Just came back from Bhagalpur. The roads have become worse due to rains. It takes 9 hours to reach bhagalpue from Patna that too while travelling by safari. Life is getting more hectic due to increase in reponsibilities to wife and my new born baby girl. The time remains the same but you need to divide the time between entrepreneurial work and family and both are equally important. You can not choose. You have to have a balance between them. Thats the toughest part. I keep hearing about balancing the life but those who have to do it feel the pain. Its tough. You can not keep on going on tour just like that. You have to take concern of family before planning tours.
These changes are coming with the changes in external environments. Things are getting tougher and tougher and its a really sternuous task of scaling up. Its like that as you climg higher, every feet of climb becomes more tough.
Anyway, there is only one option that is to go up. Because the another option is death that is not really an option. So, lets keep walking step by step and belief in destiny. As ALCHEMIST novel says, when you keep moving towards your goal, the whole world conspires with you to help in achieving your goals.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
My own Evaluation
I started my entrepreneurial journey three year ago. This was the first blog I created. Although now formal blog of Bihar Development Trust has moved to www.bihardev.blogspot.com.
I am using this blog to vent out my personal frustrations. Over last three years , we have grown. We have survived. In eyes of many people we are success story. We have given loans to 5300 women . We have disbursed more than Rs.520 lakh in last three years. We have recoevered more than 4 crores over last three years. Our women members are repaying well. Our staff team is very good. We have almost zero attrition. Even those staff who went due to personal ego stuff, have come back. We have build a great team of 50 people. We have sold silk product worth 5-60 lakh in two years from bahgalpur. We have provided employemnt to around 30-50 weavers in somewhat regular manner. We have registered an organisation of weavers in Lodipur named LODIPUR BUNKAR TRUST. We hope to build this organisation as weavers owned organisation managed by professional like AMUL. We are forming farmer clubs in Aurangabad. We have an outreach of 1000 farmers. We are trying to create a farmer federation structure and do a AMUL in grain commodities. We have created a bamboo processing unit in Kahalgaon. Around 200 women SHG members are getting employed on regular basis and more than 1000 women will get employed in this project. We have created four organisations till date. Our group revenues are more than Rs.100 lakh. We are somewhat profitable but not in a very big manner. We have a balance sheet size of 2.5 crore. But , is this enough?
To grow more, we need more and more funds. These funds are slow to come by. We have to give employment to 10 lakh people of Bihar. For this our size should be atleast 25000 crore. We have to create more labour intensive industries which can give jobs to unskilled men and women after small traning. We need to more marketing to support more bamboo processing unit. We need more marketing in silk to support more handloom weavers. We need more marketing in grains and their processing so that it can support more farmer profitably.
Of my 20 billion dollar dream, I had built my three criteria on which I would like to be evaluated after 2020.
Did I achieve my goal of creating a 20 billion dollar organisation headquartered in Bihar?
Did I created 100 organisation in Bihar?
Did I create 10 lakh jobs in Bihar?
Where I am in 2011.............
The total balance sheet size of all organsiation will be 0.5 million dollar. The market value may be debatable as it is not listed.
A total of 4 organisation has been registered and running till date.
A total of 50 direct jobs and 1000 indirect jobs has been created.
So,I have achieved 0.025% of first goal, 4% of second goal and 0.1% of third goal in last three years.
Am I going all right, I do not know. I do not know when did I visualised these three goals as my guiding force. I did not how did I created those metrics in 2007-2008. But they have stayed with me and I am hell bent on achieving these goals.
Its destiny,fate or its written. I will keep working towards it till I die.
18 TILL I DIE..............
JAI BIHAR............
I am using this blog to vent out my personal frustrations. Over last three years , we have grown. We have survived. In eyes of many people we are success story. We have given loans to 5300 women . We have disbursed more than Rs.520 lakh in last three years. We have recoevered more than 4 crores over last three years. Our women members are repaying well. Our staff team is very good. We have almost zero attrition. Even those staff who went due to personal ego stuff, have come back. We have build a great team of 50 people. We have sold silk product worth 5-60 lakh in two years from bahgalpur. We have provided employemnt to around 30-50 weavers in somewhat regular manner. We have registered an organisation of weavers in Lodipur named LODIPUR BUNKAR TRUST. We hope to build this organisation as weavers owned organisation managed by professional like AMUL. We are forming farmer clubs in Aurangabad. We have an outreach of 1000 farmers. We are trying to create a farmer federation structure and do a AMUL in grain commodities. We have created a bamboo processing unit in Kahalgaon. Around 200 women SHG members are getting employed on regular basis and more than 1000 women will get employed in this project. We have created four organisations till date. Our group revenues are more than Rs.100 lakh. We are somewhat profitable but not in a very big manner. We have a balance sheet size of 2.5 crore. But , is this enough?
To grow more, we need more and more funds. These funds are slow to come by. We have to give employment to 10 lakh people of Bihar. For this our size should be atleast 25000 crore. We have to create more labour intensive industries which can give jobs to unskilled men and women after small traning. We need to more marketing to support more bamboo processing unit. We need more marketing in silk to support more handloom weavers. We need more marketing in grains and their processing so that it can support more farmer profitably.
Of my 20 billion dollar dream, I had built my three criteria on which I would like to be evaluated after 2020.
Did I achieve my goal of creating a 20 billion dollar organisation headquartered in Bihar?
Did I created 100 organisation in Bihar?
Did I create 10 lakh jobs in Bihar?
Where I am in 2011.............
The total balance sheet size of all organsiation will be 0.5 million dollar. The market value may be debatable as it is not listed.
A total of 4 organisation has been registered and running till date.
A total of 50 direct jobs and 1000 indirect jobs has been created.
So,I have achieved 0.025% of first goal, 4% of second goal and 0.1% of third goal in last three years.
Am I going all right, I do not know. I do not know when did I visualised these three goals as my guiding force. I did not how did I created those metrics in 2007-2008. But they have stayed with me and I am hell bent on achieving these goals.
Its destiny,fate or its written. I will keep working towards it till I die.
18 TILL I DIE..............
JAI BIHAR............
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Enterpreneurism - My experience
It is about one year since I started the path of being enterpreneur. The path I chosen knowingly. I knew it would be tough. It was a ''andar ke feeling also ki bihar ke liye kuch karna hain. bahoot ho gaya logon kee sunte sunte ki tum bihari log to bahoot tez hote ho. to bihar me tum logon ko kaam karna chahiye. Lekin kaise karren. Bihar me hamare layak koi jobs hi nahi hain. Obviously I cant work for free or peanuts.'' Second reason was that we saw Bihar as an oppurtunity. It is a virgin market for all kind of services. People are fed up with lack of service delivery even by private sector let alone the government sector.
So, fired with zeal and enthusiasm , I quit my job at TATA AIG LIFE as Executive at Lucknow incharge of Rural Channel of East and Central UP. Corporate job is cushy , comfortable but senseless. I mean you are withdrawn in a rat race of promotion, perks, incentives and nothing beyond. A lollypop keeps hanging over your head and you jump like kids to lick that elusive lollypop. Just like ''zalebi race with your hands tied back''.
To secure me financially, I took up a consultancy in Uttarakhand NGO called AAROHI. I was trying to find job in Bihar but no one was willing to give me part time as I have opened my own NGO and suspected that I may develop contacts while working and get funding for my organisation. So, I managed somehow with the small consultancy fee that I was getting from Aarohi.
I needed to travel extensively to meet funder and donor agency. Last year 50% of my time was spent in train. We started with our own money and putting the use of home assets. Rasing fund for Bihar was tough. Every one is cynical. To my dismay that by virtue of registering my NGO, I joined the category of crooks. My family reputation went into tatters. Each arguement with my dad, mom, brother, sister ends in all requesting for me to take job and then heated arguement. My dad said very matter of fact that every one likes bhagat singh but when he is born in some other family. I said that I am not going to die. We will not fight criminals. We will not go against any power center. We want to do our own work. We are into microfinance . The microfinance operation is about 5 month old. Loan is being disbursed . Repayment are comning regulalry except 2-3 cases. We are gaining confidence. But the execution and fund raising stress is getting higher and higher. Whole one year of fighting against the tension is taking toll on my health. I am too alone. I cant talk to any one about my doubts. No one is there to soothe me or calm me. I ave friends who understand my situation. That is sole solace for me. Many people call me a Hero. role model. But the uncertainty are too much. Although the path that i have chosen is tough and I can sustain myself with small consultancy here and there. the financial security is pressing. I am travlling a path alone. I need support and help. Some one who can guide me about my work, Some one who can calm my frayed nerves. Its getting too much for me. Doing consultancy, Making business plans, accounting for money, mailing or spamming, updates, travelling, making people believe that we are genuinely wanting to do development of bihar. I want to see bihar as economic super power with good road, power etc. I know that I will achieve this dream. I need co warriors who can fight the war with me. Finding people who understand basic arithmatic is tough in Bihar. I find there is hidden employment with every youth preparing for competition exams from clerk to IAS and not considering himself unemployed. If asked , he will say'' hum abhi tayari kar rahe hai''. Bihar youth keep preparing for competition exams till 32 years of age. Only 10-20% get selected any where. Reamaining 80% bceome good for nothing who keep whining that I missed this exam or that exam or interview just for 1 marks. These 80% have made themsleved unfit for work. Then they do not like to do field work. They want to do the work of manager. This is a strange phenomenon in Bihar. Bihar needs fresh legs to work that only it will grow. Bihar can not be developed by people who have lost the fight of life and now only are vegetable and become suckers. We need to train this army of 32-35 year but do they feel the need of it. Can they work 24 hours a day.I dont know.
At this moment, I am feeling too tensed, mentally fatigued, worried , frustated with no one to share my mental agony for making my organisation grows. I know the morning is near and will reach there.
Please help...................................
So, fired with zeal and enthusiasm , I quit my job at TATA AIG LIFE as Executive at Lucknow incharge of Rural Channel of East and Central UP. Corporate job is cushy , comfortable but senseless. I mean you are withdrawn in a rat race of promotion, perks, incentives and nothing beyond. A lollypop keeps hanging over your head and you jump like kids to lick that elusive lollypop. Just like ''zalebi race with your hands tied back''.
To secure me financially, I took up a consultancy in Uttarakhand NGO called AAROHI. I was trying to find job in Bihar but no one was willing to give me part time as I have opened my own NGO and suspected that I may develop contacts while working and get funding for my organisation. So, I managed somehow with the small consultancy fee that I was getting from Aarohi.
I needed to travel extensively to meet funder and donor agency. Last year 50% of my time was spent in train. We started with our own money and putting the use of home assets. Rasing fund for Bihar was tough. Every one is cynical. To my dismay that by virtue of registering my NGO, I joined the category of crooks. My family reputation went into tatters. Each arguement with my dad, mom, brother, sister ends in all requesting for me to take job and then heated arguement. My dad said very matter of fact that every one likes bhagat singh but when he is born in some other family. I said that I am not going to die. We will not fight criminals. We will not go against any power center. We want to do our own work. We are into microfinance . The microfinance operation is about 5 month old. Loan is being disbursed . Repayment are comning regulalry except 2-3 cases. We are gaining confidence. But the execution and fund raising stress is getting higher and higher. Whole one year of fighting against the tension is taking toll on my health. I am too alone. I cant talk to any one about my doubts. No one is there to soothe me or calm me. I ave friends who understand my situation. That is sole solace for me. Many people call me a Hero. role model. But the uncertainty are too much. Although the path that i have chosen is tough and I can sustain myself with small consultancy here and there. the financial security is pressing. I am travlling a path alone. I need support and help. Some one who can guide me about my work, Some one who can calm my frayed nerves. Its getting too much for me. Doing consultancy, Making business plans, accounting for money, mailing or spamming, updates, travelling, making people believe that we are genuinely wanting to do development of bihar. I want to see bihar as economic super power with good road, power etc. I know that I will achieve this dream. I need co warriors who can fight the war with me. Finding people who understand basic arithmatic is tough in Bihar. I find there is hidden employment with every youth preparing for competition exams from clerk to IAS and not considering himself unemployed. If asked , he will say'' hum abhi tayari kar rahe hai''. Bihar youth keep preparing for competition exams till 32 years of age. Only 10-20% get selected any where. Reamaining 80% bceome good for nothing who keep whining that I missed this exam or that exam or interview just for 1 marks. These 80% have made themsleved unfit for work. Then they do not like to do field work. They want to do the work of manager. This is a strange phenomenon in Bihar. Bihar needs fresh legs to work that only it will grow. Bihar can not be developed by people who have lost the fight of life and now only are vegetable and become suckers. We need to train this army of 32-35 year but do they feel the need of it. Can they work 24 hours a day.I dont know.
At this moment, I am feeling too tensed, mentally fatigued, worried , frustated with no one to share my mental agony for making my organisation grows. I know the morning is near and will reach there.
Please help...................................
Friday, November 30, 2007
A dream-BIHAR DEVELOPMENT TRUST
Dear Friends,
Greetings from Bihar Development Trust!
We have completed nine months of existence as organisation. It has received tremendous support from all of you since our inception as BIHAR DEVELOPMENT TRUST on March 26, 2007.
It has been a very interesting journey full of challenges like walking on glass edge. Our agenda is to build a most transparent organisation in the world where nothing is hidden. In doing this, I need constant criticisms, suggestions for improving our transparency level. Governance is very important aspect of it. We would like few of you who can and have inclination to take active role in BDT act as a catalyst of growth of BDT. It will mean visiting our operations, suggestions for improvement, raising finances and spreading the words of our work to the outer world to more people in your network in individual capacity. We want to build a world class institution which people should look up to. I am dreaming big but only after dreaming, you can wake up and execute your dreams. As Sony Akio Morita said ‘flawless execution is the key”. In our quest to build a world best organisation which improves the quality of life (health, education, financial condition) of millions of people who dream of living life with dignity and respect, we need support from all of you. We need support as idea level and execution level. We are on right track and need to go on till we achieve our goal.
I have put the goal on our website wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
ww.bihardev.pbwiki.com.
We do have abstract goal of achieving dignity and respect. But to put on paper, I have dreamt of building a US$20 billion (may be euro as $ is going down) enterprise in Bihar by 2020. The areas of opportunities are very common ideas like microfinance, handloom and handicrafts, fruits and vegetable, Agricultural commodities, health care and education, power and rural BPO and tourism etc as we have no innovative ideas. We believe in executing those things in Bihar which many big companies finds unable to do it.
Management people who have read the JIM COLLINS ‘BUILT TO LAST’’ may classify as BHAG ie big hairy audacious goal. Yes, we are dreaming big. The 20 billion dollar wealth will be created in partnership of 5 million people being associated with us. We hope to add 5 million people with us by year 2020 as producers/users of our service at Bihar. For that we may have to float different forms or organizations like producer companies, cooperatives, trust, societies, private ltd companies, NBFC, Banks or many more economic and legal entities which are best suitable to take the advantage of globalization as well as localization and most cost efficient.
The idea is to adapt GRAMEEN and AMUL model to Bihar context supported by most efficient technologies.
So to reach the 20 billion dollar/euro goal by 2020 in Bihar, I need support of all of you. For some of you, it may seem figment of imagination by a young people and young organisation which have not yet crossed one year of survival. To be frank, we don’t know how we achieve this ‘LAKSHYA’ or goal but we will achieve it. There are many skeptical of achieving this goal, given the crime ridden scenario that the people not living in Bihar feel more. Crime has been there and will always be there as it is in Mumbai, Delhi or NewYork. But, it has not stopped the people making billions in those cities. So I feel few of the next new generation billionaire will come from Bihar along with other states.
Many people feel that talking so audaciously and big, we may invite the fate of Sanjay Ghosh or Manjunath or Sateyendra Dubey . How to avoid that fate is a challenge that we may face when we grow big. This question has no answers but we feel that we are not fighting against anyone. The solution may be creating a win-win scenario in which every stakeholder’s benefits. We will work it out when the situation will arrive.
What is our self interest in doing this? Obviously we will also be making our billions. Only different thing is that it will benefit more than 5 million people or may be more and they will have more money in their pockets if we surpass our dreams.
Over last one year during my extensive travels, many people have wished me luck as well as not advised to get trapped in Bihar.
But the feeling or adrenalin rush that you feel while talking to the community, explaining our loan products or training our staff members or explaining people why you should join us beats everything that may give pleasure or anything else that money can buy. And master card is for those things. These are one of the things that MasterCard will not buy. I need people with MasterCard to support us and join us in the field to derive that pleasure. One more business opportunities that may be development tourism that is give a chance to MasterCard holder to work like a social worker or activist for a day in exchange of dollars/Euros.
So, why the mails was written to all of you? We have a work to do that is very important for the India and the whole world. I send 3000 mails per week and It will go on increasing as I met new people and gather new mail ids.
The mail has been written to all of you to help me in making Bihar Development Trust as a world class organisation. For which I need people who shares the similar ownership feelings towards Bihar Development Trust and believe in the dreams as articulated by it. I would like their help in improving governance, transparency and accountability to all stakeholders. The good practice of running an organisation so that it outlasts the longest running organisation of this millennium needs to be instituted right now. We are raw and we have still not learned the art of hiding as we have nothing to hide right now. But we feel that we need to be alert and vigilant right now so that we are not quagmire by the corruption that prevails in every big organisation. We want to account for every amount we get and pay and make billions in a transparent manner. So that you all can say that we achieved 20 billion dollar dream and you know how we achieved it.
Can anyone among the thousands who have read till this end will come forward to achieve that?
Regards
Ravi Chandra
Greetings from Bihar Development Trust!
We have completed nine months of existence as organisation. It has received tremendous support from all of you since our inception as BIHAR DEVELOPMENT TRUST on March 26, 2007.
It has been a very interesting journey full of challenges like walking on glass edge. Our agenda is to build a most transparent organisation in the world where nothing is hidden. In doing this, I need constant criticisms, suggestions for improving our transparency level. Governance is very important aspect of it. We would like few of you who can and have inclination to take active role in BDT act as a catalyst of growth of BDT. It will mean visiting our operations, suggestions for improvement, raising finances and spreading the words of our work to the outer world to more people in your network in individual capacity. We want to build a world class institution which people should look up to. I am dreaming big but only after dreaming, you can wake up and execute your dreams. As Sony Akio Morita said ‘flawless execution is the key”. In our quest to build a world best organisation which improves the quality of life (health, education, financial condition) of millions of people who dream of living life with dignity and respect, we need support from all of you. We need support as idea level and execution level. We are on right track and need to go on till we achieve our goal.
I have put the goal on our website wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
ww.bihardev.pbwiki.com.
We do have abstract goal of achieving dignity and respect. But to put on paper, I have dreamt of building a US$20 billion (may be euro as $ is going down) enterprise in Bihar by 2020. The areas of opportunities are very common ideas like microfinance, handloom and handicrafts, fruits and vegetable, Agricultural commodities, health care and education, power and rural BPO and tourism etc as we have no innovative ideas. We believe in executing those things in Bihar which many big companies finds unable to do it.
Management people who have read the JIM COLLINS ‘BUILT TO LAST’’ may classify as BHAG ie big hairy audacious goal. Yes, we are dreaming big. The 20 billion dollar wealth will be created in partnership of 5 million people being associated with us. We hope to add 5 million people with us by year 2020 as producers/users of our service at Bihar. For that we may have to float different forms or organizations like producer companies, cooperatives, trust, societies, private ltd companies, NBFC, Banks or many more economic and legal entities which are best suitable to take the advantage of globalization as well as localization and most cost efficient.
The idea is to adapt GRAMEEN and AMUL model to Bihar context supported by most efficient technologies.
So to reach the 20 billion dollar/euro goal by 2020 in Bihar, I need support of all of you. For some of you, it may seem figment of imagination by a young people and young organisation which have not yet crossed one year of survival. To be frank, we don’t know how we achieve this ‘LAKSHYA’ or goal but we will achieve it. There are many skeptical of achieving this goal, given the crime ridden scenario that the people not living in Bihar feel more. Crime has been there and will always be there as it is in Mumbai, Delhi or NewYork. But, it has not stopped the people making billions in those cities. So I feel few of the next new generation billionaire will come from Bihar along with other states.
Many people feel that talking so audaciously and big, we may invite the fate of Sanjay Ghosh or Manjunath or Sateyendra Dubey . How to avoid that fate is a challenge that we may face when we grow big. This question has no answers but we feel that we are not fighting against anyone. The solution may be creating a win-win scenario in which every stakeholder’s benefits. We will work it out when the situation will arrive.
What is our self interest in doing this? Obviously we will also be making our billions. Only different thing is that it will benefit more than 5 million people or may be more and they will have more money in their pockets if we surpass our dreams.
Over last one year during my extensive travels, many people have wished me luck as well as not advised to get trapped in Bihar.
But the feeling or adrenalin rush that you feel while talking to the community, explaining our loan products or training our staff members or explaining people why you should join us beats everything that may give pleasure or anything else that money can buy. And master card is for those things. These are one of the things that MasterCard will not buy. I need people with MasterCard to support us and join us in the field to derive that pleasure. One more business opportunities that may be development tourism that is give a chance to MasterCard holder to work like a social worker or activist for a day in exchange of dollars/Euros.
So, why the mails was written to all of you? We have a work to do that is very important for the India and the whole world. I send 3000 mails per week and It will go on increasing as I met new people and gather new mail ids.
The mail has been written to all of you to help me in making Bihar Development Trust as a world class organisation. For which I need people who shares the similar ownership feelings towards Bihar Development Trust and believe in the dreams as articulated by it. I would like their help in improving governance, transparency and accountability to all stakeholders. The good practice of running an organisation so that it outlasts the longest running organisation of this millennium needs to be instituted right now. We are raw and we have still not learned the art of hiding as we have nothing to hide right now. But we feel that we need to be alert and vigilant right now so that we are not quagmire by the corruption that prevails in every big organisation. We want to account for every amount we get and pay and make billions in a transparent manner. So that you all can say that we achieved 20 billion dollar dream and you know how we achieved it.
Can anyone among the thousands who have read till this end will come forward to achieve that?
Regards
Ravi Chandra
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
THANKS PRM 25
hi friends,
you all must be reading the mails about our work. may be bored of it .
this mail is not about asking money and helping us financially. its not that i do not need that but its better when we are one to one on net/phone etc.
we are moving on with our dreams to make bihar a developed state. to be frank, initially there was no clue at all what we are going to do with BDT. both of us were clueless. we keep doing what we were getting. so we did the voter awareness programme. very crucial for us. it was our first event and we were shit scared. but it turned out be successful in local context and gave us confidence. then we moved ahead with our vermicompost study for pradan.
the first three months were very crucial as we were uncertain. then it was only prm 25 who supported us financially. you know who gave us money to survive. we were really scared when things stopped after vermicompost study. we were not getting any assignments and were not able to move forward.
we were frozen with fear. it was support of you prm 25 in that crucial time that kept us going. mantri,sandy and pankaj really played a huge role in just keeping me propped up.
they were present physically with me and most of you were on phone with me. thanks a lot for that.
we have done some good work in flood relief due to private bihari efforts. you all must be amazed to know that there are lots of BIHARI e groups who are active a lot and there is support available.
only issue is of trust. slowly slowly i am moving towards gaining the support of key biharis in those e groups . most very professional with all lineage you can think of . they will loosen the purse strings when they gain total confidence on us.
ya issue of fraud and cheater tag do haunted us and hurt us. most of people were too skeptical. there was a case of too gud to be true. here are two people well settled and well educated jumping into murky world of bihar development sector. everything is not good in the world. but world is composed of people like us. its we who make it worse for living and its we who will make it a better place of living. so initial insults and opposition were pouring and again it was prm 25 who was standing with us like pillars.
it was a journey of selfdiscovery for us. our conviction itself was shaky in the beginning and as we are moving on, it has grown a lot and we are becoming convinced that bihar is a oppurtunity waiting to be unfolded. the hidden half lotus of IRMA will unfold before your eyes. just keep supporting and watching us. so we are moving ahead. each day our conviction gets increase by gettings mails from unknown people who wants to contribute and support us.unknown people whom i have never met have helped us then more than few of friends whom i knew. there is a guy named varun who shared his first salary after joining as MT in tata chemicals. his innocent trust touched my heart.
then, there is prm 5 irman, prof raghunath(IITK,IRMA) who listened patiently to me when i visited tapmi. i was amazed and too happy when he told me that he has saved all crap mails that i wrote and was very happy. he said that your BDT is being discussed with great hope among senior IRMANs and we are watching you. Go ahead but be careful. He gave 15000 not as loan but future equity which shows his trust that definitely we will reach the phase when we will incorporate the microfinance operation as NBFC.
Me and dev ji has experienced a personal catharsis and self development over last seven months which has strenghtened the belief in humanity. Lot of good things has been happening and will be happening in near future.
There are talks of incorporating a non profit in USA for fund raising for BDT. so we may be in USA (not physically) by the year 2008.
one more thing, do keep keeping a close watch and criticising us where you know we are making mistakes.
we want to be a total professional transparent organisation which brought the bihar on top with support of not only biharis but fellow indians and yes PRM 25 is going to play a big role in it.
Thnks a lot
luv u all
Ravi Chandra
Dev Kumar Dubey
you all must be reading the mails about our work. may be bored of it .
this mail is not about asking money and helping us financially. its not that i do not need that but its better when we are one to one on net/phone etc.
we are moving on with our dreams to make bihar a developed state. to be frank, initially there was no clue at all what we are going to do with BDT. both of us were clueless. we keep doing what we were getting. so we did the voter awareness programme. very crucial for us. it was our first event and we were shit scared. but it turned out be successful in local context and gave us confidence. then we moved ahead with our vermicompost study for pradan.
the first three months were very crucial as we were uncertain. then it was only prm 25 who supported us financially. you know who gave us money to survive. we were really scared when things stopped after vermicompost study. we were not getting any assignments and were not able to move forward.
we were frozen with fear. it was support of you prm 25 in that crucial time that kept us going. mantri,sandy and pankaj really played a huge role in just keeping me propped up.
they were present physically with me and most of you were on phone with me. thanks a lot for that.
we have done some good work in flood relief due to private bihari efforts. you all must be amazed to know that there are lots of BIHARI e groups who are active a lot and there is support available.
only issue is of trust. slowly slowly i am moving towards gaining the support of key biharis in those e groups . most very professional with all lineage you can think of . they will loosen the purse strings when they gain total confidence on us.
ya issue of fraud and cheater tag do haunted us and hurt us. most of people were too skeptical. there was a case of too gud to be true. here are two people well settled and well educated jumping into murky world of bihar development sector. everything is not good in the world. but world is composed of people like us. its we who make it worse for living and its we who will make it a better place of living. so initial insults and opposition were pouring and again it was prm 25 who was standing with us like pillars.
it was a journey of selfdiscovery for us. our conviction itself was shaky in the beginning and as we are moving on, it has grown a lot and we are becoming convinced that bihar is a oppurtunity waiting to be unfolded. the hidden half lotus of IRMA will unfold before your eyes. just keep supporting and watching us. so we are moving ahead. each day our conviction gets increase by gettings mails from unknown people who wants to contribute and support us.unknown people whom i have never met have helped us then more than few of friends whom i knew. there is a guy named varun who shared his first salary after joining as MT in tata chemicals. his innocent trust touched my heart.
then, there is prm 5 irman, prof raghunath(IITK,IRMA) who listened patiently to me when i visited tapmi. i was amazed and too happy when he told me that he has saved all crap mails that i wrote and was very happy. he said that your BDT is being discussed with great hope among senior IRMANs and we are watching you. Go ahead but be careful. He gave 15000 not as loan but future equity which shows his trust that definitely we will reach the phase when we will incorporate the microfinance operation as NBFC.
Me and dev ji has experienced a personal catharsis and self development over last seven months which has strenghtened the belief in humanity. Lot of good things has been happening and will be happening in near future.
There are talks of incorporating a non profit in USA for fund raising for BDT. so we may be in USA (not physically) by the year 2008.
one more thing, do keep keeping a close watch and criticising us where you know we are making mistakes.
we want to be a total professional transparent organisation which brought the bihar on top with support of not only biharis but fellow indians and yes PRM 25 is going to play a big role in it.
Thnks a lot
luv u all
Ravi Chandra
Dev Kumar Dubey
Friday, July 13, 2007
Bihar Development Trust
Background
Bihar development trust is an initiative by three enterprising IRMANs who passed out from Institute of Rural Management, Anand in 2006. There was a burning desire to do something for Bihar development which was not possible while working outside Bihar. After a detailed brainstorming, it was decided to start a trust for Bihar development aptly named BIHAR DEVELOPMENT TRUST which will work on various issues of development in Bihar so that people can move upward at least economically.
Vision
Every citizen of Bihar lives his/her life with dignity
Mission
To create better social, economical and political environment by providing opportunity to the people of Bihar in economic, social and political space of India
Values
Faith
Integrity
Transparency
Honesty
Discipline
Trustees
Dr Ravi Chandra, who has a unique combination of management with dental background
A graduate from Manipal Academy of Higher Education which provides arguably one of the best dental education in India with Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Management from Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) which has one of best education processes in India
Mr. Dev Kumar Dubey, who has six years of working with Employee Provident Fund (EPF) before he joined IRMA and got transformed into a social development professional with a vision to develop Bihar
Mr. Rakesh Jha, an economics graduate from Patna University and Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management from IRMA. Currently, He is Area Manager in SKS Microfinance Limited and blazing a trail across Bihar in microfinance. He has single handedly grown SKS from one man team to over 100 member team with more than 20000 members in Bihar
Mrs. Rajkumari Devi, A housewife and mother of Dr. Ravi Chandra with no formal education but enough courage to dedicate his son for the cause of Bihar Development
Mr. Shyam Bihari Prasad, a local level grass root politician with good understanding of Bihar sociopolitical milieu.
The Advisory Committee
Following persons have been invited to join the management committee of Bihar development trust who will advice us on day to day running of operations and provide strategic directions.
Prof. Prabal Kumar Sen
Professor in economics in XLRI with previous stint in IRMA and more than 2 decades of experience of banking sectors in various senior role
Mr. Anindo Banerjee
Head, Internal Programme, PRAXIS, Institute of Participatory practices, an alumunus of IRMA and powerful speaker on governance and participatory practices
Dr. Sunil Babu
State Programme Representative, CARE, Chatishgarh, an alumnus of IRMA and an expert in the field of public health system
Mr Atul Kumar
Corporate Banking, HSBC, Mumbai, an alumnus of IRMA and desire to work for development for Bihar
Mr. Satish Chandra Godisella
Channel manager, ITC, Bhopal, a computer science engineer turned rural development professional having interest in making agriculture a growth engine for development of India
Dr Ravi Chandra- Trustee
Mr. Dev Kumar Dubey- Trustee
Area of Development Intervention
Bihar is endowed with arguably most fertile lands in India. More than 80% of population still depends on agriculture in one or other way. Bihars’ huge positive demographic dividend, fertile lands and perennial water from rivers etc can help it to grow into the biggest agri business zone of the world. It has huge non resident bihari population which is willing to help its motherland but unable to do so. The main reason we can come up is lack of honest platform and mistrust in government machinery to deliver services to the people. The other reason being law and order problems, lack of entrepreneurial activity, flight of capital and quality manpower, unemployment and high cost of capital. Thus Bihar is caught in a vicious circle of low productivity, low income and low growth. Bihar needs a solution linked with governance, agriculture and employment. So we chose to focus on following area:
Governance
Microfinance
Health care
Education
Agribusiness
Vocational training and placement
Governance
The concept of "governance" is not new. It is as old as human civilization. Simply put "governance" means: the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented).
Formal government structures are just one of the means by which decisions are arrived at and implemented. At the state and national level, informal decision-making structures, such as "kitchen cabinets" or informal advisors may exist. There may be rich corporate, land mafias, senior bureaucrats, and powerful families etc. which influence decision-making at local level. Such, informal decision-making is often the result of corrupt practices or leads to corrupt practices.
If Bihar has to develop, it has to weed out such corrupt systems and practices. The process of weeding out the opaque system of governance has started with Right to Information Act and decentralization of governance to local levels. At present, signification powers has been give to Panchayati Raj Institutions and urban bodies to take the decisions regarding development of their own region locally. There is need to partner with the stakeholders of local development process like bureaucrats, local politicians, local powerful families, local criminals and common people to make the process of decision making on development issues more transparent.
Bihar development trust aims to strengthen the governance system by capacity building of local elected representatives both of Panchayati Raj Institutions as well as urban bodies like Nagar Panchayat and Nagar Nigam. Working with the bottom of democracy institutions, we hope to play the role of catalyst so that all stakeholders realize the benefit of good governance to themselves.
Microfinance
Bihar is the second most populous state and unequivocally one of the poorest states of India. There is no significant microfinance activity in the state. Among the large older player are Patna based Nidan and Mujaffarpur based Kanchan . They have a membership base of around 10000-20000 and portfolio of less than a crore. Of late, efforts have been made under the Bihar State Livelihood Promotion Society under JEEVIKA project supported by World Bank but they are already late by two years. SKS Microfinance Pvt. Limited started its operation last year and has been successful in making more than 20000 members and a portfolio more than a Crore. Most of the efforts are being limited around Patna the capital city, with very little effort being made it to spread it to unreached part of Bihar. There is hardly any microfinance activity in the other parts of Bihar. It can not be said that people of Bihar do not need credit facility for growth. It is required to bring economic growth in every household.
There is a definite need for starting an MFI in Bihar as officially more than a crore people live below poverty line in Bihar. The population requiring credit services is much more than it and there is huge potential waiting to be tapped. Millions of poor people would require financial services. Bihar is on the verge of growth and development and microfinance as a tool for economic development can really play a big role. There is experience of SKS microfinance in Bihar, CASHPORE in eastern UP operating in similar socioeconomic environment suggests that it is possible to attain growth and sustainability in the Bihar.
Bihar development trust seeks to fulfill this gap by start microfinance operations in Bihar. It has decided to follow the time tested Grameen model because of proven track record of having robust processes for better financial management and economic and social development of community. The operation is starting from Bhagalpur region of Bihar and will expand to rural regions around Chapra, Aurangabad, Bhozpur, Mujaffarpur and Patna. It proposes to have one million group members in the time span of five years. Bihar Development Trust will provide Non-financial services range from literacy classes and community development, health care services, agri extension services to market-based business-development services. The reason is improved access to market opportunities stimulates - and depends on - securing credit to cover the costs (product design, transport, etc.) of taking advantage of those opportunities. Bihar development trust will run to Employment programs prepare the poor for self-employment by reskilling them with the skills that are in huge demand in market like retail floor shop workers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters data entry operators etc.
Agribusiness
Bihar Development Trust aims to facilitate communication across the agri-food chain especially to farmers so that they reap the benefit of timely information. It will promote value chain thinking and awareness as essential factors in the development of an efficient, profitable and dynamic agri-food sector.
Bihar Development Trust will enter the procurement side of the value chain of agribusiness. It will buy the crops from the farmers at competitive prices and aggregate it before selling it to agri processing industry. It will focus on commodity like mushroom, maize, and gram etc and later diversify into fruits and vegetables across various seasons. The warehousing facility and cold storage is being rented by the organization for the crop produce to add value to it. It will develop a well integrated ambient and cold chain to combat the perishability of the products and supply it to retail chains all across India. Bihar Development Trust proposes to leverage its microfinance operation for the procurement of various commodities on large scale. The producers who chose to become member with Bihar development trust will be service provider for crop insurance, weather insurance to hedge the risk of crop failure or poor rain. Later on achieving significant scale, It proposes to organize the farmers into a producer company and enable them to participate in the growing boom of food industry.
Vocational Training- Training the millions left behind
The current system of vocational training through ITIs is not able to meet demand as it has exclusion criteria like a minimum level of education. In India, majority of youth drop out after not being able to get into higher education system or not having financial resources to move to other places. The 18-30 age group youths requires jobs and all are no available with so called government and organized sectors. Studies after studies have proven that there is huge demand of skills such that TV, electrical appliance repair and service, automobile repair and service, foreign language skills such as German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, French etc., medical and health services, nursing, and any others. For India we need millions of trained people in the area of services for agriculture, floriculture, horticulture, sericulture, fisheries, healthcare, tourism and hundreds of skills for the manufacturing sector.
Bihar Development Trust proposes to start short term vocational training courses for the youth of Bihar in 18-30 age groups. The courses chosen are in the domain of retail management, data entry operations, plumbing, carpenter, electrician and automobile repair. The course duration will range from 14 days to one month. The trainers will be locally self made entrepreneurs who are in the same trade for last 20 years with the help of young engineers in the region to so that participants are made aware of latest developments in particular trade. Bihar Development Trust proposes to open its center in Bhagalpur then move on to other areas of Bihar. All the participants of the courses will be provided placement services after successful completion of courses.
Support Us:
You can provide us consultancy assignment through which we plan to sustain our organization financially till we start getting regular grants.
Area of consultancy can be
Livelihood
Microfinance
Mother and child health care
HIV
Education
MIS
Market research
Project Management
Business/development proposals
Or
For donation, Kindly contact:
Dr Ravi Chandra
Director
B-403, Saket Vihar Apartment
Khazpura, Bailey Road, Patna
Bihar-800014
Phone- 9430964107,9334308432
E MAIL- rchandra1231@gmail.com
bihardev@gmail.com
Mr. Dev Kumar Dubey
Director
New Bank Colony, Adampur,
Bhagalpur -1
Bihar
Phone- 9431001806
Email- devkr_1975@yahoo.com
bihardev@gmail.com
Bihar development trust is an initiative by three enterprising IRMANs who passed out from Institute of Rural Management, Anand in 2006. There was a burning desire to do something for Bihar development which was not possible while working outside Bihar. After a detailed brainstorming, it was decided to start a trust for Bihar development aptly named BIHAR DEVELOPMENT TRUST which will work on various issues of development in Bihar so that people can move upward at least economically.
Vision
Every citizen of Bihar lives his/her life with dignity
Mission
To create better social, economical and political environment by providing opportunity to the people of Bihar in economic, social and political space of India
Values
Faith
Integrity
Transparency
Honesty
Discipline
Trustees
Dr Ravi Chandra, who has a unique combination of management with dental background
A graduate from Manipal Academy of Higher Education which provides arguably one of the best dental education in India with Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Management from Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) which has one of best education processes in India
Mr. Dev Kumar Dubey, who has six years of working with Employee Provident Fund (EPF) before he joined IRMA and got transformed into a social development professional with a vision to develop Bihar
Mr. Rakesh Jha, an economics graduate from Patna University and Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management from IRMA. Currently, He is Area Manager in SKS Microfinance Limited and blazing a trail across Bihar in microfinance. He has single handedly grown SKS from one man team to over 100 member team with more than 20000 members in Bihar
Mrs. Rajkumari Devi, A housewife and mother of Dr. Ravi Chandra with no formal education but enough courage to dedicate his son for the cause of Bihar Development
Mr. Shyam Bihari Prasad, a local level grass root politician with good understanding of Bihar sociopolitical milieu.
The Advisory Committee
Following persons have been invited to join the management committee of Bihar development trust who will advice us on day to day running of operations and provide strategic directions.
Prof. Prabal Kumar Sen
Professor in economics in XLRI with previous stint in IRMA and more than 2 decades of experience of banking sectors in various senior role
Mr. Anindo Banerjee
Head, Internal Programme, PRAXIS, Institute of Participatory practices, an alumunus of IRMA and powerful speaker on governance and participatory practices
Dr. Sunil Babu
State Programme Representative, CARE, Chatishgarh, an alumnus of IRMA and an expert in the field of public health system
Mr Atul Kumar
Corporate Banking, HSBC, Mumbai, an alumnus of IRMA and desire to work for development for Bihar
Mr. Satish Chandra Godisella
Channel manager, ITC, Bhopal, a computer science engineer turned rural development professional having interest in making agriculture a growth engine for development of India
Dr Ravi Chandra- Trustee
Mr. Dev Kumar Dubey- Trustee
Area of Development Intervention
Bihar is endowed with arguably most fertile lands in India. More than 80% of population still depends on agriculture in one or other way. Bihars’ huge positive demographic dividend, fertile lands and perennial water from rivers etc can help it to grow into the biggest agri business zone of the world. It has huge non resident bihari population which is willing to help its motherland but unable to do so. The main reason we can come up is lack of honest platform and mistrust in government machinery to deliver services to the people. The other reason being law and order problems, lack of entrepreneurial activity, flight of capital and quality manpower, unemployment and high cost of capital. Thus Bihar is caught in a vicious circle of low productivity, low income and low growth. Bihar needs a solution linked with governance, agriculture and employment. So we chose to focus on following area:
Governance
Microfinance
Health care
Education
Agribusiness
Vocational training and placement
Governance
The concept of "governance" is not new. It is as old as human civilization. Simply put "governance" means: the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented).
Formal government structures are just one of the means by which decisions are arrived at and implemented. At the state and national level, informal decision-making structures, such as "kitchen cabinets" or informal advisors may exist. There may be rich corporate, land mafias, senior bureaucrats, and powerful families etc. which influence decision-making at local level. Such, informal decision-making is often the result of corrupt practices or leads to corrupt practices.
If Bihar has to develop, it has to weed out such corrupt systems and practices. The process of weeding out the opaque system of governance has started with Right to Information Act and decentralization of governance to local levels. At present, signification powers has been give to Panchayati Raj Institutions and urban bodies to take the decisions regarding development of their own region locally. There is need to partner with the stakeholders of local development process like bureaucrats, local politicians, local powerful families, local criminals and common people to make the process of decision making on development issues more transparent.
Bihar development trust aims to strengthen the governance system by capacity building of local elected representatives both of Panchayati Raj Institutions as well as urban bodies like Nagar Panchayat and Nagar Nigam. Working with the bottom of democracy institutions, we hope to play the role of catalyst so that all stakeholders realize the benefit of good governance to themselves.
Microfinance
Bihar is the second most populous state and unequivocally one of the poorest states of India. There is no significant microfinance activity in the state. Among the large older player are Patna based Nidan and Mujaffarpur based Kanchan . They have a membership base of around 10000-20000 and portfolio of less than a crore. Of late, efforts have been made under the Bihar State Livelihood Promotion Society under JEEVIKA project supported by World Bank but they are already late by two years. SKS Microfinance Pvt. Limited started its operation last year and has been successful in making more than 20000 members and a portfolio more than a Crore. Most of the efforts are being limited around Patna the capital city, with very little effort being made it to spread it to unreached part of Bihar. There is hardly any microfinance activity in the other parts of Bihar. It can not be said that people of Bihar do not need credit facility for growth. It is required to bring economic growth in every household.
There is a definite need for starting an MFI in Bihar as officially more than a crore people live below poverty line in Bihar. The population requiring credit services is much more than it and there is huge potential waiting to be tapped. Millions of poor people would require financial services. Bihar is on the verge of growth and development and microfinance as a tool for economic development can really play a big role. There is experience of SKS microfinance in Bihar, CASHPORE in eastern UP operating in similar socioeconomic environment suggests that it is possible to attain growth and sustainability in the Bihar.
Bihar development trust seeks to fulfill this gap by start microfinance operations in Bihar. It has decided to follow the time tested Grameen model because of proven track record of having robust processes for better financial management and economic and social development of community. The operation is starting from Bhagalpur region of Bihar and will expand to rural regions around Chapra, Aurangabad, Bhozpur, Mujaffarpur and Patna. It proposes to have one million group members in the time span of five years. Bihar Development Trust will provide Non-financial services range from literacy classes and community development, health care services, agri extension services to market-based business-development services. The reason is improved access to market opportunities stimulates - and depends on - securing credit to cover the costs (product design, transport, etc.) of taking advantage of those opportunities. Bihar development trust will run to Employment programs prepare the poor for self-employment by reskilling them with the skills that are in huge demand in market like retail floor shop workers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters data entry operators etc.
Agribusiness
Bihar Development Trust aims to facilitate communication across the agri-food chain especially to farmers so that they reap the benefit of timely information. It will promote value chain thinking and awareness as essential factors in the development of an efficient, profitable and dynamic agri-food sector.
Bihar Development Trust will enter the procurement side of the value chain of agribusiness. It will buy the crops from the farmers at competitive prices and aggregate it before selling it to agri processing industry. It will focus on commodity like mushroom, maize, and gram etc and later diversify into fruits and vegetables across various seasons. The warehousing facility and cold storage is being rented by the organization for the crop produce to add value to it. It will develop a well integrated ambient and cold chain to combat the perishability of the products and supply it to retail chains all across India. Bihar Development Trust proposes to leverage its microfinance operation for the procurement of various commodities on large scale. The producers who chose to become member with Bihar development trust will be service provider for crop insurance, weather insurance to hedge the risk of crop failure or poor rain. Later on achieving significant scale, It proposes to organize the farmers into a producer company and enable them to participate in the growing boom of food industry.
Vocational Training- Training the millions left behind
The current system of vocational training through ITIs is not able to meet demand as it has exclusion criteria like a minimum level of education. In India, majority of youth drop out after not being able to get into higher education system or not having financial resources to move to other places. The 18-30 age group youths requires jobs and all are no available with so called government and organized sectors. Studies after studies have proven that there is huge demand of skills such that TV, electrical appliance repair and service, automobile repair and service, foreign language skills such as German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, French etc., medical and health services, nursing, and any others. For India we need millions of trained people in the area of services for agriculture, floriculture, horticulture, sericulture, fisheries, healthcare, tourism and hundreds of skills for the manufacturing sector.
Bihar Development Trust proposes to start short term vocational training courses for the youth of Bihar in 18-30 age groups. The courses chosen are in the domain of retail management, data entry operations, plumbing, carpenter, electrician and automobile repair. The course duration will range from 14 days to one month. The trainers will be locally self made entrepreneurs who are in the same trade for last 20 years with the help of young engineers in the region to so that participants are made aware of latest developments in particular trade. Bihar Development Trust proposes to open its center in Bhagalpur then move on to other areas of Bihar. All the participants of the courses will be provided placement services after successful completion of courses.
Support Us:
You can provide us consultancy assignment through which we plan to sustain our organization financially till we start getting regular grants.
Area of consultancy can be
Livelihood
Microfinance
Mother and child health care
HIV
Education
MIS
Market research
Project Management
Business/development proposals
Or
For donation, Kindly contact:
Dr Ravi Chandra
Director
B-403, Saket Vihar Apartment
Khazpura, Bailey Road, Patna
Bihar-800014
Phone- 9430964107,9334308432
E MAIL- rchandra1231@gmail.com
bihardev@gmail.com
Mr. Dev Kumar Dubey
Director
New Bank Colony, Adampur,
Bhagalpur -1
Bihar
Phone- 9431001806
Email- devkr_1975@yahoo.com
bihardev@gmail.com
Saturday, July 7, 2007
As homosapiens species attain puberty, changes occurs in mind and body.One of the domain relates to changes in sexuality and behaviors and attitude related to that.It is quite natural to feel attraction for opposite sex as well as same sex. Human sexuality is not black or white or 0 and 1 binary codes. It is continuum, which has two extremes; totally heterosexual and totally homosexual. A human being sexual orientation can vary along this scale through his/her lifetime. At one phase of life, he/she can be completely heterosexual or may be both or only homosexual. All types of orientation are correct. There is nothing to feel shame about it. We have to come out of taboo mentality related to sex. Sex related talks are totally natural and every one dreams and fantasize about sex most of the times. Due to our conditioning and upbringing, we feel ashamed to talk about it.Our major concern related to the attraction that we feel towards opposite sex and we are unable to rationalize it in a neutral perspective. We feel that we have fallen in love with some one. Perfectly natural but we feel guilty about it.Sexual attraction is one of the way for propagation of species. Without this no species can continue to exist in next generation. So how do we present this information to youth mind. We read and watch pornographic materials and this is our initiation into sexual world. No public information is available on this topic and even if it is available it is very boring and preachy type mainly in the form of dos and don’t and not addressing the curiosity factor of why. During adolescence many changes takes place in mind. The changes are mainly due to harmones, which keep surging in our body. All the attraction is due to hormonal changes taking place in the body. Youth feel attracted towards the opposite sex. Even if they are attracted towards the same sex, there is nothing wrong about it. There is strong urge regarding having sexual contacts with the partners that you like.Establishing sexual relationship with partners is a good thing but both of the partners should be mentally ready for it and should practice it safely. Your body should be ready for it otherwise it will not be enjoyable. Sex is an enjoyable act and you should enjoy it while indulging in it. There are huge risks in establishing sexual relations without protection, which may result in sexually transmitted disease like syphilis, gonorrhoea, HIV etc. we should know about these infections and way to save ourselves from it. To be continued………..
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