Rurality — An Social Entrepreneurs Perspective
My story begins in 1995. I was five years old, living with my parents in the remote tea gardens of Dooars, North Bengal, India. My father managed the property, and the nearest telephone was a 10 km journey. My mother, a talented artist, writer, and crocheter, began teaching the local women how to crochet. She not only taught them the craft but also helped them sell their finished products and manage their hard-earned money.
One afternoon, one of her students came to class with a black eye. My mother spoke with her privately, and the woman tearfully confessed that her husband had taken all her money to buy alcohol. When she confronted him, he hit her. He would return drunk and beat her if she refused to give him more. My mother comforted her, assuring her that everything would be alright, and the class continued.
The next day, the same woman arrived with a huge smile. “What happened?” my mother asked. The woman explained that her husband had apologized and returned her money, promising she could use it to care for their baby. Unbeknownst to the woman, my mother had told my father about the incident the night before. As the tea garden manager, he felt a responsibility to intervene.
The following morning, he and two police officers went to the factory where the husband worked. They warned him that if he ever laid a hand on his wife again, he would face serious consequences. Watching my parents stand up for what was right filled me with awe. I promised myself I would follow in their footsteps, and 25 years later, I have.
For the past six years, my journey has been far from easy. It all began when I was accepted into the State Bank of India’s rural development fellowship. This 13-month program gives young people the opportunity to work in rural India, and I was placed with a non-governmental organization. It was a tumultuous experience.
The biggest lesson I learned wasn’t about how to do things, but how NOT TO.
This fellowship was an eye-opener. I learned how not to approach a topic, how not to plan a program or event, and most importantly, how not to communicate with various stakeholders. The experience taught me a great deal about what it takes to do good work — by showing me what not to do.
Many NGOs and organizations operating in rural India face a fundamental tension: the pressure to prioritize quantity over quality. The ability to secure funding is often directly tied to the number of people, specifically women, they can claim to have impacted. This focus on scale also applies to Self-Help Groups (SHGs), where a large number of beneficiary groups can lead to more favorable photo opportunities and increased financial support.
This approach, however, raises critical questions about the true effectiveness of these initiatives.
How many individuals have genuinely benefited from the aid they were promised? Is there any measurable change in the mindset or outlook of those who receive assistance?
The current model lacks clear benchmarks for sustainable action, efficiency, and effectiveness. Without these metrics, it’s nearly impossible to determine whether these efforts are creating lasting, meaningful change or simply generating impressive but superficial numbers. This absence of accountability makes it difficult to distinguish between organizations that are truly making a difference and those that are not.
“Log atte hai bahar se, photo khechte hai, aur nikal jate hai” (people come from outside, take pictures, and leave)
Let me indulge you with an interesting example. The government had come out with the ‘Swatch Bharat Abhiyan’ campaign which according to its website states:
“The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan campaign constructed over 100 million household toilets in villages to achieve an open defecation-free (ODF) India by 2019, with the goal of universal sanitation coverage, improved hygiene, and proper solid and liquid waste management’.
Now here are the questions I have.
- How many toilets were actually built?
- Are the recipients actually using those toilets?
- How many toilets have been re-purposed?
- Are those villages actually ODF free?
Alas, we may never know.
This is where Social Entrepreneurs come in. Through our work, we look to not only create income and employment opportunities for rural India but also be a platform for social change. All in a Consistent, Continuous and Constantly monitored basis.
Social Entrepreneurs strive not only to invest in rural India but also to ensure that services are delivered to the most remote areas. We ensure that systems and sub-systems are properly monitored to prevent failures at crucial times. Nevertheless, this is more challenging than it sounds, as our nation has ingrained failures within these systems into the very fabric of society.
Corruption has entrenched itself deeply into every aspect of progress.
We face constant setbacks and threats to our work (Story for another day), including criticism and funding denials. While these challenges often push us back, we continue to march forward.
India’s biggest problem is our ‘mindset’!
Changing that will take time, patience and a lot of investment and that is what we social entrepreneurs do by investing in the community.