We:

So it all started in the year 1985?

AS:

Yes you can say so but it was in the year 1997 when I met this youngster Prashant. He was studying for his Chemical Engineering Degree from UDCT Mumbai. From year 1997 to 2000 we together brainstormed about many concepts which resulted in 400 articles in various Regional and National papers like Loksatta, Maharastra Times, etc…

We also studied various management theories, game theories etc. Prashant continued with his studies further with his Post Graduation in HRD from TISS. He later joined Wipro Ltd and worked there for couple of years, currently he is pursuing a course on Social Networking from France.

q6

We:

So after you published your 400 articles you must have zeroed down to a conclusion and then One Village One Computer happened.

AS:

One Village One Computer is not an Idea its one of the Models which is part of the broader concept “IT for social Change”. We studied a lot of Economic and social problems both past and present and tried to find the solution through IT.1V1C was used as an initial model it was developed not for a village but for any community which has certain problems and which can be solved by the technology and various management theories.

Our first 1VIC project was started in the year 2000 in Murbi. We started an IT Seva Kendra in Murbi later, which is located in Panvel, Raigad District in Maharashtra.

This village is one of the 95 unfortunate villages, where farming lands were acquired by CIDCO (City & Industrial Development Corporation) for planned urbanization. All these villages face problems of unemployment, poverty, unequal compensations for land acquisition, sudden cultural & economic change and have been left marginalized in the whole developmental process.

1V1C had taken many basic IT training camps in this area before Kendra was established. These camps gave IT literacy to people where curriculum was addressing day-to-day issues faced by villagers, instructions and educational content was prepared in Marathi with help of Akruti Computers a company which develops software in Marathi.

We also trained youngsters in topics like team work, leadership development, gender issues, social entrepreneurship, networking & marketing which lead to overall development of Human Capital which was our main aim.

The infrastructure and computers were mainly funded by the villagers itself. Against the belief of villagers being afraid of the technology they were very eager and very quick to learn and adapt.

We used to have a training camp for 5 days and we used to make each group of 5 people and 1 computer was given to every group. We had designed basic computer Modules for them which also included usage of Internet.

And most unique thing we used to do is that we linked there problems with the learning which made them more receptive. Most of the problems were solved then and there I mean they become aware of how to solve their problems. Apart from computer training modules we played many management games which made them more confident and more of a thinking individual.

q7

We:
So you used to teach them batch wise.

AS:

Yup for the first batch we had trained trainers but when the first batch students went back they propagated many more to join in and we also got help from them as they became trainers for us. So we just provided them the platform and then it was up to them how they explored it.

We also saw to it that the training centre was not made at any Private place like school, hospital as it would remain accessible to a few people we made it in Public place like temples which will be more freely accessible.

We did not intend to create just Trainer Centers we wanted to create POWER CENTERS where Human Capital is been developed.

q8

We:

So how did the funding come from?

AS:

Initially we had to fund our projects later villagers themselves gave us the funding as it was their own center. We used to pay some stipend to the volunteers from the village.

We were to meet him at his house which is 10 minutes from Thane Station but it took us almost one hour to reach there.

The house and Anil Shaligram both were ready for the interview. He had made arrangements for all 6 of us (but only 2 of us could make).

He had kept some books on Social Entrepreneur on a small table; there were many more books in the shelf behind the table.

We settled down…and the interview began.

Q.1

We: First we want to thank you for taking out time for us.

Anil Shaligram (A.S): No it’s not a problem. But can I ask you one thing what’s the purpose of the interview?

Q.2

We: Actually we are working on a Research Paper named “Social Entrepreneurship: Prospects and Constraints in India” So we are taking interviews of few Social Entrepreneurs and we will be profiling them in your paper.

AS: Ok So many how many interviews have you taken up till now? And how helpful were they?

Q.3

We: We have taken around 4 interviews up till now and we are in the process of understanding what is Social Entrepreneur and what is its current scenario in India also we came to know the qualities of Social Entrepreneur.

AS: Good!!! I have decided to structure our interview into few parts first I will give you an overview about my work and how did it happen.

Q.4

We: Ok (Amol opened his book and started penning down the points)

AS: It all started in the year 1985 that’s time an abstract concept came to my mind about using IT and cutting edge management theories for some social changes. So to understand the social environment I started reading books on the current Economic condition of the country, different advancements in the field of IT , past and contemporary Management theories and also on social networking.

In the year 1989 I started my own DTP centre to understand the IT field more clearly. The more I read I came to know different ideas for solving problems of the society.

There are a number of factors that help to explain why some boards don’t function effectively. Taken together, these factors provide a checklist for assessing a board and identifying problem areas. Examining these barriers to board effectiveness can be the first step in revitalizing an existing board or building from scratch. Let’s take a look at some of the now:

Temptation to micro-management. Practically everyone can share hair-raising stories about boards that spent untold hours discussing trivial subjects while neglecting major agenda items deserving their more careful deliberation. It is critical that the board focuses its attention on items of critical importance to the organization. In order to do this, the board must avoid the temptation to micro-manage or meddle in lesser matters or in areas that are more appropriately handled by the professional staff. The average board, meeting monthly for two hours, has approximately 24 hours of meeting time per year to make all of the major decisions as well as address critical issues that come before it unannounced. It is simply impossible to do an effective job with in those 24 hours of meeting time, even if only a few hours are wasted on trivia.

Ineffective Nominating Committee. Many boards lack an effective nominating committee. We need to remember that the work of the nominating committee has lasting impact on organization — and this committee’s work determines who board leaders will be for many years for years into the future. The nominating committee should be well organized, have a clear sense of recruiting priorities as well as expectations for individual board members especially in the area of fund-raising. These elements are frequently missing in many organizations. If the nominating committee or board recruiting committee is poorly organized, board members in turn are not likely to have a good understanding of the organization and their role as board members.

No Plan for Rotation. Another problem is the lack of a plan for orderly rotation of board members on and off the board. If the same people serve year after year, there is no way for new blood and new ideas to come into the board. Despite their sense of commitment, these same people will make the organization a “closed corporation.” Rotation prevents the ingrown possessiveness sometimes found on self-perpetuating boards. In a time of rapid change, the presence of new people who bring a new perspective will promote creativity and innovation in board decision-making.

Failure to remove unproductive members. Another problem that leads to poor performance is the failure to remove unproductive board members. People who are not carrying out their commitments as board members become major blocks to overall board effectiveness. There needs to be a process for evaluating board member performance and making recommendations regarding their future service with the board.

Too small. Sometimes a board is ineffective because it is simply too small in number. When we consider the awesome responsibilities of board leadership, it’s easy to see why we need enough people to do the work. While it is difficult to specify an appropriate size for all boards, in general, a board should range in number from 11 to 21 members. We need enough members to lead and form the core of the committees and, in general, share in the other work of the board. We also need sufficient numbers to reflect the desired diversity in the board as well as assure the range of viewpoints that spurs innovation and creativity in board planning and decision-making.

Lack of functioning committee structure. The lack of a functioning committee structure is another reason why boards fail to perform at an acceptable level. While it is true that major decisions are made in board meetings, it is also true is that most of the work that supports and implements this decision-making occurs at the committee level. If the board has a committee structure that functions inadequately, this can lead to poor performance in general.

No strategic plan. The lack of a strategic plan, in most cases, will also lead to poor board performance. If the organization lacks a strategic plan that provides clear direction — so critical in this period of rapid change — the board can spend significant amounts of time talking about topics that simply don’t matter. Related to the absence of a strategic plan is the lack of a long-range service delivery and financial development plan that will advance the strategic plan.

No plan for orientation of new and old members. Boards also fail because they have no plan for orientation of new and old members. Deliberate thought is rarely given to the matter of blending new and old board members into a well-functioning team. Related to this, is the lack of a formal plan of board training and education to continually upgrade the level of board skills and knowledge.

INTRODUCTION

The Debt Market is the market where fixed income securities of various types and features are issued and traded. These fixed income securities are issued by Central and State Governments, Municipal Corporations, Govt. bodies and commercial entities like Financial Institutions, Banks, Public Sector Units, Public Ltd. companies and also structured finance instruments.

Role and Importance

The key role of the debt markets in the Indian Economy stems from the following reasons:

• Efficient mobilization and allocation of resources in the economy

• Financing the development activities of the Government

• Transmitting signals for implementation of the monetary policy

• Facilitating liquidity management in tune with overall short term and long term objectives.

Since the Government Securities are issued to meet the short term and long term financial needs of the government, they are not only used as instruments for raising debt, but have emerged as key instruments for internal debt management, monetary management and short term liquidity management.

The returns earned on the government securities are normally taken as the benchmark rates of returns and are referred to as the risk free return in financial theory. The Risk Free rates obtained from the G-sec rates are often used to price the other non-govt. securities in the financial markets.

Importance to Investors

The Zero Default Risk of the G-Secs. offer one of the best reasons for investments in G-secs so that it enjoys the greatest amount of security possible.

The other advantages of investing in G- Secs are:

• Greater safety and lower volatility as compared to other financial instruments.

• Variations possible in the structure of instruments like Index linked Bonds, STRIPS

• Higher leverage available in case of borrowings against G-Secs.

• No TDS on interest payments

• Tax exemption for interest earned on G-Secs. up to Rs.3000/- over and above the limit of Rs.12000/- under Section 80L (as amended in the latest Budget).

• Greater diversification opportunities

• Adequate trading opportunities with continuing volatility expected in interest rates the world over.

Importance to Financial System of the Country

• Reduction in the borrowing cost of the Government and enable mobilization of resources at a reasonable cost.

• Provide greater funding avenues to public-sector and private sector projects and reduce the pressure on institutional financing.

• Enhanced mobilization of resources by unlocking illiquid retail investments like gold.

• Development of heterogeneity of market participants

• Assist in development of a reliable yield curve and the term structure of interest rates.

OBJECTIVE

1) To identify and analyse the problems plaguing the Indian Debt Market and suggest remedial measures for its revival.

2) To undertake a comparative study of the debt markets in India vis-a-vis the one in the developed countries.

3) To suggest methods by which the returns in the Indian debt markets could be made more attractive to the retail sector.

METHODOLOGY

Sources of Secondary data:

(1) Reports and working papers available on the internet.

(2) Literature survey.

Sources of Primary data:

(1) Interaction with debt traders.

BENEFITS

The research aims to benefit the policy makers, retail investors and corporates.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

The board of Directors is responsible for supervising the management of theCorporation’s business and its affairs. It has the statutory authority and obligation to protect and enhance the assets of the Corporation in the interest of all of its shareholders.Although Directors may be elected by the shareholders to bring a special expertise or point of view to board deliberations, they are not chosen to represent a particular constituency. The best interest of the Corporation must be paramount at all times.Regular Board and committee attendance, preparation and active participation in setting goals, and requiring performance in the interest of shareholders evidence the involvement and commitment of Directors.Management of the Corporation’s business is done through the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who is charged with the day-to-day management of the Corporation. The board approves the goals of the business, the objectives and policies within which it is managed, and then steps back and evaluate management performance.Reciprocally, management keeps the board fully informed of the progress of theCorporation towards the achievement of its established goals and of all materialDeviations from the goals or objectives and policies established by the Board in a timely and candid manner.The Board operates by delegating certain of its responsibilities and authority, including spending authorization, to management and reserving certain powers to itself. Its principal duties fall into seven (7) categories.

1.MANAGEMENT SELECTION, RETENTION AND SUCCESSION                                     

(a)Subject to the Articles and By-Laws of the Corporation, the Board manages its own affairs, including planning its composition, selecting its Chairman, who shallnot be the CEO, nominating candidates for election to the Board, appointing themembers of its committees, establishing the terms of reference and duties of itscommittees, and determining Board compensation.                                                                                     

(b)The Board has responsibility for the appointment and replacement of the CEO, for monitoring CEO performance, and for determining CEO compensation.                                                                                    

(c)The Board has responsibility for approving the appointment and remuneration of all corporate officers, acting upon the advice of the CEO, and for ensuring that adequate provision has been made for management succession.

(d)The Board shall provide an orientation and induction program for new Directors and shall encourage and provide opportunities for all Directors to continually update their skills as well as their knowledge of the Corporation, its business and its senior management.

2.STRATEGY DETERMINATION

(a)The Board has the responsibility to participate directly or through its committees,  in developing and approving the mission of the Corporation’s business, its objectives and goals, and the strategy for their achievement. The Board shall, among other assessment processes, evaluate management’s analysis of the strategies of the Corporation’s competitors or of companies of a scale similar to that of the Corporation.

(b)The Board has responsibility to ensure congruence between shareholders’expectations, the Corporation’s plans and management performance.

(c)The Board has the responsibility to review the Corporation’s annual strategic plan with senior management prior to the commencement of each year and approve the plan. The plan shall take into account, among other things, the opportunities and risks of the Corporation’s business.

 3.RISK EVALUATION

The Board has the responsibility to identify the principal risks of the Corporation’s business and ensure the implementation of appropriate systems to manage such risks.

4.MONITORING AND ACTING

(a)The Board has responsibility to monitor the Corporation’s progress towards its goals, and to revise and alter its direction in light of changing circumstances. At every regularly scheduled meeting, the Board shall review recent developments, if any that impact upon the Corporation’s growth strategy. The Board shall, as part of its annual strategic planning process, conduct a review of human, technological and capital resources required to implement the Corporation’s growth strategy and of the regulatory, cultural or governmental constraints on the Corporation’s business.

(b)The Board has responsibility to provide advice and counsel to the CEO, and to take action when performance falls short of its goals or other special Circumstances warrant.

5.POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

(a)The Board has responsibility to approve and monitor compliance with allsignificant policies and procedures by which the Corporation is operated,including the Corporation’s Environmental Policy and its Occupational Healthand Safety Policy. In particular, the Environmental Committee and theOccupational Health and Safety Committee, which have been established bymanagement, shall report to the Health, Safety and Environment Committee ofthe Board of Directorson their respective activities once a year.

(b)The Board has particular responsibility to ensure that the Corporation operates at all times within applicable laws and regulations, and ethical and moral standards.

(c)The Board has responsibility for monitoring compliance with the Corporation’s written Code of Ethics, granting any waivers from compliance for Directors and officers and causing disclosure of any such waivers to be made in the Corporation’s next quarterly report, including the circumstances and rationale for granting the waiver.

 6.DISCLOSURE TO SHAREHOLDERS AND OTHERS

(a)The Board has responsibility for ensuring that the performance of the Corporation is adequately reported to its shareholders, its other security holders, the investment community, the relevant regulators and the public on a timely and regular basis.

(b)The Board has responsibility for (i) reviewing and approving the Corporation’s unaudited quarterly financial statements and accompanying notes and the related Management’s Discussion and Analysis and press release (ii) ensuring that the Corporation’s audited annual financial statements are presented fairly and in accordance with generally accepted accounting standards and reviewing and approving such financial statements and accompanying notes and the related Management’s Discussion and Analysis and press release (iii) reviewing andApproving the Corporation’s Management Proxy Circular and (iv) reviewing and Approving the Corporation’s Annual Information Forms.

(c)The Board has responsibility for ensuring that timely disclosure is made by press release of any development that results in, or may reasonably be expected to result in, a significant change in the value or market price of the Corporation’s listed securities.

7.GENERAL LEGAL OBLIGATIONS

(a)To supervise the management of the business and affairs of the Corporation.

(b)To act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of theCorporation.

(c)To exercise the care, diligence and skill that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in comparable circumstances.

(d)To act in accordance with the Canada Business Corporations Act, securities,environmental and other relevant legislation and the Corporation’s Articles andBy-Laws.

(e)To consider as the full Board and not delegate to a committee:

(i)Any submission to the shareholders of a question or matter requiring theapproval of the shareholders;(ii)the filling of a vacancy among the Directors;(iii)the manner and the terms of the issuance of securities;(iv)the declaration of dividends;(v)the purchase, redemption or any other form of acquisition of shares issuedby the Corporation;(vi)the approval of a management proxy circular;(vii)the approval of any take-over bid circular or Directors circular.(viii) the approval of the annual financial statements of the Corporation; or(ix)the adoption, amendment or repeal of By-Laws of the Corporation. 

The paper intends to throw light on the changes in Indian retail industry. In India, organized retailing, is contributing 3% of total retail sector and is still evolving. However, it is expected to increase to 5%, by 2010. Retail sector forms 10-11% of GDP. It is alluring in terms of investment, employment opportunity, and usage of technology. Retailing is in a rapid state of change due to speedy technological developments, changing competitive positions, varying consumer behavior as well as their expectations and liberalized regulatory environment. Indian organized retail industry was to the tune of Rs. 13,000 crore for the year 2000. Organized retail industry was expected to grow by 30 per cent in the next five years and was expected to touch Rs. 45,000 crore in 2005, by 2010.Indian retailing is clearly at a tipping point. India is currently the ninth largest retail market in the world. As we have noticed a shift of the apparel sector towards the organized retail over the years, our study focuses on the factors influencing consumer buying behavior of apparels in retail.

OBJECTIVE

· To understand different factors influencing consumer buying behavior of apparel

· To study the impact of visual merchandising on the purchase of apparel.

SCOPE

The scope of the study is to understand the consumer buying behavior and how merchandising assists the purchase of apparel.

METHODOLOGY

The paper would gather assimilate and analyzed data from primary and secondary sources, a few of which are mentioned here below:

1. Questionnaire

2. Retail magazines

BENEFITS

The study seeks to provide a broad framework and overall impact analysis of visual merchandising on the male and female buying behavior for apparel. More importantly, it attempts to understand the psychological factors when it comes to purchasing apparels. We could also ascertain the importance of merchandising of apparel in the organised retail sector.

This was a part of our Idea Research initiaitve, under which we got a project on SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP. Our mentor is Gayatri Vivek. Ma’am told us to interview three of such personalities and write case studies on them. Hence we started of with Shobha who is a founder of Aarambh NGO. Aarambh caters to under privileged woman and children, and to up bring them using Education.

So on 9 August we got an appointment and all six of group members went to interview her. Following is a written form of the interview. We have two entities here Shobha amd SE. SE here refers to the group.

Q.1 : S.E : What was your education back ground ?

Shobha : Basically I am from Finance background, having qualified as a Chartered Accountan.

Q.2 : S.E : So after qualifying as a CA where did you work initially ?

Shobha : I worked for TATA and then for Lakme. But I always felt I am a miss fit for the job. I was not enjoying the corporate experience.

Q.3 : S.E : Ohk! But then why didn’t you tried some other company?

Shobha : Actually I was sure that I am not going to work in a professional organisation any more. So I joined USAid.

Q.4: S.E : What is USAid, we have heared it for the first time, is it some kind of NGO ?

Shobha: United States Agency for International Development is a the U.S. government organization responsible for most non-military foreign aid. It is during this time as an Auditor I visited many remote places of India like Uttaranchal and states like MP, Rajasthan and Gujurat. Then I even worked for CRY as a Finance Manager for 3 years.

Q.5: S.E : When was Aarambh esablished?

Shobha : It was after such varied experience i thought its high time to start something of my own. As I am a native of Vashi I was familiar with the slums of Turbhe. Also it is one of the biggest in this locality. Hence I started my first teaching centre in Turbhe and hence Aarambh was established. It was in year 1997. I took teaching because I understood that only education will empower the kids and women of the locality

Q.6 : S.E : A common question, how did you came about this name?

Shobha : Actually it is not me who named it. It is the community themselves agreed to this name. They were also very clear that they wanted the name registered in Devanagri Script.

Q.7 : S.E : What caste and creed do the locality belong to?

Shobha: People here are from all over the India. Basically they are migrants, settled in Mumbai for better job prospects.

Q.8 : S.E : What is the basic occupation here?

Shobha : They work either as construction workers or as rag pickers in the nearby APMC food grain market . They are untrained, unskilled and uneducated.

The paper intends to throw light on the changes in the economic landscape of India’s economy by revisiting some of the major changes in the policy framework during pre and post liberalization era. A few factors such as rising inflation rates, acute balance of payments crisis and spiraling interest rates in the economy led to the introduction of a series of changes in the economic policies. A small reflection of the above situation was the current account deficit (as a percentage of GDP) that peaked at 3.1 percent in 1990-91(compared to an average level of 1.4 percent in the early 1980’s). Also, the inflation rate (measured by point-to-point changes in the Wholesale Price Index) climbed to alarming double-digit levels hitting 12.1 percent in 1990-91. The above mentioned situation made it imperative for the introduction of a few reforms and this paper gives an insight into the impacts of these reforms on the socio economic parameters. The economic reforms have brought about significant changes in the economic variables like the GDP growth rate, savings and investment, fiscal deficit, foreign exchange reserves to mention a few. This paper attempts to assess the extent to which these reforms have contributed to overall socio-economic development in India.

OBJECTIVE

·        To analyse the policy reforms introduced since 1990-91

·        To understand the impact on the socio economic development in the country

SCOPE

The scope of the policy changes would cover financial, fiscal, and trade sector reforms and their overall economic impact. The impact of these reforms would also be analysed from the social development perspective covering the areas of education, health, and poverty.

METHODOLOGY

The paper would gather, assimilate and analyse data from secondary sources, a few of which are mentioned here below:

1.      Reserve Bank of India

2.      World Bank

 3.      Economic and Political Weekly

4.      Economic Survey of India

5.      Government of India

BENEFITS 

The study seeks to provide a broad framework and overall impact analysis of the policy reforms. More importantly, it attempts to ascertain whether economic development has also translated into human development in the Indian economy. The research thus probes into the sustainability aspect of reform-led growth and hence its long-term implications for society, business, and the economy. The study hence builds a strong case and need for social development in India. 

The objective of any Microfinance Institutions MFI is bound towards socially responsible reasons. But the long term viability of a microfinance program depends on various factors such as legal, financial and operational feasibility. This study is intended to understand the challenges faced by MFIs, so as to get a complete understanding on their functioning. Also it will give insight to know whether several of these constraints have become hurdles to achieve the basic objective of MFIs. This will eventually help us to understand the issues related to efficient functioning as well as sustenance of MFIs in the long run

OBJECTIVE 

1. The study aims to understand the

•           History of the institution

•           products and services

•           marketing channels and projections of activity

•           institutional resources and capacity

•           financing

2. It would also analyse the operational issues pertaining to:

•           Regulatory framework

•           Financial inclusion, credit risk, transaction cost, financial viability

•           Reasons for outstanding portfolios

•           Human resources (salary table and training plans)

 SCOPE 

The scope of the study encompasses all the Operational Issues faced by “SWADHAAR” (Private MFI) with respect to Management Issues, Funding Issues and Delivery Distribution channels.

METHODOLOGY 

1. Primary Data Analysis
2. Literature Review

BENEFITS 

The operational issues will help to support both strategic and operational planning processes. It will also help in understanding the social performance of the MFI. The research will be useful for corporates interested in microfinance activities.

Click Me : Shobha Murthy