India’s first International Master Practitioner in Dementia Care

India’s first International Spark of Life Master Practitioner in Dementia Care

Congratulations to Ms. Nilanjana Maulik (National Coordinator Working Group ARDSI) and Mr. Sailesh Mishra (Founder President Silver Innings Group and A1Snehanjali ) for being First Indian to be conferred renowned 'Spark of Life' International Master Practitioner in Dementia Care at Perth, Australia on 19th May 2017.

Mr Sailesh Mishra is Mumbai’s first International Spark of Life Master Practitioner and Ms. Nilanjana Maulik is Kolkata city’s first International Spark of Life Master Practitioner.

Mr Mishra has just returned back to India after undertaking a 3 week intensive master course in Perth, Western Australia on the Spark of Life Philosophy.

‘The Spark of Life International Master Course, its magnificent holistic philosophy for Dementia Care, has not only enriched me but also empowered me about dementia care and to be better human being’, Mr Mishra said on his return.

The Spark of Life Philosophy
‘The Spark of Life Philosophy offers a practical and sustainable way of enriching the lives of people with dementia, their families and carers and transforming the culture of care. The focus is on How to connect, How to communicate and How to care.

The philosophy is about the quality of the connection between the carer and the person with dementia and aims at fostering kindness, compassion, empathy, respect and an attitude of unconditional love in the interactions between families or care staff and clients,’ Mr Mishra explained.

Implementing the Spark of Life Philosophy into an organisational culture has been proven to enrich the lives of people with dementia enabling them to experience improvements in mental abilities, language, self-esteem, social interactions and emotional well-being.
For information on the international Spark of Life Master Course for pioneering leaders held in Perth Western Australia please go to www.dementiacareaustralia.com


About Mr Sailesh Mishra
Sailesh is a Social Entrepreneur and a renowned Social Activist working for the welfare of Senior Citizens and People with Dementia. He is also a certified Spark of Life Master Practitioner.

After 15 years of working in the corporate world in marketing he made a complete shift to dedicating his life to creating an Elder Friendly World where Ageing becomes a Positive and Rewarding Experience and in April 2008 Sailesh founded his organization Silver Innings to achieve just that. For his selfless in Ageing he has been awarded Karmaveer Puraskaar National award.  

Sailesh has been part of National and State level prominent TV Talk show on Ageing and Dementia, he was also twice part of International Radio talk show on Dementia.

He has been to Malta twice on scholarship for UN INIA 15 day’s course on Social Gerontology and International Policy and Participated in Prestigious UN OEWG on Ageing at New York.

In Aug 2013 Sailesh set up Mumbai City’s first 24 x 7 Dedicated Assisted Living Elder Care Home 'A1 Snehanjali' in Nalasopara West and in 2016 the second home  'A1 Snehanjali' in Virar.


About: Mrs. Nilanjana Maulik
Mrs. Nilanjana Maulik is Secretary of Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI) Kolkata Chapter & National Coordinator, Working Group ARDSI. She has done her Master's Degree, Dementia Studies from The University of Stirling, and  Successful Aging & End of Life Care from Stanford University School of Medicine Mini Fellowship, she is also Board Member of Commonwealth Association of Aging.

Mrs. Nilanjana Maulik since 1999 is involved with ARDSI and is instrumental in starting Kolkata city’s first Dementia Day care center and also runs counselling, care support, memory clinic, training for home carers, home visit, day care for dementia person, etc, and  helpline. She is strong advocate of rights and care of person with dementia.

She has won National Award Winner ARDSI: BEST DEMENTIA CARE WORKER, 2006

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

Young Social Entrepreneur Ms. Ramaa Subramaniam Awarded REX Karmaveer Global Fellowship 2016

Ms. Ramaa Subramaniam received REX Karmaveer Global Fellowship (RKGF 2015 -16) honour and the Karmaveer Chakra instituted with the UN. 

RKGF and Karmaveer Chakra are for people working on social causes and also for people from all walks of life, who are inspiring positive change and helping people in our society to have a positive mindset and thus impacting collective change. Thus, RKGF goes beyond doing something for social causes or charity and is given to people from across sectors who are making a positive contribution for impacting a positive mindset to change for the better.

Ramaa was instrumental in many offline and online  initiatives for Elders thru Social awareness, Sensitising and conducting events etc. She also co-founded an exclusive search portal for senior citizen which has contact details of all day to day needs www.SilverInningsHelpline.com She founded a social enterprise 'PrideAge' for conduct events and provide need based services for all ages. 

Rex - Ideas For Action Conclive. The award is instituted by iCONGO in association with the United Nations. It recognises change makers, people who put the mission before the commission.

Know more about Ramaa: http://prideage.com/

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

Mumbai base Social Activist Sailesh Mishra Conferred 'KARMAVEER JYOTI’ 2016 National Karmaveer Puraskaar

We are extremely delighted to share that Shri Sailesh Mishra Founder of Silver Innings, a social enterprise working with Senior Citizens has been conferred the prestigious 'KARMAVEER JYOTI - the highest iCONGO Karmaveer Global Award for Social Justice and Citizen Action' at New Delhi on 26^th Nov 2016.

Sailesh was felicitated the coveted ‘Karmaveer Jyoti’ Golden Puraskar’ award on the 26th of November at Delhi Public School, Gurgaon, New Delhi at the exclusive awards function which is a part of “iCONGO’s RIGHT every WRONG conclave” a national forum for social justice and citizen action where various social justice issues are discussed by very eminent and concerned citizens.

Sailesh Mishra, Son of Million Parents is a Social Entrepreneur and Mentor, Founder of Silver Innings®  a community dedicated to Senior Citizens in India. Through his organisation Silver Innings (since April 2008) he is working towards creating Elder Friendly World where Ageing becomes a Positive and Rewarding Experience. He has left his well-paid corporate job to work for his passion to work with Senior Citizens, which he believes is the most neglected and ignored segment. His work in the field of Dementia is worth to be commended. Having delved deep into the lives of the aged and understanding their challenges,  their emotional needs, their wishes and their aspirations and hopes, he was felt compelled to start ‘A1 Snehanjali’ Mumbai city First 24 x 7 Assisted Living Elder Care Home and also started Innovative program promoting Talent and Companionship among Elders. He effectively uses his Social Media, PR, Networking & Advocacy skills to outreach people of all ages around globe for the cause, making Silver Innings group pioneer in Asia Pacific region for using ICT. His vision for an elder-friendly world has garnered support from individuals and organizations across society. A belief that these silver-haired, golden-hearted people deserve to enjoy their “second childhood” with dignity, respect and care has driven Sailesh Mishra and his team of committed souls to reach out to seniors in as many ways as possible.

His dream is of India being global leader in the Holistic sphere of the globe, a network beyond borders, between technology, innovations and a socio-psychological approach. His dream is of a society where all generations are empowered, they are independent to choose and decide their careers and future. He foresee a growth in start-ups and social entrepreneurs for today’s youth and tomorrow seniors.

This award is given to Individual of extraordinary work for the society, by iCONGO – Indian Confederation of NGOs. iCONGO team of Advisors, Mentors and all our VOLUNTEERS, we congratulate Sailesh Mishra on his selection for the Karmaveer Puraskaar- Global Awards for Social Justice and Citizen Action. He was also welcomed as Karmaveer Noble Laureate 2015-16. It was great privilege to have him as an integral part of the REX and Karmaveer community and the Joy of Giving and Right every Wrong Movement.

In the year 2008, Sailesh Mishra was Awarded the coveted ‘Karmaveer Puraskar’ for his commendable work in the field of social service, especially for Senior Citizens.

The ‘Karmaveer Puraskar’ is a national award for Social Justice & Citizen Action. The award is instituted by iCONGO – Indian Confederation of NGOs – the people sector association- in partnership with government, business, media, civil society and other sectors and leading global and national organisations which over the years include institutions like TISS, BCCI, NASSCOM FOUNDATION, PHDCCI, CMS, RAI, UNMC, UNODC, The art of living, UNDP, World Bank, UNFPA, GTZ, WOTR, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, NDTV, Business World, Outlook and various others.

KARMAVEER PURASKAAR was created in 2006 by the people sector through iCONGO to recognize only individual citizens from all sectors (media, corporate, government, civil society, performing arts, professionals who have been pivotal for “being and leading the change” beyond their personal daily lives and business as usual by being committed on individual levels to work for social justice issues with proactive citizen action. The awards are given to individuals from various sectors for their contribution to promote social justice through citizen action. The basic philosophy of the awards is based on Gandhiji’s “Be the change you want to see in the world” and given to citizens who go beyond being apathetic and believe in doing their bit for social justice and know that it is “better to light a candle than to curse the darkness”. Past awardees include living legends and some eminent citizens like Verghese Kurien, Anu Aga, James Michael Lyngdoh, Vikram Akula, M. S. Swaminathan, Alyque Padamsee.

Know more about Silver innings: http://www.silverinnings.in/

Know more about Sailesh Mishra: https://saileshmishra.net/

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

Implementing or Ignoring the Law on Sexual Harassment?

By Dr. (PhD) Anagha Sarpotdar (anagha.sarpotdar@gmail.com) has a doctorate in the social sciences and is based in Mumbai.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act was passed in 2013 but not many companies in Mumbai have taken its provisions seriously or formed the mandatory internal complaints committees. A survey of how complaints by women were treated by some companies and what the internal committee members had to say shows that employer response to their women personnel and staff victimises the victim.

In early October, the Mumbai High Court ruled that it is the duty of every company to ensure that proper safeguards are provided to protect women from sexual and other harassment at work. “It is about time that every organization makes a list of dos and don’ts for male employees vis-à-vis their conduct towards women colleagues,” said a bench, headed by Justice V M Kanade (Times of India 2016). The complainant had alleged that her superior had not only made sexual advances towards her but even threatened to scuttle her career growth, if she refused. The bench, however, held that the findings of the internal complaints committee (ICC) and disciplinary committee showed that they had examined all allegations and held the officer guilty of misconduct.

The bench said sexual misconduct cannot be viewed casually and must be dealt with firmly and there should be an inbuilt internal mechanism so that instances of harassment can be conveyed confidentially to a senior woman officer. “Internal committees should be constituted to ensure that such instances are nipped at the inception itself.” It also pointed out that while Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act was passed in 2013, most firms have not set up complaints panels and must do so expeditiously (Times of India 2016).

A gender diversity study (TeamLease 2016) has revealed that more than 72% women feel that gender discrimination exists at workplaces and that initiatives like anti-sexual harassment policies need to be boosted by employers. This was reflected in the data provided by the corporate affairs ministry, Government of India which showed that reported complaints of sexual harassment within the top 100 companies listed on the National Stock Exchange doubled in the financial year 2014–15 as compared to the previous one (Asian Age 2015). Paradoxically, employers were found to be unequipped to tackle the problem. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)–Ernst and Young study (2015) revealed that one in every three Indian companies that is 31% had not yet set up ICC and 40% had not oriented the members to legal provisions while 35% were unaware of the penal consequences of not complying with the law. Around 44% did not create awareness about the law among employees (Bhattacharyya 2015; Sharma 2015).


Researching the Issue

In this context, I argue that employer response to reported complaints of sexual harassment has been dubious and problematic before enforcement of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. This is substantiated by findings of the research undertaken by me as fulfilment of the PhD programme at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai between 2012 and 2014. The need for such research arose from the poor implementation of the Vishakha guidelines (1997). One of the objectives of the research was to understand and analyse employer response to reported complaints of sexual harassment by women. It was done prior to the enforcement of the 2013 act and provided insights into status of compliance by organisations to the then existing legal framework.


Methodological Approach

Research questions required that a qualitative approach was followed. More specifically, phenomenology was chosen in order to get a both closer and deeper understanding of lived experiences of individuals who implemented the Vishakha guidelines and those who were affected by their implementation. This helped in bringing out new and context specific knowledge both from the compliance and process point of view.

Mumbai was chosen as the research setting taking into consideration that it is the economic capital of India and home to different kinds of organisations. There were numerous challenges in terms of locating participants for research and gaining their consent. Women’s organisations and/or groups, human and/or women’s rights lawyers, and the state commission for women became contact points to get in touch with women who reported sexual harassment and individuals who had experience in implementing the Vishakha guidelines. Lawyers, trade union members and representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) functioning as external members with complaints committees were willing to be part of the research.

A few participants were selected using purposive sampling (Welman and Kruger 1999) and others were located using the snowballing technique (Babbie 1995; Crabtree and Miller 1992). The sample size was 27. Out of these, six persons were members of complaints committees including chairpersons, three were human resources professionals, six were from NGOs and women’s organisations, two were members of trade unions and three were lawyers. Seven women were complainants who had reported sexual harassment at their workplaces. Out of these seven, four were employed with government organisations while three were working in private sector companies.

The challenge in locating and accessing participants for research reflected lack of uniformity in participant profiles. The sample was not representative in terms of participant activities except that all participants were employed with the organised sector and were concerned with the implementation of the Vishakha guidelines. Data collection was done using single in-depth semi-structured conversational interviews.

Experiences of the participants were captured in three themes. One of the prominent themes that emerged was employer response to reported complaints. This particular theme is especially important because it provides a base to understand and analyse prevailing situation relating to compliance to the current law on sexual harassment. The theme was analysed from the point of view of employer compliance to the Vishakha guidelines.


Major Findings

Writings and studies in India during 1997–2013 reveal under-reporting of sexual harassment, and poor implementation of the Vishakha guidelines leading to ineffective resolution of reported complaints (Saheli 1998; Sakshi 2000; Sanhita 2001; SARDI 1999; Lawyers Collective and ILO 2002; Yugantar 2003; CII 2005; Chaudhuri 2006; CFTI 2010). Situation continues to be sluggish after the 2013 act was enacted Phadnis and John (2014), Singh (2015) and DNA (2015). This is substantiated by findings of the present research.

Overall, organisations flouted the Vishakha guidelines. However, persistent efforts by the women and pressure from external agencies compelled employers to implement the guidelines. Even though it was done half-heartedly complaints committees were constituted or activated after complainants insisted and/or when there was pressure from external agencies like the state commission for women and high court.

It was found that women did not complain immediately after the incidents of sexual harassment occurred. In fact, registering a complaint with the employer was considered as the last choice and was resorted to when they found the workplace atmosphere becoming intimidating and difficult to handle. Their well-being and health was affected. Many of them did not have information about the complaint mechanism within their organisations and sought the help of women’s organisations, the police or the state commission for women.

When the women reported sexual harassment to persons in positions of authority, they were laughed at or were not believed. The complaints were rendered insignificant and branded as psychological problems, administrative harassment arising from the complainant’s non-performance, workplace politics, ragging or rude behaviour. Since these complaints were not considered grave enough to warrant attention, they were invariably dismissed. It must be noted here that non-verbal forms of sexual harassment were not regarded as harassment and the woman was blamed for making an issue out of “nothing.”

Retaliation from the employer after complaint was distinctly seen in all cases and this was a trend that was seen much more in the private sector where the complainant women’s services were terminated or they were compelled to resign due to humiliating working conditions deliberately created by the employer. The nature of retaliation in the government organisations differed substantially from the private sector. For these women, sexual and administrative harassment escalated after they complained. In all cases, however, the women were subjected to senior management personnel actually devising ways of troubling them further.

The experiences of the women complainants discussed here were substantiated by members of NGOs functioning as external members on the complaints committees, and by lawyers and trade unionists. The NGO members said that employers largely denied the existence of sexual harassment in their organisations and most of them were convinced that the environment in their organisations was safe for the women employees. As a result, the implementation of the Vishakha guidelines was undertaken reluctantly and led to low awareness among the employees about the entire issue and existence of the complaint mechanism. Almost everyone I interviewed said that the sexual harassment policies were vaguely framed because these employers did not envisage the different situations emerging from such harassment.

The NGO members further shared that employer response to reported cases was subjective and varied according to their perception about the issue and interest in the reported complaint. The response was never sympathetic and was actually negative, casual and attempted avoidance. Sexual harassment was treated as “normal” behaviour and not dealt with seriously thus forcing the women to reach out to external agencies such as the police.

The lawyers I spoke to observed that multinational companies only pretended to adhere to strict global standards but sexual harassment at the workplace was not seen as a form of violence against women or violation of rights of women employees. The employers believed that the woman was making the complaint with an ulterior motive. As a consequence, the response was negative and any show of insistence from the woman resulted in her being accused of poor performance of her job or vindictive behaviour. While her work and leave records were examined with intent to find faults and serve her with memos and termination notices, the man she had complained against was let off without any action. In fact, the woman faced isolation within the workplace and in many cases the human resources personnel ensured that her complaint was ignore or treated lightly.

Employers need to make sure that ICCs under the Companies Act, 2013 are constituted as mandated. Similarly, an efficient anti-sexual harassment policy is required to be drafted so that it is compliant with the 2013 act and addresses even those areas which the law fails to. The definition of sexual harassment should be broadened to cover the overall work culture and the ICC should meet regularly to gain visibility and reach out to the women in the organisation even when there are no reported complaints of sexual harassment. Though the act does not mandate presence of an external member in the quorum, the compulsory presence of such a member should be ensured during the committee’s meetings and proceedings.

As stated by Hersch (2015) despite being illegal, costly, and an affront to dignity, sexual harassment is pervasive and challenging to eliminate. Sincerity of purpose, interpretation of the legislation by the employers in keeping with its spirit and contextualising it with the struggle from which it emerged will go a long way in bringing about the safety of women employees at workplaces.

- See more at: http://www.epw.in/journal/2016/44-45/commentary/implementing-or-ignoring-law-sexual-harassment.html#sthash.ZXoQ1fTJ.dpuf



Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

10 social enterprises that empower women in India

In India women are disempowered and generally handed a bad deal. Consider the various issues they face. It starts at birth. According to UNICEF, more than 50 million female infants have been culled at birth and have gone ‘missing’. 

This problem runs deep, in July a female child was found half-buried in a forest in Madhya Pradesh, she later died due to injuries in hospital. No wonder India has amongst the worst sex ratios in the world, with only 893 females for every 1000 males. There are fewer female children in schools than males, most of them dropping out when they hit puberty, preferring to stay at home, because most schools don’t have toilets or running water. 

There are also fewer women in the workforce, this is not just in the organized workforce, but also in agricultrure. Their woes continue: they are not safe on the streets, with high rates of rape and sexual assault. India is definitely no country for women. 

The social entrepreneurship ecosystem has responded to this harsh environment spawning a variety of social businesses that strive empower women. Here are 10 social enterprises doing their bit to better the lives of the women of India. 

In India women are disempowered and generally handed a bad deal. Consider the various issues they face. It starts at birth. According to UNICEF, more than 50 million female infants have been culled at birth and have gone ‘missing’. This problem runs deep, in July a female child was found half-buried in a forest in Madhya Pradesh, she later died due to injuries in hospital. No wonder India has amongst the worst sex ratios in the world, with only 893 females for every 1000 males. There are fewer female children in schools than males, most of them dropping out when they hit puberty, preferring to stay at home, because most schools don’t have toilets or running water. There are also fewer women in the workforce, this is not just in the organized workforce, but also in agricultrure. Their woes continue: they are not safe on the streets, with high rates of rape and sexual assault. India is definitely no country for women. The social entrepreneurship ecosystem has responded to this harsh environment spawning a variety of social businesses that strive empower women. Here are 10 social enterprises doing their bit to better the lives of the women of India. Pic courtesy: www.worldpulse.com 

1) Ayzh (pronounced “eyes”): The company was founded by Zubaida Bai with the simple idea of developing affordable, appropriate health technologies produced by women and for women in rural India. Every year a million mothers die from unsanitary childbirth conditions. AYZH’s core product JANMA, a Rs 100 clean birth kit (containing simple tools recommended by the WHO) helps prevent infection at the time of birth leading to reduced maternal and infant mortality. Zubaida’s motivation to start the company was personal. In 2006, on the birth of her first born she contracted an infection that caused years of suffering and was told by doctors that she may not be able to have another child. She made a promise to find a sustainable clean birth solution on behalf of women worldwide. Besides reducing maternal and infant mortality, AYZH increases income of women in rural India by enabling them to be the producers and sellers of tools like sterile birth kits. With a total of 32,000+ kits sold, more than 64,000 mothers and babies worldwide now have access to a clean and safe birth. Bai is a TED, Ashoka Changemakers, and Echoing Green fellow. 

2) Blank Noise Project: Started by Jasmeen Patheja in 2003, as a student project when she was Srishti School of Art Design and Technology, the Blank Noise project has developed into a platform for women to voice their frustration against sexual assault and violence. Patheja is reluctant to call Blank Noise a movement yet, but it might slowly be becoming one. After starting in Bangalore, Blank Noise has spread to other cities, helping create awareness about ‘eve teasing’, sexual assault and violence against women. The organization entirely run by volunteers – both male and female – uses a multi-dimensional appraoch to publicly address the aforementioned issues. One of their more recent projects was ‘Talk to me’, had Blank Noise volunteers set tables on ‘Rapist Lane’ to facilitate a conversation between women, and the men who used to hang around there. Rapist Lane is a short stretch near Srishti School of Art Design and Technology where men used to park their bikes and cars, drink and generaly create a nuisance for the women passing by. The tables helped sit the men down and share tea and have a conversation with the women who passed Rapist Lane. The objective was for the men to better understand the women and create a sense of familarity between the two sexes.

3) Datahalli: Datahalli is an all-woman BPO started by the the JSW Foundation in Vijayanagar, Karnataka to create employment opportunities for rural girls, most of whom are only high school pass outs. The project has currently benefited over 500 women helping the rural women gain dignity and respect and some cases become the family’s primary bread earner. The Datahalli model encourages girls to complete their education right up to the 12th grade. The women are given basic computer skills and then trainined on data entry and processing jobs. The 300 young women who are currently employed at the BPO earn between Rs. 3000 to Rs.5000 per month. Having started with financial support from the foundation, Datahalli is a self sustained social enterprise today. 

4) Sakha Consulting Wings: India, as is well-known is not a safe place for women. There have been a slew of women only cab services that have been launched to provide safe transport solutions for women, and by women in urban India. Sakha Consulting Wings is one of them. It offers three services :Sakha Cabs for Women- a cab service driven by women for women in Delhi and NCR, Sakha Chauffeur Placement Services- a chauffeur placement service on a full time basis within an agreed contract and Sakha Chauffeur on call- chauffeur services for a short duration or daily packages. Sakha women drivers are handpicked from poor and marginalized sections of society. Their entire training and development is undertaken by Azad Foundation, Sakha’s non-profit sister organisation. Maruti Institute of Driving and Technology Research provide driving skills. In-house trainers from Azad Foundation provide training in subjects such as map reading, routes and roads in Delhi, communications and grooming, as well as an understanding of women’s rights, particularly in protection from violence in public and personal spaces. In addition to driving, they are taught self defense by the Delhi Police and the Crime against Women Cell teaches them to deal with any untoward incidents faced on the roads. 

5) Jayaashree Industries: We will never completely know what possesed Arunachalam Muruganandam, a high-school drop who was working as a helper in a welding shop to take on the problem of menstrual hygiene in India. He spent a frustrating four years coming up with a design for a sanitary napkin that could be afforded by the poor. Finally, Muruganandam succeeded in designing a machine for Rs 65,000, this was a major breakthrough because a similar machine cost Rs 3.5 crores. Muruganandam started selling napkins with his wife’s help, but met with a tepid response, but soon things started to pick up.  Over 225 such machines have sold so far and are deployed in 14 states of India. He’s also getting inquiries from various countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya Uganda, Nepal and Bangladesh. He may single-handedly spawned an entirely new industry. 

6) REVIVAL Style: Harmeet Neetu Sidhu and Allison Q. Taylor started REVIVAL Style as a way to empower women from the rural villages of India. The company designs, produces and sells stylish, ethical apparel for women. REVIVAL Style  works with female artisans from rural India, leading to a better life for them. REVIVAL Style has won quite a few honors for its business model including the NYU Gallatin Founder’s Fund Business Plan Competition, finalist in the NYU Stern Social Venture Business Plan Competition, and was named in the Top 40 (out of nearly 1800) in the Dell Social Innovation Challenge. REVIVAL Style’s inspiration is the over 180 million rural Indian women living below the universal poverty line, living on less than a dollar. By being the bridge between traditional Indian craft and the needs of a modern-day consumer, the company helps preserve Indian traditional crafts. In addition to offering the women fair wages and employment, REVIVAL Style will reinvest in the artisans’ communities through education programs. 

7) Greenway Grameen Infra (GGI): Neha Juneja and Ankit Mathur founded CGI to create sustainable solutions for the rural market. Their first product, a clean cookstove, called the Greenway Smart Stove. CGI’S team consists of technology experts, designers, socioligists and marketers who worked with rural communities to create the Greenway Smart Stove design. The results clearly shows. Their stove saves 65 percent fuel and reduces carbin emissions by 80 percent. This is an important problem to solve as traditional stoves cause over 2 million premature deaths annually due to indoor air pollution. Also, they lead to deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and the release of black carbon. CGI’s efforts have won it many prizes. Some of them include the $50,000 grand prize at Intel Global Challege at UC Berkeley (2012), Women’s Impact Award (2012), DFID-GIZ Sankalp Samridhi “Social Enterprise Recognition Awards”, Grand Prize (2012), IIM – Bangalore’s “Next Big Thing” Competition and first Place at the Social Business (2012), IIT – Bombay’s “Eureka! Business Plan Competition”. After designing a great stove, CGI’s next challenge is to reduce the cost of the stove and increase sales. 

8) The Maids’ Company (TMC): TMC’s founder Gauri Singh has extensive experience in sectors like microfinance, urban livelihoods and affordable housing founded TMC in 2007. Just prior to founding TMC Gauri worked for Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) for five years. TMC aims to revolutionize the domestic housekeeping sector by improving service quality and the rights of domestic workers. TMC’s maids become co-owners in the company and own equity. Maids are guaranteed a steady income, provident fund, medical benefits and access to financial services. All maids are screened as TMC does a police verification. TMC also takes the sting out of hiring a new maid by providing a 5 day trial period. Households can also be guarateed continuity of service, because when one maid quits, TMC replaces them with another. 

9) rangSutra: Founded by Sumita Ghose in 2006, rangSutra has become of the most successful social enterprises in India. The company preserves the heritage of India and its crafts by manufacturing apparel, home furnishings and accessories. More than 70 per cent of the close to 2000 artisans that the company employs from remote regions of Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and Assam are women. rangSutra creates top quality hand made products employing these artisans and farmers and provides them with sustainable livelihoods. Besides being modeled on the principles of fair trade rangSutra also has made the majority of its employees part owners and given them representation on the board of Directors. 

10) Lijjad Pappad (Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad): One of India’s oldest co-operatives supporting women, Lijjad Pappad is an organisation manufacturing various products from papad, appalam, masalas, wheat flour, chapati,detergent powder, detergent cake and liquid detergent. After starting with just 7 women employees it now employees over 43,000 women throughout India and has 81 branches. 

Source: http://social.yourstory.com/2013/10/10-social-enterprises-empower-women-india/

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

Haryana launches Village Mentoring Project to improve education, healthcare

Haryana Government has launched a Village Mentoring Project to improve healthcare and education of the villagers with a special emphasis on girl child.

The project would create awareness among the villagers about various issues including educating girl child, health, financial matters etc, Deputy Commissioner of Panchkula Vivek Atray said after launching the project from Rajjipur village near Panchkula.

He said the project has been commenced in the state from Panchkula district in association with Indian School of Business (ISB), Mohali whose faculty and students would visit the village. The students and the staff of ISB presented a street play on the theme of ‘Continuing girl education, sanitation, hygiene and nutrition’ and conducted a counseling session with village residents. “This is a unique initiative wherein ISB would mentor village residents towards adopting a more progressive approach in the upbringing of the girl child. Healthcare related and educational parameters would be the focus of the intervention,” Atray said. 

According to PTI, Director External Relations of ISB DNV Kumara Guru said the ISB community comprising its staff, students and their families are spearheading this initiative by undertaking various activities across a span of six months along with the District Administration Panchkula. The activities will include street plays, counseling sessions and health camps, engaging with the school kids, mentoring and more, he said. 

The Village Mentoring Project is the first of its kind in Haryana under which villages in the state would be mentored by leading corporate houses, educational institutions and other organizations. Each of the 22 districts in the state would be launching the project in a phased manner in around five villages each, an official spokesman said. 

Source: http://social.yourstory.com/2015/06/haryana-village-mentoring/ 

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

Book Review: Karma Kurry for the mind, body, heart and soul

Karma Kurry for the mind, body, heart and soul,  By Jeroninio Almeida and Jyoti Nanda, published by JAICO. Contact Authors at: jerrylearns2learn121@gmail.com

This is a very interesting and timely book and on the efforts of seemingly common people, who were courageous enough to take the first step. It is a compendium of 26 brief biographical sketches of people from various walks of life. These people excelled in their chosen vocation, but decided to go further and contribute to society. They had the vision and courage to look beyond narrow self-development and work for the less privileged, poor and or voiceless. 

The biographers have done an excellent job of writing succinct and inspiring accounts of the lives of these real heroes/heroines. The editors have done an equally commendable job of selecting the widest possible array of work and level of intervention and background and context of work. It includes stories ranging from environmental protection to innovative education to medical intervention and provision of care services; those who worked at international level to those who made a difference at the level of a village or town; from celebrities to the least known names. But, the common thread that ran across all the stories is the sensitive heart that gets affected by the misery of others, passion to make a difference, struggle to achieve what one believes in and innovation. 

All stories are outstanding and inspiring in their own way; but those that inspire the most are about the struggle of disadvantaged people who rose to the challenges life threw at them, overcame and continued to strive to help others in similar situations. Those that deserve special mention are the stories of Subhashini Mistry, herself a poor uneducated widow who struggled hard to raise her family and made good of her resolve to start a hospital in her hometown; Javed Ahmad Tak, who despite his 100% Disability, decided to help others and also continued to attempt improve his own skills; a true story of “Never Say Die” spirit.  Lakshamn Singh’s single-handed and gritty efforts to deal with water scarcity in his village and consequent poverty and DrChikholalThangsing’s efforts to provide compassion and care to victims of AIDS; Sailesh Mishra’s untiring endeavors to create awareness and facilities for the least understood diseases in India that afflict older persons i.e. Alzheimer’s Disease(dementia) are inspiring. 

This book is like a ray of hope in this atmosphere of overwhelming pessimism. It is certainly curry for mind, heart and soul. It satiates the hunger for positive examples of human courageand compassion and instills a sense of confidence in the reader that all is not lost yet! It evokes the mind to think about the real meaning of human life which is way beyond running endlessly to fulfill one’s ever increasing desires, heart to beat for the others especially the disadvantaged and the soul to find fulfillment.

This is recommended for reading by all especially children and young adults who need to be encouraged by the lives of Real Heroes/Heroines who work selflessly for the betterment of other human beings!  

Anupama Datta

Director

Policy Research and Development

HelpAge India

Email: anupama@helpageindia.org

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.

Techno Social Innovation makes its way in rural India

By Mr. G M Sastry

When I visited Katuru (very near to my native place Vuyyuru) on 4th Nov 2012 for the water quality testing project, I could notice two totally contrast and  opposite things- exactly situated opposite to each other. One is old and ancient abandoned and dilapidated house.

Just opposite to the above building, a modern technological phenomenon aiding the welfare schemes of the government aimed at senior citizens and other welfare beneficiaries was happening every month. It took me literally by surprise when I saw what was happening.

Opposite to the old abandoned house is the Grampanchayt office/Secretariat of Katuru. On that day (4 Nov), the Gramsevika entered the premises of GP secretariat and several senior citizens, widows,  were waiting along with some specially abled/challenged. From her handbag, she took out a small machine and placed it on the old table in the GP office. On the side of the machine, she placed her mobile.

                                                                

One by one the senior citizens started showing their id cards. She fed the id no into the mobile and immediately the senior citizen’s details are retrieved by the mobile including his/her photo and other details. She pushed some other buttons on the mobile for further verification. Then she asked the beneficiary to put his/her fingers on the small machine for scanning. It took less than a minute to scan the fingerprint and then match with bio-metric database. Once it was approved by the system, the small machine printed out the receipt in duplicate. One copy was handed over to the person along with Rs 200 from the handbag of the Gramsevika.

All this happened in less than may be 4 to 5 minutes. There was a good crowd before the gramsevika. Normally it happens in the frist week of a month for about 4 days. For those persons, who are identified for the pension scheme and cannot come to the GP secretariat/common place, the Gramsevika goes to their house, completes the formalities and distributes the cash!

Modern technology aiding the welfare schemes aimed at old/senior people!

I am not opening up a debate whether welfare pension is good or not or the amount of Rs 200 is sufficient or not. Simply amazed by the usage of the technology. Of course the next step would be cash transfers to the pensioner’s bank accounts if the proposed financial inclusion in rural areas is not a mirage!

Technology can be effectively used by harnessing its true potential and thus to reduce the side effects of able workers’ migration to urban areas on their dependant senior family members, who are not productive by modern understanding!

May be this is called social innovation!

As Shared by Mr. G M Sastry , http://in.linkedin.com/in/gmsastry

Email:  gmsastryhyd@gmail.com

 

 

Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.