BDT UPDATES

Dear Friends,

Greetings from BDT!!!

I am very happy to share BDT progress with you on a regular basis. Over last 30 months, I have tried my best to inform all of you to about the progress of Bihar Development Trust on monthly basis. My sincere apologies for the delay for this update as I got married on 1st of Dec 2009. So, I was unable to write mails due to various marriage rituals spread over a week and preparations over a month.

Bihar Development Trust is making steady progress as planned although slow. We are now a diversified group having interest in Microfinance, Textile and Agribusiness. We are working with Women, rickshaw pullers, weavers, farmers as distinct groups and providing them various services. We are slowly taking shape of conglomerate and emerging as platform where various ideas and people with entrepreneur mind can converge. There is a heartening trend with us as lot of IITians and MBAs from reputed B schools are contacting us for working as partners on BDT platform.

On Microfinance front, BDT has disbursed around 2300 loans of value around 185 lakhs to women borrowers. The portfolio outstanding is 85 lakhs. It is heartening to note that women borrowers of Bihar have honestly returned us over Rs.100 lakhs in last two years. Our confidence in microfinance is increasing day by day and we are very bullish about it. The systems and processes are in place. The banks are very slow in lending in Bihar which is affecting our growth. Our proposals are moving with SBI,UBI,SIDBI, NABARD with its own pace over months. But, we are optimistic and have no choice but keep following up and wait. We have offered personal guarantee to get loans but still loan is eluding BDT. We are trying our best to get loans and grow the microfinance operation. The delay is keeping 100s of women borrower waiting for loans for months. We are trying our best to meet the demand.

On Tasar Silk front, The progress has been good. We have increased the numbers of weavers to be supported by us. Champa Nagar is the new cluster being explored in Bhagalpur. AIACA and SDTT has given us funds. 25 weavers will get pucca floors and work place, toilets and lodipur village will get drainage facility and drinking water facility. Lodipr village will become neat and clean. By provision of clean drinking water and good sanitation, there health cost will decrease by 80%. This support will help the 50 families of Lodipur to improve their quality of lives. Order are coming from Kamdhenu Trust, CFM, and two NRI people from Bihar. We are scaling up. We have been conducting workshop with our weavers on contemporary designs. Fashion designers are visiting Bhagalpur on BDT behalf and training the weavers. The silk initiative has the potential to change the lives of weavers BDT is working with.

On agribusiness front, we are learning the supply chain management. We have supplied 300 tonnes of vermicompost to JEEVIKA programme of Govt of Bihar which will help 1000s of farmers to use it for systemic wheat intensification and increase per acre yield of wheat. The demand was given on very short notice and we managed to supply 40 trucks to districts like Mujaffarpur, khagaria, Nalanda and Purnia. We will be opening Kisan Sewa Kendra in two block of Bihar on pilot basis. These Kisan Sewa Kendra will provide input services like seeds, diesal gensets on rent for irrigation, fertilisers, vermicompost, SRI and SWI techiniques, Processing facilitation, price discovery, internet services, storage facilities and marketing services to farmers. Agri knowledge expert will be hired from rural areas who may not be 10th pass and will be assisted by Agriculture graduates and agri scientists. Workshops will be conducted for farmers to increase production and earn more value out of per unit of land. The focus are on small and marginal farmers.

We have got sanction letter from ITC to start incense stick manufacturing in Jamui. It will create employment of 100 persons around the center. ITC people have finally send the letter but they are too confused and afraid to start it in Naxalite affected region. We believe everyone needs employment and sustainable economic activity. We are hopeful of ITC will release the money and center will be started. Without basic processing machines, we can not supply bamboo slices to SHG members to be converted into incense sticks. Without Gen sets, the machines can not be operated. ITC programme officers are unable to understand the basic issues of production. They are more afraid of naxalites damaging the production center.

One of the problems we are facing is the sector specific focus of donor agencies. Every one is saying that this is age of specialisation. Everyone is advising not to diversify. Microfinance donor says that do only microfinance. But they do not understand that Bihar does not need only microfinance. Lot of work needs to be done simultaneously to develop a geography. Our focus is Bihar as a geography not microfinance as an activity. Creating employment and livelihood opportunities for millions of people of Bihar is our goal. They should earn well in their home and improve their quality of life. Microfinance support the livelihood by providing capital to grow of business for entrepreneurs who know how to do business. Not everyone can use credit and start their own. We tried to provide microfinance loans to weavers but failed. They needed work which can be created by bringing orders. So, we focussed on marketing for weavers so that they get work. Farmers need lot of inputs besides microfinance. We are planning to learn with farmers and become farmers ourselves and demonstrate the kind of money creation opportunities in agriculture.

We are ready to burn our fingers. We found out that we are not smart guys who learns from other mistakes and read from books. We went through the destruction of our microfinance and livelihood and supply chain knowledge and learn hard way when groups failed, when truckers refused to send trucks after promising and when driver refused to drive the truck after banana got loaded on Trucks. We are finding the truth of life that we read in MBA courses by doing the same mistakes that so called Guru profess. But, we are hellbent on surviving and making it Big. The ambition and passion for Bihar is increasing day by day. The harder some body hit us , the harder we rebound. We are learning that there are groups that are afraid of our emergence. This include the professionally qualified groups as well as entrepreneurs. We can grow together and make a better Bihar. We can create win win solutions together. We need all kind of entrepreneurs who can create employment.

BDT is emerging as a platform for economic development and taking a shape of movement. We are confident that we will get 500 energetic youth , one for each block of Bihar who will lead development in their block and create employment and wealth through their entrepreneurial ventures. We started as two and now we are four professionals managing various functions. We are getting queries from 3-4 more persons who have impeccable degrees and passion. As for families whom they belong, they have gone mad. Bihar needs such mad people. The movement for Bihar Development is gathering pace and we can feel it.

We are thankful to FWWB, BASIX, RGVN,TMN,INDIAN BANK, PNB, AIF, SIDBI, CFM, Kamdhenu Trust, Ford Foundation, SDTT, AIACA,ITC and many others for supporting BDT and believing in the cause of Bihar Development.

Thank you for reading such a long post.

Regards

Dr. Ravi Chandra