Entrepreneurship, Technology, HealthCare and Software Testing
Hari
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Posts by Hari
Social Entrepreneur of Year 2007
Dec 31st
The Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation and The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship in collaboration with United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Confederation of India Industry (CII) give away the “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” award every year. This award is decided by nominations received from across the country. This award carries the title of “Khemka Fellow” and Rs.8,00,000 (Eight Lakhs / Eight Hundred Thousand Indian Rupees).
Nominations for this award for 2007
Harish Hande, SELCO
Climate Change, Rural Financing, Base of Pyramid Economics, Alternative Energy.
SELCO provides solar electrification solutions to the rural people in India. Around 57% of India population do not have access to electricity adding to unreliable power supply. SELCO provides solar electricity to people below the poverty line through a combination of customized home lighting, innovative doorstep financing and understanding the market need. SELCO has reached around 80,000 clients in Karnataka and Kerala and now working with people in Gujarat.
Rajendra Joshi, Saath
Public Private Partnerships, Base of Pyramid Economics, Urban Issues, Livelihood
Unplanned/Unprecedented migration is a major problem in various parts of the world and India being no different. In Ahmedabad alone, almost 40% of the city’s residents live in slums without access to basic amenities. Among this population, only 1 in 5 have private bathrooms (latrines) and only 1 in 4 have access to HealthCare and more than 50% rely on in-formal livelihood.
Saath works with Private and Government organization is creating an affordable cost model where people in these areas are not evicted and a small amount is charged for providing with amenities like roads, water, sanitation, lights etc. Saath then worked with private electric company and government to bring out charges which is a third of actual cost to get electricity and provided this to the people in slums. The companies realized a 30% increase in revenue and also the government has benefited with the tax paid. In total, Saath has worked with more than 70,000 families in Ahmedabad including 10,000 people through Slum Networking Project and 40,000 households through Urban Resource Centers.
Pravin Mahajan, Janarth
Education, Migration Issues, Labor
There are more than 30 Million (30 Lakhs) children who are taken out of school as their parents migrate in India.
Pravi has worked in creating education opportunities for these children by creating hostels for children who’s parents migrate for work and also Shakharshalas or the on-site schools for children who go along with their parents. These schools are accredited by the government and ensure that students from Shakharshalas are re-admitted into regular schools at any time. Janarth has reached around 10,000 children and proved its quality in education and also is working with Government of Maharashtra to have these schools in every district through out the state.
Chetna Gala Sinha, Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank Ltd.
Rural Development, Livelihood Development, Banking
The Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank Ltd(MDMSB) and Mann Vikas Samajik Sanstha (MVSS) together develop systems that rural women need to evolve as successful entrepreneurs and build financial assets. Chetna has established the first Indian rural all women bank through equity within tribal women and also the bank runs by all rural women. The bank works in creating products from their client perspective such as micro-pensions and customized health insurance schemes. MDMSB and MVSS have collectively reached around 58,000 women in five districts of Maharashtra. Expansion plans include states of Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.
The WINNER
The Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 has been awarded to Mr.Harish Hande of SELCO.
Hope to see more nominations and more finalists in the coming years.
You are read more about the above nominations at http://www.schwabfound.org/india/.
WEF Tech Pioneers 2007
Nov 28th
Recently, i was going through the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers 2007 list which has been published. This list is published every year recognizing the most innovative enterprises around the world. The list is very interesting and gives us an overview of the organization selected and the reason as to why the organization is listed.
I am very happy, impressed and also sad to see only 1 organization from India made it to the list – Drishtee. Now, what does Drishtee do and why are they different?
Dristee is a rural network for delivering information services to Villages, using an electronic information kiosk, known as Drishtee Soochnalaya. These kiosks are run by local entrepreneurs who charge residents for access.
Changing lives in rural India is no small Vision and it needs loads of dedication to be able to achieve it. Drishtee is very strong in its Vision and has gone past various milestones in the last Seven Years of inception.
What Does Drishtee do?
The organization has categorized itself into various aspects, but the punch-line is that it is concentrating in providing self-employment to rural entrepreneurs and also providing opportunity for the rural population to have access to the latest information.
Drishtee’s initiation spreads into Education, HealthCare, Employment Generation, Women Empowerment and Micro-Finance.
Social Entrepreneurship Competition
Dec 2nd
‘Genesis’ is a Social Entrepreneurship Competition collectively brought in by TCS, IIT Madras and MIT to come up with innovative ideas which are socially relevent and feasible.
http://www.genesis.iitm.ac.in/ – Go check it out….
Social Entrepreneurship…
Nov 19th
1. What is Social Entrepreneurship?
- Entrepreneurship for a cause, contributing to uplifting standard of living.
It is your regular business model with Profits and Losses – You can be rich and well established too!!! - Aim is to create a product/service which is ‘purely’ for social benefit.
2. What are the various areas? (In broad terms, to begin with)
- HealthCare
- Education
These two are primary requirements of any society. If these are available, then many other aspects can be addressed – Poverty, Quality of life etc.
3. How can individuals come together?
- People with common thoughts and chosen area to establish an organization.
- Commitment to enhance Quality of Life.
4. Is there a difference between Entrepreneurship Vs. Social Entrepreneurship?
- Desire to be an Entrepreneur with a difference while doing your regular work! – You need not give up your regular job, and still be an entrepreneur of your choice marking a difference…
- Changing the way we live…
Entrepreneurship is Attitude
Oct 10th
So, what does it take to be an Entrepreneur?
Is it so very simple? Ofcourse, Yes. But there are parameters for consideration.
E – Energetic
N – Neutral
T – Tough
R – Romantic
E – Elaborative
P – Passionate
R – Researcher
E – Empowered
N – Novice
E – Enterprising
U – Understanding
R – Rich
Energetic – Need to have energy to face failure.
Neutral – Never get carried away, you need to always be on ground to take off.
Tough – When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
Romatic – Need to Romance with your Passion.
Elaborative – If you cant be straight forward, then the road ahead is bumpy.
Passionate – Eat, Sleep, Drink only your thoughts.
Researcher – Only when you explore, do you succeed.
Empowered – Empower yourself with Passion.
Novice – Because, every day is a new day.
Enterprising – Because, every day you need to be creative.
Understanding – If you cannot understand others, you can never solve their problem.
Rich – Attitude, Passion and Committment to Succeed.
Global Poverty
Oct 6th
More than one billion people around the world live on less than one dollar a day. Poverty, however, means more than low income. Poverty results in child mortality, hungry people, and can lead to the oppression of women:
The poorest countries have infant mortality rates above 20%. Two million children die each year of dehydration from diarrhea. Another two million children die annually from pertussis, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, and measles. Three million more children die each year from bacterial pneumonia. Several hundred million children suffer annually from intestinal parasites. And according to the World Human Rights Guide, no country with a Gross Domestic Product in the bottom fifth globally has achieved social and economic equality for women.
Can we as a society do anything for this? I am quite sure, that we might not be able to do anything and everything for all people around the world, but my only thought is that if we could do anything for people around us? I only quoted this para because it matches with our objective taking this society forward.
Any ideas and suggestions as to how we can mark a difference????
aWorldConnected.org
Oct 5th
I have been following few emails around this organization and today, I have decided to visit this site. aWorldConnected.org is an organization dedicated for Globalization, Prosperity and Human freedom. I am quite sure, you would enjoy this site if you can visit it once.
