The new face of Social Enterprise in India (III of IV)

Continuing with our journey through some of the most admired social entrepreneurial ventures across India and Pakistan, this last part of this series once again visits some of the ventures in India that have decided to take the unusual route to redefine the Social Enterprise.

Barefoot College:

Established by Bunker Roy, this unique set-up in Tilonia, Rajasthan, has become an example for the world. This Doon School passout is a very humble, down-to-earth man who loves the village and wants to transform it into a model for the entire world to emulate. When we were at TIlonia, the village people were very excited to greet us with the beats of dhol at the station. In this land, where scarcity of water is a major problem, a 5^th grade passout, middle aged woman handles the water management for about 200 villages through her computer. This was shocking enough for us to create enthusiasm and excitement to know more about the college. Bunker Roy introduced us to the various facets of his venture whose major focus is to train the locals in various fields of specialization for which we thought that professional degrees were a must. These trained villagers are the youth and the women who would otherwise have had no choice but move to the cities to earn a livelihood. The trained villagers are not awarded any degree or certificate, but they are trained to live in the village and practice. We met several Barefoot Engineers, Barefoot Doctors and Barefoot Architects during our visit. It was heartening to see two women who have been trained on welding skills, earn more than their husbands by making Solar Dishes and selling them out for about Rs. 25,000 each. No wonder that the Barefoot College has been recognized as Social Work and Research Center and has won numerous awards across the world. Besides equipping its own citizens, Barefoot College has been assigned the task of training women from African region as well. Women from the remotest parts of the world who do not understand the language of the villagers (just like the villagers don’t understand theirs) are sponsored by the government of India to visit, stay and learn the skills to earn a livelihood for themselves, back in their native countries.

I must say that to make India a super-power, more of Barefoot Colleges need to set up to give a confidence boost to the villages and reduce the wealth disparity that is always seen as a hindrance for India to achieve that goal. (Visit: http://www.barefootcollege.org)

Jaipur Foot:

Jaipur Foot is a live example of the level of motivation that can be provided by a cause. Mr. Ram Chander Sharma revolutionized the limb technology through his development of the artificial legs that have been categorized as good as the original ones except that they do not have blood. But the idea was put into the venture form by Mr D.R. Mehta who has recently been awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Govt. of India. Jaipur Foot, with technical assistance from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) developed these limbs from very cheap but sustainable material that wasn’t used elsewhere in the limb industry. The major motive for the development of Jaipur Foot was to help the people in the war affected areas or border areas where the land mines were not removed and hundreds of innocent people turned handicapped because of them. This technology helps them regain not only their legs, but also their confidence and their ability to stand on their feet – literally and metamorphically. As compared to the cost of below the knee prosthesis in US which stands at around $2,500, this technology has reduced it to a drastically lower price of $30. At this cost, the Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayata Samiti is fitting about 20,000 artificial limbs every year besides 30,000 Polio Calipers and the other appliances fitted through their camps. The vision of Mr. Mehta is changing the way people walk and helping India to walk on the path of success and self-dependence. (Visit: http://www.jaipurfoot.org)

The Social Entrepreneurial ventures discussed in this series are, by no measure, the only or the best performing enterprises in India and Pakistan. But they represent a broad sense of changing preferences for the residents of these countries. Given the levels of poverty, corruption, illiteracy, lack of self-confidence, non-resourcefulness and healthcare, we need many such motivated organizations and role models to lead the sub-continent to the role of leadership on the world map. We salute the spirit of the patrons who have given up the luxuries of life to serve the people of the nation through whatever means they had.

(Article originally written for Youth Ki Awaaz, published at http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/01/the-new-face-of-social-enterprise-india-part-iii/)

The Emergence And Growth Of Social Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurship as the concept was coined long ago but has been in the corporate parlance in just the recent past. Traditionally, entrepreneurship has been associated with profit making individuals who aim high and achieve a lot for themselves in the world of tough competition. And the success of enterprise was and is being judged on parameters like ROI and Net Income margins. But, with the empowerment and awareness of the citizens of the developing world, a new revolution has started, particularly among the youth of the world. This revolution is the growth of Social Entrepreneurship – the form of entrepreneurship where profits are not the end result, but just the means to achieve the end result of social upliftment and further empowerment.

Initially, the concept of social entrepreneurship used to be associated with the Corporate Social Responsibility of the corporate houses that provided funds to the charitable institutions to run the philanthropic organizations at a small scale. These institutions or organizations did not have any business model of their own and largely operated with the funds from government or donations from the donors. Globally, non-profit organizations like SOS Children’s Village, however large they are, are funded completely by the donors who are the charitable trusts, individuals, governments or corporates. Though the objectives are noble and the achievements are incredible, the business model of these organizations is to be judged on two very important parameters: Sustainability and Scalability.

Can these non-profit organizations sustain on their own if the external funding from them are unplugged? Can this model be applied to other sectors successfully? As explained by CK Prahalad through his book “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid”, social cause has always been considered a moral obligation that cannot be fulfilled by means of business. But the paradigm shift took place when the entrepreneurs realized the potential of the untapped markets that could generate profits for them and provide a better way of life to citizens of the society at the same time. The biggest boost was given by the Nobel Prize winner Dr. Mohammad Yunus when his brain-child Grameen Bank became so successful in one of the so-called least developed countries, Bangladesh. It was soon realized that profits can be made along with serving the society, provided you treat profits as a means and not the end result.

Subsequently, initiatives like Casas Bahia and CEMEX in Brazil, and ITC e-choupal and Aravind Eye Care sprung up in India. Most of these initiatives are well into their second-generation, in business terms. In India, various other organizations like SEWA, AWAKE, Nandi Foundation and Jaipur Foot have been started by the awakened and empowered citizens of India. But as they say, Entrepreneurship is contagious and so is Social Entrepreneurship. This sector, called the “third sector” in the book “The Emergence of Social Enterprise”, has been growing at a very high pace even through the current economic downturn. Definition of social entrepreneurship has changed over time. From corporate philanthropy to non-profit and now to self-sustainability, Social Entrepreneurship has evolved and will keep evolving with time and needs of the world.

But the major challenge that Social Entrepreneurship faces today is the definition of the goals and the objectives. Unlike the corporate sector where the achievements are clearly defined and roles identified, it’s seldom to be seen in the social sector. Organizations like SEWA are content to provide employment to the women in downtrodden areas of India, but do not have any goals in terms of the number of employed women or the average salaries, if these parameters can be justified as relevant goals in the first place. Nevertheless, this challenge doesn’t hamper the progress of the third sector but infact makes it more challenging for the entrepreneurs to explore.

The above flow of thoughts can be summarized by approving the fact that intention is a critical parameter to distinguish between the two forms of entrepreneurship – Social and Business.

(Originally published at Youth Ki Awaaz, http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/01/emergence-and-growth-of-social.html)