fact or fiction ? 1 crore pre-approved funds for soc entrepreneurs

[efarm Venky]

Hi efamers :

Sorry if the mail trail is getting longer .. but got responses from the PAN IIT organiser and NABARD CGMs over past few days below which is worth sharing , to be neutral and open ... Once again, nothing personal against NABARD or IIT or ISB� - just that i feel we should be able to 'identify' those dangling carrots from 'genuine funding attempts'� ... thanks for all those who wrote in private sharing /corraborating your expereinces as well.. so .. the plot thickens.

Dear Kalyan :

Thanks for the clarifying note. It leads to more critical doubts . I have copied your email verbatim, to avoid any 'mis representation' or 'misguiding' ...
Copying� 'Rohit Koshy' of Clearlyso also into the loop , as some points concern the contest/event he conducted some months ago...

Exec Summary :

1. From NABARD - Who authorised this ? Which department (give FULL name, address� - not acronyms)? Under what scheme is this funds being allocated to you ?
2. PAN IIT- WHEELS conducted a contest last year� (coordinated by Rohit Koshy , ex-IIT delhi alumni who heads Clearlyso- cced in this email) and supposedly was to award cash prizes to IIT-alumni run companies during the PAN IIT Kolkatta event . This was cancelled with no further announcements . What happened to the 'cash money' of the alumni ? Didn;t you get any applications for this ? If you could not run an event 2 months ago with your OWN alumni's funds , how come you got funds again from government� ?
   
3. ISB is NOT a recognised by AICTE , and is famous for stating that it doesn't need any recognition of Government of India . How come govt funds are being given to this institution ?And 'their' judgement is being approved by GOI ?
   
4. �As per contest guidelines ONLY section 25 companies are the 'holy grail' ? 'private limited companies' on social enterprises model need no funds and are rolling in dollars ? So 'harish Hande/ SELCO' , 'Saloni/Desi crew'� are all ' for-profit evil corporates' of the social world ?
   

Details :

Whether i apply for any contets or not is beyodn the question, as a tax-paying citizen of India, any of the 1.4 Billion of us can question how you are saying, that even teh CGMs of NABARD who have years of expereince in processing rural projects are not authorised more than 10 lakhs , whereas� PAN IIT alumni/B-school faculty have been given this 'midas' wand of selecting and awarding 'public money' ? I am gathering information for the benefit of other entrepreneurs and millions of farmers (would technically be a 'rural entrepreneur' and 'wants to run atleast a break even company' from his farm holding and hence an ideal candidate for section 25 ! ) who have been denied this luxury.


It appears from your email, that the funds ARE in fact coming from NABARD (DPD) , ( and NOT from the alumnis of pan IIT or ISB )� - . NABARD being a govt of India organisation cannot be haing schemes specific to IIT/ISB , and whatever they are doing has to be backed by clear banking guidelines. and i presume it is also under the aegies of something called Rural Innovation Fund .your email is vague in details regarding the 'source' of this funds� .. please re-check with your DPD contact and revert)

And fyi, RIF does NOT mandate a section 25 company and is OPEN TO For profit private social enterprises as well. (I know the word 'for profit' may sound as if we are rolling in dollars , but reality is otherwise - whether non profit, or section 25 or for profit or producer corporation� - ALL social enterprises are making lossess only. The fact that YOU are demarking only section 25, does NOT mean Govt of India can do the same as we are all perfect legal entities , and registered under Ministry of corporate affairs and are ALL eliguble for raising funds from banks & FIs. On what basis are you making this judgement ?

Which brings to your tag line of 'pre-approved' .... Owing to several NPAs in farm sector, even NABARD has shifted lot of their farmer schemes where all rebates/subsidies are only 'POST IMPLEMENTATION' and 'POST approvals' . Now how come in your case they seem to be bending the rules ?

�- is this similar to the various 'pre approved' credit cards people used to get from banks ?By� just filling a form for this contest, you are assuring that funds will be given , without ANY due-diligence and any section 25 company fuliffing your guidelines will automatically get funds� ?

Once again, my days of filling forms , pitching b-plans is OVER- i have real work to do..

but stop dangling carrots and playing with the emotions of people who are doing serious work, who often get tempted , raise expectations and waste a lot of time chasing the wrong end of the tunnels� ...

On 26-02-2013 14:49, Kalyan Chakravarthy wrote:

Dear Venkat
I have seen the mail trail and I wish to assuage some concerns raised.I also request to kindly go through with an open mind and apologize for any misconceptions some forums might have highlighted. As you will agree we only put the word out and how the social space takes it is not under our control. We may or may not agree with some views posted there and thus I can only attempt ,to use your words, separate fact from fiction.The following are the facts and kindly go through the attached brochure for further clarifications:

1) To begin with kindly recognize that the objective of the entire program is to seed competent professionals who wish to enter social space that too from non-profit(and non-loss) perspective. Hence, we are giving a salary component of Rs.10 lakhs(for the team) so that they can cover their costs for the first year and Rs.20 lakhs as seed capital(in form of venture-like assistance as repayable when able basis) to pilot the idea. Three such ventures would be seeded.The selection would be a by a panel of ISB, NABARD and PanIIT Alumni Reach For India Foundation(PARFI) with ISB anchoring the selection process and PARFI taking ownership of providing peer-to-peer mentoring. In short, providing the comfort for avoiding precisely those things you mentioned about social entrepreneurship/Non-profits to ensure accountability.�

2) I am not sure if you got the original mail addressed this but all ventures are mandated to be section-25 companies and hence are expected to focus on the cause for the program - enhancing rural incomes of the underprivileged and do so without expecting personal return(unlike in a for-profit case). The issue siphoning etc like I already said will be governed and strictly monitored by us and structurally, legally is anyways safeguarded by section 25 inc.

3) As far as the approval process goes, kindly keep in mind that this is a project directly applied to and sanctioned by HO DPD division after due process and hence CGM Bengal and Shri.CK.Gopalkrishna (who heads SPD) are not party to the same since they are in a different department/region with NABARD being a huge organization with many projects and funding.

As far as your application is concerned you will agree I cannot comment on the same but whatever I saw in your mail, unfortunately seems to be your venture is over 2 years and is also a for-profit. Like I mentioned this competition is open to only non-profits(less than 2 years).but nevertheless you are welcome to encourage your friends/colleagues to come together for the noble nation building endeavor. Like you said, given the state of affairs somewhere we need to make a beginning and this is a small step.

Regards

Kalyan

.�

On Feb 26, 2013 10:17 AM, "Venkat eFarm" <ve...@efarm.in> wrote:

Dear Kalyan :

Im not sure if you are copied on teh flurry of emails frm jagriti yatra forum on the topic of the 'salaried social entrepreneur' . Suggest you do check out this link before responding.
https://groups.google.com/group/jagriti-yatra/browse_thread/thread/8c2146a2bd8f3c5

As the announcemtn makes a rather BOLD claim of 'pre-aproved' 1 crore funds with salary, it has obviously raised a lot of optimism and confusion.

a) Who is sponsoring the funds ? is it PAN-IIT alumni ? ISB / alumni ? or NABARD ?

b) You have mentioned 1 crore in main title, but when we read through the PARFI link : http://www.parfi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=77
it appears the fund size is only approx 20 lakhs (with a 10 lakh CTC to TEAM ?).

c)Now if funds are being 'pre-approved' and if NABARD is the source of funds , it raises more queries, becuase NABARD being a govt agency has to annouce this in THEIR website and make such schemes common to ALL, regardless of whether aplication is ONLY via this contest. I dont see this mentioned in NABARD site.

besides, NABARD never pre-approves any grant or loan and is only after lot of scrutiny by the CGMs (head of each state) , apprarently even the HEADS of each state have limit of only 10 lakhs.
Some CGMs whom i have been interacting are obviosuly not aware of this and are copied on this email (Mr. Padmanabhan CGM west bengal , Mr. CK Gopalakrishnan - CGM Mumbai) .

d) As i have directly submitted proposals to NABARD under RIF schemes , and even after 3 years yet to get any acknowledgemnt of status or approval, i would be anxious to know if this is a better way to seek NABARD funds ?

Can you please clarify details of this ... ?Hopefully i need not raise an RTI to seek info ?

venkat
Founder, eFarm
M:98847 61354

On 26-02-2013 09:56, zpa...@gmail.com wrote:

Venky

NABARD as can is only a co sponsor in the endeavor. If your objective to aim for that go for it. But there are others who may want to face the uncertainties of the event outcome and seek smaller budgets for experimenting with their ideas.

I can neither force you nor deny you the opportunity. The choice is purely yours. I believe your idea has a strong element of social entrepreneurship in it. Please do not fritter it away in the fire of your emotions and frustration in trying to deal with systems. Let us face the development of this nation has been held back collectively by the lethargy of the bureaucrats in collusion with the corruption of political masters aided by the indifference of the middle class.

I still feel you should not give up. Awaiting a positive response from you

Regards

Paddy

Sent from BlackBerry� on Airtel

---

From: Venkat eFarm <ve...@efarm.in>

Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:38:33 +0530

To: S Padmanabhan<zpa...@gmail.com>; <ckgk...@gmail.com>; <rte...@gmail.com>

Subject: Re: Salaried Social Entrepreneur Fellowship : From NABARD, Pan IIT & ISB

Paddy,

Im more than happy to send proposals.. in fact thats all i have been doing for past 3 years ..and ramesh tenkil would agree.

� infact even as of last month, the local IAS Commsiioner Dr Santosh Babu of Tn Horti wanted an EOI , and after 5 sessions of inbteractions when within 1 day of closing the MOU ,� he was transferred to a 'punishment posting' .... and it is OPEN knowledge even in IAS cadres now that agriculture dept is seen as a 'vengence' posting to 'punsih' officers...

im not cynical ... just the irony ..

even in this 'contest' NABARD is offering 1 CRORE pre-approved grant ??? now you know very well that even teh CGM of state has only 10 lakh limit ??? and that too after filling forms and several rounds of reviews and nod from Mumbai ....

how are they claiming� this ? under WHAT scheme ???I know nabard cannot be doing this unless the paper work has been approved in Mumbai .. when 1 crore is avliable , why should someone bother applying for 10 lakhs ???

if you knew about this, why didnt you inform me ?? if you didnt know about this, maybe you should be asking your bosses ....

On 26-02-2013 07:44, S Padmanabhan wrote:

Dear CKG

�

Looking at the cysnism filled in this misguided mail I did not feel like asking him�send the proposal unless he does so on his own.

�

The very principle he touts is coloured by his ego which is not permitting him the full play of social entrepreneurship which his idea is filled with

�

Let us hope in saner times he will send a proposal

�

�

regards

�

paddy

On Sun, Feb 24, 2013 at 11:38 AM, Venkat eFarm <ve...@efarm.in> wrote:

fyi.

-------- Original Message --------

Announcing the Salaried Social Entrepreneur Fellowship

With�Rs.1 Crore�pre-approved funding to get you both a salary and start-up capital, a unique Salaried Social Entrepreneur is being launched to help You take that plunge!�

If you believe in the power of applying business principles to solve social problems and want the road less travelled�

Do send in your applications by�3rd March 2013, 11:59 PM�with detailed resume(s) and business plan. http://www.isb.edu/gsvc/SSE.htm

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Saw this posting in jagriti yatra forum .... interesting initiative , but some 'real world' experiences below of a iit-alumni/social entrepreneur, and specifically with the organisations which seem to be sponsoring this� ....

I head efarm , a social enterprise from chennai , operating as a for-profit private limited company model for over 4 years .I understand raising funds and working without a salary for a 'cause' rather too well ... but what is MORE disturbing is the fact that organizations which claim to help firms like us , ending up using us to fulfill their own internal agendas.

In brief -

• I am an IIT alumnus (1995 batch - Kharagpur) ...been featured in the 'Game Changers' Book of KGP e-cell under the 'iit subjiwallah' chapter..
  
• I have participated in Jagriti yatra - as a panelist in 2011 dec...
• have assisted NABARD in several of their agri maketing inquiries , and my proposals under 'rural innovation fund' have been idling in not one, but FOUR states for over 3 years !...
• we participated in the WHEELS-PAN IIT socent contest� , and were supposedly to be a finalist in the Kolkatta PAn IIT event- and mysteriously the entire contest was taken off agenda and never heard off since !
  

To elaborate ,

Most of rural development work has predominantly been done with government funding and by 'non-profit' NGOs over the years . Most funding is 'linked' to some government scheme and only NGOs which 'implement' the schemes get funded.� Most NGOS are good at 'capacity building' - a term in simple words means - taking classroom sessions ... and have very little real world business experience. Several NGOs have 'milked' this utopian myth and public perception that 'NGO' by default is 'non profit' and hence huge amounts of money can be siphoned off , as very little accounting or scrutiny is mandated for NGOs !! The so called 'tsunami' rehabilitation done by NGOs in coastal belt is a classic example !

Thus NABARD even after 60+ years of operation , has failed to make any dent in rural economies - such as farming , handicrafts, textiles- all are dying with huge migration of rural youth to cities.

And the 'NABARD is corruption free' myth has been blown to bits by their OWN chairman (The Hindu news: )

• http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rs-37-crore-handed-out-for-publicity/article4181803.ece
• http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/as-farmers-suffer-nabard-offers-soft-loans-to-corporates/article4181802.ece

and the recent CAG report of massive scam in the farmer debt waiver (Outlook cover story).

• http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?283757

In the words of many of their own employees, NABARD is steeped in bureaucracy.

of IIT , my alma mater, the less said the better .... the majority of them have already emigrated abroad and care too less. Those who do, are 'remote arm chair' socialists , who 'visit' India (which itself is a large village) once in a year and bleed for its betterment ... I dont know how many of them have visited a REAL village ?

The really serious ones ,� - (like harish hande) - who are hands on - often avoid all the limelight ... strangely got all the spotlight only AFTER he won the Magsaysay after� 15 years-� as he was running around in villages of Karnataka with only a solar torch battery - i dont think even his own friends would have cared. His speeches, though often brief, but so direct - the message is very clear . Don't wait for banks to lend money... rather focus on a business model , ensure your customers see benefit, give REAL service, and work on a financial model which is most suitable to your CUSTOMERS.

Nowadays, it has become a 'fashion' to have social enterprise conferences, contests, workshops-� with a dead-pan economy - suddenly everybody is searching for the fortune under the pyramid ... but having searched for the 'rainbow' i can say one thing for sure.. the fortune , as you are searching is not MONEY but 'HAPPINESS' - and have you wondered how sometimes the roadside pavement dwellers often seem to be having a full smile, with kids playing in open and managing a family when the guy inside the air conditioned MW watching him is neck deep in debt, fighting a divorce case and evenings spent on booze or shrinks ?

Happiness is something money cant buy .. and as you get closer to it you'll realist, seeking money and seeking happiness are often contradictory ! You CAN run a successful social venture , AND serve the poor and needy customers ... and to do that you don't need to fill forms or win a contest -- just get out there are WIN a heart - better still win a 'crore' hearts ;-)

.. for the rest who do need the money and have time to kill.. go ahead and fill the form(s) !all the best ....
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "eFarm" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to efarm+un...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
�
�

--
Please do one small thing to make at least one person happy each day....