My Tryst with Social Enterprise

Rampur is a typical Indian hamlet which lies in the heart of Bihar's rural belt. Ragi cultivation is the major occupation of a 1000-odd households in the village about 226 km from Patna.

Mishri Devi lives with her 2 children and old mother (in law) in the village taking care of her small farm and family. Her husband Ram Singh was unable to meet his ends with just farming income and decided to move to the construction hub of Noida for a better life leaving his family behind. He needs to earn fast to pay off the loan taken for the farm and ensure a better future for the kids. Today while he is earning better but can’t afford to own a place to call his family and has to make do living in slums or road.

While Ram Singh make more money today but still is unhappy as he is left with a scattered family with poor quality of life. But he isn’t alone, “Most people pray for an opportunity to leave the village and live in the city, a city is considered a gateway to innumerable facilities, benefits and opportunities that open up new career avenues and prospects for a bigger and better lifestyle. Alas, our village offers no such promise."

Village after villages are witnessing this apathy, lack of development and neglect. The impact of this migration is seen in India’s cities which are increasingly getting chaotic as there is limited infrastructure to support the millions of rural migrants who come in to seek a better life.

According to a 2010 report the top metros see an influx of 2.5 million people every year. This is not just an impact of an individual or a community it’s an attack on our way of life. Mahatma Gandhi once said: "the soul of India lies in her villages." However, that "soul" now seems haunted by non-existent roads, lack of sanitation, schools without teachers, hospitals sans doctors and beds and a lack of community welfare centers.

But is that the future of our generation, there’s hope through rural entrepreneurship.Social Enterprise organizations are working towards creating a ecosystem that helps build, trains and supports local livelihood.

India today has the largest nos of youth population more so in rural who are educated, passionate and seek a better life. The only challenge is that they don’t have opportunities in their own ecosystem thus driving them away to cities for better opportunities 

Social enterprises seek to transform the educated lot to skilled lot that empowers then to a better life at the comfort of their own village. They not just empower the local youth to be an entrepreneur but also help propagate on socially relevant products / categories that help create a better life for the communities.

Social Enterprise help create opportunities for the local communities by using their local influence in the market and connecting them to corporates in need of rural marketing & sales thereby creating a win- win business opportunity for all.

This is the first step in creating a sustainable socio economic impact in rural India,  a small step today hopefully a giant leap for the community in long term.

“Mai akele hi chala tha janib manzil magar, Log saath atey gaye aur carawan banta gaya”

 Cheers,

www.aryanomics.blogspot.in 

GST & Migration

Shantanu Guha my MBA batch mate from Dibrugarh loved to share stories of his hometown, he bragged about the natural beauty and relaxed life he enjoyed and mostly mocked us for the lack of it,But closer to the placement ,he was increasingly getting restless as he was looking at a situation where he would have to choose between family at home and a great career.   

Most Indians beyond the 8 metros face this kind of dilemma, because our economy is heavily skewed towards service sector (over 50%) which is concentrated in the top 6 to 8 metros. Anybody looking for a job in service sector had to migrate to these cities.

But the last year has shown a resolve for a change ,actions like the land bill to GST Bill they are both fundamentally towards the right direction.

While most of us are aware that land bill will help address the bottleneck in setting up manufacturing sector in India in line with the ambition of "Make In India" but few are aware about the impact of the GST bill on the Indian economy.

For more than six decades since independence, India’s 29 states have operated almost as separate countries. They set their own taxes, charged import duties on goods from neighboring states, had their own politics, culture and even languages.

But with GST coming in they are modifying their approval process, procedures to make themselves competitive,States are trying for their own economic development, which will help improve the ease of doing business and boost the country’s growth.This in turn will help the growth to spread of 8 metros to across India thereby ensuring the fruits of growth reach the far flung areas of the country.

This will not just help the larger companies to set shop in India but also create a conducive environment for young entrepreneurs (Start ups/SME) who would create a much larger impact on the economy.

The path the GOI has taken is definitely towards "Ache Din" just that the entire political setup needs to rise above the petty issues and work towards a better tomorrow for the nation at large.

Well Iam sure Shantanu would have loved to have graduated in these times where he could have stayed back in his home town yet would have flourished in his field  , So lets all join in create a "Ache Din" for all.

Cheers,
aryanomics.blogspot.in