1st Social Entrepreneurship Conference @ XLRI

Conference Videos: Architects of the "Other" India

2009-02-21T20:28:00.019+05:30

(Disclaimer: Yes, we know that Google Videos are slow. But given the length of the presentations, this was the only alternative, we had;)

Keynote Address
Ms Sushmita Ghosh, President Emeritus, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public

TRACK 1: PROVIDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION

Mr Giridhar S, Azim Premji Foundation

Mr Pravin Mahajan, Janarth

Mr CV Madhukar, Akshara Foundation & PRS India

TRACK 2: PROVIDING ACCESS TO CREDIT & FINANCIAL SERVICES

Ms Chetna Gala Sinha, Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank

Mr Samit Ghosh, Ujjivan

Dr Vijay Mahajan, BASIX

TRACK 3: PROVIDING ACCESS TO HYGIENE AND HEALTHCARE

Mr Venkat Changavalli, EMRI

Mr Keerti Bhusan Pradhan, Right to Sight

Dr Joe Madiath, Gram Vikas

TRACK 4: PROVIDING ACCESS TO SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD

Dr Pradip Sarmah, Center for Rural Development

Mr Rajiv Khandelwal, Aajeevika Bureau

Mr Verghese Jacob, Byrraju Foundation

TRACK 5: PROVIDING RURAL ACCESS TO SOCIETAL RESOURCES

Mr Anshu Gupta, GOONJ

Mr Kirti Prasanna Mishra, MART

Mr Ved Arya, SRIJAN

TRACK 6: PROVIDING ACCESS TO MARKETS

Ms Aparna Banerjee, Project Sukanya

Dr Vanita Viswanath, Udyogini

... and last one, about an Access-to-Market initiative from one of the Resourse Persons, who could not make it - due to last minute exingencies..

S Shivkumar, ITC E-Choupal

Unfolding of the Social Entrepreneurship Conference

2009-01-31T22:08:00.007+05:30

I am afraid I could not capture the Inauguaration... I was on stage, far away from my camera...

Photographs of Day 1:

Photographs of Day 2:

Why this Conference Theme?

2008-12-17T00:29:00.004+05:30

Isn't India a land of paradoxes?

we have world's 2nd largest number of billionnaire, and, even by government estimates, more than 800mn people live on a per capita income of less than Rs 20/-.

we have 2nd or 3rd largest technically qualified manpower, and also more than 65% of workforce with less than primary school education.

we are world's 2nd largest producers of vegetables and fruits, 2nd largest exporter of rice, largest producer of milk, etc., and yet 1/3rd of country's population goes to bed hungry everyday.

Indian pharmaceutical industry ranks 4th in the world in terms of volumes (and 13th in terms of value), and yet, 1.5mn infants die from diarrhoea every year.

about 285-290mn Indians live in urban India. Of these, 21% live in slums, and 60% work in unorganised sector without any social security.
etc., etc....

This was the backdrop, in which some of us - the SIGMA team and some of the profs - started discussing the theme for the Social Entrepreneurship Conference.

Clearly, the developmental issue is not about lack of resources, but about lack of access to resources for those who are marginalised in the current development paradigm. If social entrepreneurship is about fostering sustainable social development, then it has to be about innovating and implementing models which provide this access to existing resources... and therefore, it seemed appropriate to design a conference on the theme:

...or more specifically:

Access to Credit & Financial Services

Access to Education

Access to Healthcare & Hygiene

Access to Livelihood Opportunities

Access to Market, and

Rural Access to Societal Resources

What we also realised was that the solutions to these "access issues" already exist - solutions which are founded on innovative approaches, have been implemented, have effectively helped solving the problem, and are scalable and replicable...

...which is another paradox of modern India: viz., these achievements and acts of entrepreneurship rarely become a part of mainstream public awareness. After all, how many people know about:

a venture which collects, sorts and reaches 20,000kg of wearable clothes to villages across 20 states of the country every month,

a venture which helps 250,000 people in the rural/tribal areas to develop their own health and sanitation facilities, livelihood options, etc.,

initiatives which provide skill development training, legal aid, etc., to thousands of migrant labor, and education to their children,

a bank and and a business-school entirely owned and profitably operated by rural illiterate women,

an innovative initative which provides doorstep banking service to more than 1lac un-bankable daily-earners.

an educational venture which targets 3.5lac primary school slow-learners to bring them into the mainstream,
etc.

The purpose of the Conference, we decided, should also be to celebrate and highlight such social ventures and the entrepreneurs who took the initiative to create these benchmarks.

About the Conference

2008-12-15T15:55:00.001+05:30

Part 1: About the Conference

Part 2: Take-away from the Conference