th and onwards upper limit 25000 25% savings

• The amount of money which is taken as the service charge is utilized for giving TAs
to the corresponding Group Leaders and a part of it is used to meet the stationary and
printing expenditures.

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 CURRENCY FLOW IN THE SYSTEM:
Flow diagram showing the flow of money in the system

SAVINGS
+ BANK
REPAYMENT AND FUNDS

SABUJ SANGHA

MONEY USED IN
UNPRODUCTIVE
STUFFS AND HENCE
LOANS STRUCK IN FIELD

There is also another phenomenon associated with the monetary flow in the system. As once
the money is taken from the bank and disbursed among the people, moreover a large fraction
stuck in the field, there is not enough left with the organization to endow every client with the
requisite loan amount. And hence, there is ROLLING of money among different SHGs i.e.
between the saving groups and the mortgage groups.

15
 Saving gp Saving gp
1 3
Saving gp
2

SABUJ SANGHA
Debit gp 4

Debit gp 1 Debit gp 2 Debit gp 3

Rolling of money in the field

The Financial Needs of the People

The needs of the poor people can be categorized in the following categories
which the financial assets must bear. The areas where the people use their money are:

Investment
type
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY:
1. Starting a business P
2. Expanding the business P
3. Buying a piece of land, farming equipments, seeds, sewing machines etc. P
4. Job security including payment of bribes etc P
5. Pisciculture P
6. Animal husbandry P
7. Improving housing facilities like sanitation, solar cells etc NP
8. Transportation P

LIFE CYCLE NEEDS:

9. Child birth NP
10. Old age NP
11. Widowhood NP
12. Marriage/Dowry NP
13. Education (in a long run) P

EMERGENCIES:
14. Theft NP
15. Sickness NP
16. Death NP
17. Unemployment NP
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 NATURAL DISASTERS:
18. Bulldozing of houses NP
19. Destruction of crops NP
20. Destruction of pisciculture NP
21. Loss of bovine and domestic animals NP

P = LOAN FOR PRODUCTIVE PURPOSE

NP= LOAN FOR NON-PRODUCTIVE PURPOSE

TOTAL PRODUCTIVE PURPOSES= 8

TOTAL NON PRODUCTIVE PURPOSES= 13
TOTAL PURPOSES CONSIDERED= 21

volume flow for different loans

(as per year 2008-09 data)

agriculture 18%

business 12%

transport 1%
emergency 61%

fisheries 1%

consumption 7%

the above pie chart shows the percentage of people applying for loan for different purposes

volume flow for productive

17 and unproductive purpose
(as per year 2008-09 data)

for productive purpose

for unproductive
67% purpose, , 33%
 The above pie chart shows the number of people applying for loan for productive and non productive
purposes

capital used by the clients

(as per year 2008-09 data)

emergency loans,
16%

agriculture, 38%

consumption, 15%

transport, 3%
animal husbandry, 1%
pisciculture, 3%
business, 24%

the above pie chart relative amounts of money used in different purposes

18
 loans taken for productive and non-productive purposes
(as per year 2008-09 data)

loan for non-productive

Purpose, 37.42 lakhs, 31%

Loan for productive purpose,

83.48 lakhs, 69%

the above pie chart amount of disbursed money used for productive and non-productive purpose

percentag

50

40

• 30
The above graph demonstrates that under income generative investments from
loans, the beneficiaries have shifted to business enterprises to a large extent.

19
ge
 • There is a sharp increase of nearly 13 percent in the business sector.
• Even the number of loans taken for agriculture, pisciculture and animal
husbandry has declined to some extent.
• The increased volume percent for the emergency services establish that the
Emergency Card has served the village folks under difficult circumstances to a
very large extent.

***********

CASE STUDY

“Ensuring Higher Education and a bright future for her children”

Smt. Usha Rani Bera is a house-wife of 41 years old. Her family is a

larger one and consists of six members in total- herself, her husband, two daughters, a
son and her sister-in-law. Her husband runs his own private tuition and has a very
mediocre earning.

The name of her Self Help Group (SHG) is “Falguni

Dal” which is under Mahabatnagar Cluster. Her group
comprises of twelve members, out of which currently
eight have their savings account while the rest four do
take loan from the Sabuj Sangha.

She has taken loans from

Sabuj Sangha six times, and each time she has been
able to repay it in time. She invested the amount taken
in poultry and agricultural cultivation primarily of
vegetables. She has been quite successful in her
investment and in the last year she reaped a profit of
Rs 3000/- out of Rs 8000/- invested, a net profit of
about 37.5 percent!

From the savings

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from the profit, she has provided and ensured higher education to all of her three
children (two daughters and a son). She says that she had been able to give a better
education and bright future to her children mainly by the dint of the efforts and
privileges granted by Sabuj Sangha.

It’s really to see the village folks giving such a high importance to the
education for their children. It acts as an ideal and lesson for the entire society. Kudos
to Usha di and Sabuj Sangha to make it happen!

On being further asked that on what issues she

would like to draw the attention of the government authorities or any of the NGOs,
she solemnly replied that the illicit liquor consumption is a major concern. Imitating
the elders, even the youngsters are falling prey to it. It is of a great social concern as
liquor consumption causes money depletion, poor health, psychological abnormalities
and might even be fatal. Some of the village people tried to close down the wine-
making shop and even reported to the Gram Panchayat. But due to corruption and
internal politics, their demands went unheeded and the wine-shop re-opened.

*********

DOCUMENTATION OF VARIOUS REASONS ACCOUNTING

FOR THE DISBURSED MONEY NOT BEING USED FOR
INCOME GENERATION

 The last couple of pages aptly demonstrate that in the year 2008-2009, out of
the total number of applicants for loan only 33% people applied for the loan
for a productive purpose. Furthermore, out of the total money disbursed
among the people 31% was used either for purely consumptive or non
productive purposes.

 If you go by the list of the defaulters (those who were not able to repay in
time), it is established that the most of the D-5, D-6, D-7, D-8 or above are the
people who took the loan for a non-income generation purpose.

 INFORMATION GAP
There is always some sort of attenuation of the information
involved as it passes from one stratum to another. I happen to see some cases
where the beneficiaries don’t have the complete knowledge of the terms and
the modes of repayment of different kinds of loans they take.
As an instance, for any
sort of investment that involves a gestation period, it’s better to take the
requisite amount under Agricultural loan than taking under the General loan.

 THE “PARITAL” FACTOR

South 24 Parganas records one of the worst sex ratio in the state. As
21
 thriving and being a part of the prevalent patriarchal society, many of the
women just take the money on the sheer demand of their husband. It has been
found that women often act merely as collection agents for their husbands and
sons, such that the men spend the money themselves while women are saddled
with the credit risk. As a result, borrowers are kept out of waged work and
pushed into the informal economy.
There are a lot of financial interventions from their
male counterparts, and even if they take the money on account of their own
decisiveness, they are not able to use the full amount for the improvement of
their own enterprises.

 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTOR
Most of the village folks are not habituated of dealing with a large
amount of money. When they get the amounts in their hands, they are just not
able to allocate it properly for the income generation; rather they spend it in
other non productive things which they usually are not able to accommodate in
general.

 NATURAL CALAMITIES
The natural diversity and beauty are the integral part of the ecosystem
in this part of India. But a coin has both the faces, the village people are
marred frequently by cyclones and inundations. Couple of years back, “AILA”
doomed the people. They can’t be avoided but could be only valiantly faced.
The
Agriculture and Pisciculture are the most vulnerable sections in this context.
Sweet water ponds are filled with salty water and the soil becomes much more
alkaline thus turning them useless for vegetation. Moreover, people are devoid
of their houses; and suffer great economic and psychological losses.
Such disasters
deteriorate and push back the people from where they had started and
developed.

 PREGNANCY AND FAMILY HEALTH

The beneficiaries of the program are all women and hence
during their pregnancy they are unable to look after their enterprises own their
own. Also when any of the family members, be her husband or kid, fall ill they
are pre-occupied with their concern and look-after.
Thus during these time spans,
i.e. around the last five-six months of pregnancy and a few weeks in case of
illness, their investment remain dormant or depreciates. It gravely affects their
income generation potential.

 THE SOCIAL FACTOR OF THE “DOWRY”

In contrary to the original intention of the Microfinance
system to empower women, one of the effects of the infusion of cash into local
economies has been the increase in dowries.
The women are forced at times to take the
Micro-credit loans as the only means to pay these increased dowries for their
daughters. Thus the loan taken is not being invested for the income generation
purpose.
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 PREVALENCE OF INACTIVE AND DORMANT SHG MEMBERS
There are some members in various Self Help Groups who are inactive
and have no interest at all in the system. There are cases in which some of the
women have shifted to some other place along with their family.
To ensure
compactness and efficiency in the system it is necessary to weed these types of
members out of the SHGs.

 LACK OF ACTIVE PARTICIPATION

During one of my cluster meeting visits, we witnessed less than 40%
attendance of the “DALNETRIs” or the group-leaders. Group and panel
discussions are the integral part of the system’s execution of reforms.
In
addition they provide a platform for the dissemination of ideas, solution to
conflicts and problems and enhance social interaction; which in return helps in
personality development and broadening their thoughts of the individuals as
they all share common aspirations and problems.

********

DOCUMENTATION OF SOME OF THE SUGGESTIONS OR

IDEAS FOR THE BETTERMENT OF THE SYSTEM IN
MICROFINANCE AND OTHER SECTORS

 EMPHASIS ON COOPERATIVE AND PARTNERSHIP TYPE

ENTERPRISES
A variety of factors—
 including difficulties in reaching the target market,
 the high risk profile of clients,
 their general distaste for the joint liability requirement,
 high overhead costs
These have made solidarity lending unviable without any
significant amount of subsidies.
A switch over to co-operative or partnership based
enterprises would help the participating women members by:
 Reducing the family influence on their enterprises
 In times of emergency have comrades to look after the
enterprise
 Prevent the same types of enterprise from competing
against each other
 Would have an integrated and more rational approach
towards solving problems

23
  Reduce the per head cost of overhead expenditures like
transportation costs, infrastructural costs etc

 BETTER NETWORK OF ROADS

The conditions of roads inter-connecting the villages are pathetic. In fact
there are no roads at all! Roads account for better transportation and
communication services which hold the keys to development.
In addition, the roads would serve
as source of employment. When under construction, the localites can act as
laborers and afterwards can drive rickshaws, motor-carts, autos (both menial and
goods freight) etc as their permanent occupation.

 PROVISION FOR INSURANCE

Insurance remains as the only key to provide financial security to the
penurious people against the natural calamities of flood and cyclones which are
frequent in this region.
The agriculture and pisciculture (which are the major
sources of income) are the worst effected during natural calamities. An innovative
approach would be to set aside a part of the loan as a premium while being taken
for such purposes.
Another approach could be to make the beneficiary deposit a
particular amount of money in quarterly, half-yearly or annual installments. So
that ample amount of money could be provided to the beneficiary in case of
serious or irreversible damage to their enterprises.

This would provide a fiscal security to the people even at the

time of disasters and equip them with sufficient resources to re-start their
enterprises.

 FREQUENT CONSOLIDATION OF GROUPS

The members who have become dormant or moved out of the
villages should be immediately weeded out from their respective groups. It would
provide compactness and enhance the efficiency and performance of the system.

 NEED FOR BETTER ANIMAL HUSBANDRY PROSPECTS

The area witnesses a good annual rainfall and has warm-humid
type climate which naturally suit the growth of pastures and grass covers. Thus the
area has immense animal-husbandry potential. It also won’t cost the owners much
as the natural feed for their cattle is available in ample amounts.
• Indigenous cows have good immunity and climatic-adaptability but
lack in productivity.
• They can be cross-bred with the bulls of better variety to
enhance their productivity.
• It would help in genetic improvement of the indigenous cows.
• One bull for each village would be sufficient for the entire village.
Many poor families rely heavily on their domestic animals. It would
help them a lot in enhancing their income with a very low investment.

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 PROPER COUNSELLING TIPS TO THE NEW INVESTORS
The village people have no natural aptitude towards business. They
tend to follow each other and have a tendency to invest in the same kind of
business, and hence reducing each-others market. Also they lack competitiveness,
proper business strategy, market adaptability in case of festivals or inflation
and a true knowledge about the enterprises they are investing in which limits
their profit or performance.
For an instance, in poultry
farming, the investors must know the symptoms of avian diseases to prevent any
epidemic wash out due to infection, an effective business plan to adapt according
to market alterations and re-investment etc.
Thus they need to be provided with
the appropriate guidelines to make a better use of their resources. Like the use of
vermiform compost in agriculture, bamboo sticks in making their houses for extra
strength, recycle of kitchen wastes into vegetable farms etc need to be promoted
for the benefit of common people too.

 ADDITIONAL EMPHASIS ON THE ROLE OF “DALNETRIS”

The Dalnetris are the focal point of the entire system. The performance
of the whole system depends on them to a very large extent. Apart from the
maintenance of the group pass-books they must bear the duty of guiding the other
members in their investments as they are the ones who are more socially close to
them. They must be the source of propagation of rational, scientific and valuable
ideas in the community. Frequent Training Programs for the group leaders must
be organized. It would reduce the information gap between the system and the
beneficiaries and raise their knowledge level.

 TRAINING CENTRES FOR THE YOUTH

The youth are the most important as well as the most vulnerable section
of the society. If not mobilized properly they very easily get involved in anti-
social and vicious activities. They need to be trained in certain activities so that
they get placed in the local or urban industries. Like electronic repairing, welding,
cyber knowledge, black-smithy, metal or cement casting, painting and decorative
etc. They could be specialized in accordance with the existent industries in the
nearby cities like Kolkata, Burdhman etc. It would provide them with an
opportunity to get jobs in local industries or start their own enterprises.

 AN EFFECTIVE MEDIA FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF

INFORMATION
Sabuj Sangha operates in the areas with decentralized and scattered
populations. So to make your programs and schemes known to the common
people and in order to make them more effective, dissemination of information
among the people to raise their awareness and participation, there is a need for an
effective and permanent platform. Apart from the development of infrastructure
and new facilities it is more important to change the conventional ignorant
mindset of the people, otherwise development would be a transient one!
It could be achieved by
having a committee to organize street-plays, or an alternative channel on the radio,
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 or playing of recorded cassettes/CDs in village communities on bicycles etc. More
the number of times you bang the head of people with the information aimed at
their betterment, greater is the chance of them absorbing and abiding by it!

 MICROCREDIT THROUGH WEB

Multiple Internet-based organizations have developed platforms that
facilitate a modified form of peer-to-peer lending where a loan is not made in the
form of a single, direct loan, but as the aggregation of a number of smaller loans
—often at a negligible interest rate. There are several ways by which the NGOs
can participate in alleviating poverty using Web platforms.
New platforms that
connect lenders to micro-entrepreneurs are emerging on the Web, e.g. Kiva, Lend
for Peace and the Microloan Foundation. Another WWW-based micro-lender
United Prosperity uses a variation on the usual micro-lending model; which
provides a guarantee to a local bank which then lends back double that amount to
the micro-entrepreneur. United Prosperity claims this provides both greater
leverage and allows the micro-entrepreneur to develop a credit history with their
local bank for future loans. In 2009, the US-based nonprofit Zidisha became the
first peer-to-peer micro-lending platform to link lenders and borrowers directly
across international borders.
Sabuj Sangha can directly associate with these forums to make the
Micro-finance program a grander one!

 During one of my hospital visits, I came to know that there is an acute

crisis of MBBS doctors and they don’t come even at good offers. In many
government universities and colleges, there is a system of NATIONAL SERVICE
SCHEME (NSS), under which every student has to offer 100 hours of voluntary
services to the nation through self-volunteering or NGOs or any govt. platforms.
Incorporation of such a type of system in the medical colleges of Bengal could be
a possible solution. It would serve your purpose as well as help the medical
graduates in completing their NSS tenure.

 Apart from being a forum for the discussion on problems, policy

alterations, reading out of the name of defaulters etc the group/cluster meetings
should also include the appreciations for the successful and eminent members
whose efforts can act as a source of inspiration for the other members. Even a
group applause through claps would serve the purpose.
The Microfinance system must be purely
transparent and share its facts and figures with the beneficiary. Microfinance
institutions should measure and disclose their performance – both financially and
socially. Such reforms would instill faith, confidence and moral boost up for the
group members.

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 EPILOGUE

Sabuj Jeevan Deep Prakalpa, the Sabuj Sangha’s

initiative of Micro-finance has been quite successful in its
implementation. It has provided a lot of poor village families a
chance to grow, develop and become self-reliant. With time it has
grew grander and has disbursed loans to be used in a very large
spectrum of activities. The concept of the Emergency Card is really
very innovative and useful!
Apart from augmenting the
economic status of the families, it has enacted as a very vibrant
platform for women empowerment-an element which a lot of
communities do lack in India. Now, most of the women play a
significant role in generating the family income. Its importance can
be established from the fact that the countries in the world with the
greatest Human Development Index (HDI) are those who have a
very high sex ratio and an active involvement of women in all the
spheres of the society.

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 Moreover, the
three tier structure of the Microfinance system equips the
organization with a tool to implement many of its social-
development strategies and in infusion of knowledge or messages
to the society. All these factors make Sabuj Jeevan Deep Prakalpa a
very unique, better to say one of its kinds!
I really feel privileged to witness, study and
be a part of such a grand, effective and above all a very successful
system!

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