Image by PRASANNAPIX on Shutterstock I dial Aniket’s number who had asked me to call up any time after 8 p.m. As I listen to the recorded message reassuring the callers on the latest COVID-19 vaccine, a thought flashed through my mind about these fraught times. Before I could examine it closely, I hear… Continue reading People of Bharat: Aniket Diwan, Ambala
Image by Skorzewiak on Shutterstock Social Credit Systems And Platform Economies China’s social credit system has been instrumental in enabling public behavior to be in sync with what the government needs it to be for a post-covid economy. Part of the reason citizen monitoring and incentive design has been relatively easier to implement in the… Continue reading De-centralised Data Economy and its Implications
I meet Imli in the backyard of the house where she lives alone — in a one-room kutcha house in Ambikapur, a small town in Chhattisgarh. We sit on the stairs in the courtyard to talk. Imli is short and dark; her round face is braced with a smile when she tells me that… Continue reading People of Bharat: Imli, Ambikapur
Photo by Hari Mahidhar on Shutterstock In our previous blogs for this series, we explored the potential for meso-level insurance through the lens of sector experts. We also explored the attitudes of private insurers for administering such a product and finally looked at the benefits of meso-level risk management for Farmer Producer Organizations(FPO) acting as aggregators.… Continue reading Improving Agricultural Credit-Linkages through Meso-Level Risk Management
Image by Justinvijesh via Wikimedia For years, the fabrication cluster that had grown around the Trichy unit of the public sector behemoth Bharat Heavy Electricals had been following the same business model. Bhel was the main customer or the only customer for most of the small businesses. Bhel was set up by the government in the… Continue reading How Trichy MSMEs came together to cut costs and find opportunities
Image by Johnny110 on ShutterStock I walk by a noisy, narrow street in Lucknow where the size of the shops compliment the space; shops that were built here years ago, some of them during colonial times. The area is called Chowk — a strategic intersection in a busy market area where one can find… Continue reading People of Bharat: Baiju Lal, Lucknow
The thing that most of the founders fail to notice is how fundamental is talent to a startup and, consequently, a large part of a startup’s goals can be achieved with a thorough talent planning process. Originally published online on People Matters.
Image by Antara Sarkar The jury is still out on factors behind a preference for self employment and entrepreneurship. For the rural poor, entrepreneurship is devoid of the glamour of valuations and venture capitalists, and more of a mechanism: a choice to do what they love while contributing to their family’s income. In this… Continue reading In Conversation with Kaarigars from Gujarat
Rural women remain ‘formally’ ignored and irrelevant in the agrarian economy. On an average, they have lower levels of literacy, education, and land (assets) holding sizes than rural men. Their freedom within households and communities is limited too. While at the same time, women are more responsible for managing the household, raising the children,… Continue reading The Challenges of Rural Women Bankability
Abstract: Kaleidofin was co-founded in 2017 by Puneet Gupta and Sucharita Mukherjee; former CFO and CEO of IFMR (Institute for Financial Management and Research) Holdings Pvt Ltd. As part of their roles at IFMR, Gupta and Mukherjee focused on designing products and developing technology to push for financial inclusion. In their field interactions, the co-founders… Continue reading Kaleidofin: Scaling up digital fintech solutions for the low-income customer in India
‘He’s my keeper…my friend…my protector. He is my Lord — Shiva’. Veena’s eyes glistened as she gestured towards the picturesque temple in the backdrop with folded hands. She is a woman of faith; her attachment and devotion to Bholenath easily palpable. Veena, 45, sells worship material from a small makeshift stall in front of… Continue reading People of Bharat: Veena Kalita, Jorhat
Image by thodonal88 on ShutterStock As we continue our primary research by interviewing workers of the digital platforms to understand the impact of data locked within big ‘gig economy’ platforms (lesser bargaining power, inability to access financial services, upward mobility bottlenecks etc) it’s important to understand the other side of the coin, the State. In this… Continue reading Data Ownership and the Policy Environment