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The document has been prepared by Amit Sharan Singh, PGP 2010-12, Indian Institute of Management Raipur. He is a Yatri of Jagriti Yatra

2011 and can be reached at amitsharan88@gmail.com

Jagriti Yatra 2011

Enterprise Led Development

December 24, 2011: Convention Hall, Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, Mumbai. Padma Bhushan

Dr. R A Mashelkar addresses a gathering of about 450 yatris. The yatris of Jagriti Yatra 2011 comprises

of people from 26 nations all over the world and 23 states in India. The demographic diversities are in

the forms of age, gender, language, culture, tradition, literacy level and also the mindset of people. Dr.

Mashelkar talks about the power of youth and the need to channelize them.

The Yatra is formally inaugurated with the song Yaro Chalo.

Picture 1: Tentative route map of Jagriti Yatra 2011

Jagriti Yatra is organized by Jagriti Seva Sansthan, an NGO with headquarters in Deoria, UP and

executive office in Mumbai. The Yatra is a sixteen day train journey of India to awaken the spirit of

entrepreneurship . The vision of Jagriti Yatra is to inspire young Indians living in the middle of the Indian

demographic diamond to lead development by taking to enterprise. By doing so, they can turn from

being job seekers to job creators.

With cakes and Christmas carol post midnight, begins the Yatra from Lokmanya Tilak Terminal.

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The document has been prepared by Amit Sharan Singh, PGP 2010-12, Indian Institute of Management Raipur. He is a Yatri of Jagriti Yatra

2011 and can be reached at amitsharan88@gmail.com

Picture 2: SELCO engineers demonstrating the products

The train reaches the twin city of Hubli and Dharwad in Karnataka on December 26 th. In Dharwadlocated is Solar Electric Lighting Corporation (SELCO), the leading solar equipment manufacturer and

technology firm of India. SELCO was founded by Harish Hande, an IITian with a Phd in Energy

Engineering from University of Massachusetts. At the auditorium of University of Agricultural Sciences,

Dharwad, the founding members of SELCO talk about the journey of this social enterprise since 1995.

They tell us about how they have been transforming the lives of people in villages through sustainable

energy solutions and services. SELCO has championed the cause of sustainable energy for small vendors

through microcredit. The same day we also visit a village in the district whose face the organization has

transformed. They have helped increasing the literacy rate, family income and overall living standard, all

these through a common energy solution. The villagers give due credit to SELCO for brining the light of

development.

Picture 3: Interactive session with Mr. N R Narayana Murthy

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The document has been prepared by Amit Sharan Singh, PGP 2010-12, Indian Institute of Management Raipur. He is a Yatri of Jagriti Yatra

2011 and can be reached at amitsharan88@gmail.com

Next stoppage of the Jagriti Express is Bangaluru. The Yatris reach the headquarters of Infosys Limited in

the early morning of 27th

December 2011. The day begins with a session by Prof. Nandini Vaidyanathan,

founder of CARMA and who has been a faculty at many premier Business schools including IIM

Bangalore. She talks about the role of a mentor in starting an enterprise and the three key elements of

entrepreneurship i.e. Knowledge, Skill and Attitude. She explains how a mentor hand holds an infant

organization and helps it grow with the help of his experience and network.

Post lunch, the founder of Infosys Limited Sri N R Narayana Murthy himself addresses the Yatris. He

talks about his journey as an entrepreneur and the importance of social values in the organization. To

one of the queries asked by a Yatri about his succession planning planning for Infosys, he says that

Infosys is like my daughter. Giving up the chairmanship of Insosys is like givng away of your daughter to

a young man who promises to take care of her for the lifetime. This interactive session is followed by a

panel discussion by the founders of Redbus.in (Mr. Phanindra Sama), Babajobs.com (Mr. Vir Kashyap)

and Ekopay.com (Mr Abhinav Sinha). The topic of discussion was Technology Startup and its Social

Impact. No doubt, they have been transforming the way business is being carried out. Redbus has been

making public road transport through easy access of reservation system and better utilization ofcapacity. Babajobs is an online and mobile portal on the lines of Naukari.com, but for blue collar jobs.

Ekopay.com has pioneered the micro financing, saving and credits. It also provides a very easy way of

money transfer to the locations which are untouched by modern banking system.

Picture 4: Tele medicine demonstration at a remote village (Arvind Eye Care)

On 28th

December, the train reaches the Minakshi Temple town Madurai for Arvind Eye Care visit.

Aravind is more than an eye hospital. It is a self funded social organisation committed to the goal of

elimination of needless blindness through comprehensive eye care services. It treats 40 % of the free

patients from the revenue from the paid patients. It is also an international training centre for

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The document has been prepared by Amit Sharan Singh, PGP 2010-12, Indian Institute of Management Raipur. He is a Yatri of Jagriti Yatra

2011 and can be reached at amitsharan88@gmail.com

ophthalmic professionals and trainees who come from within India and around the world. The founders

talk about the vision of Dr. Govindappa Venkatswamy, founder of Arvind Eye Care, who despite his

physical disability, championed this social cause. Driven not just by passion but by compassion, Dr. V.

wanted to reach out to everyone in need. Numbers were and still are critical. This pushed Dr. V to think

out of the box and implement efficient systems that reduced costs and time. He took inspiration from

the Mc Donalds model of delivering quality to a huge quantity.

The Yatris visited several villages where Arvind Eye Care has been treating patients through Tele-

medicine. The small ailments are cured by paramedical staffs in consultation with the doctor, which

those needing a surgery are sent to the main hospital. The Visit to Arvind Eye Care demonstrates the

importance of financial self sufficiency for a social organization to sustain itself.

Picture 5: Panel discussion on Enabling rural and Agri Enterprises

The next stoppage of the train is on 29th December at Kanchipuram. The founder of Travel Another

India (TAI), Ms. Gouthami, an IRMA alumnus addresses the Yatris and talks about how they have been

promoting alternate tourism and generating income for local communities. The business goes like this:

Interested people in local communities take the lead to establish a tourism venture, hire local residents

at appropriate wages, and sell products such as handicrafts. This mechanism allows selfsustaining

economic growth. In the meantime, TAI is engaged in support areas such as consulting, marketing, and

staff training.

The session is followed by a panel discussion on Enabling rural and Agri Enterprises by Paul Basil (from

Villgrow), Gijs Spoor (from Cottom Conversation) and Venkat (from efarm.in). They talk about

commercializing rural innovations for sustainable wealth creation, ways to transform agriculture based

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The document has been prepared by Amit Sharan Singh, PGP 2010-12, Indian Institute of Management Raipur. He is a Yatri of Jagriti Yatra

2011 and can be reached at amitsharan88@gmail.com

value chain into value based communities and providing combination of technology solutions and on

ground distribution mechanism to enable farmers reach end markets in an effective manner.

Picture 6: Leena Joseph (Naandi Foundation) addressing the Yatris

The Yatis reach Naandi Foundation in Vishakhapattnam the next day morning. Naandi Foundation is a

non-profit social organization established in 1998. It believes in eradicating poverty through

sustainable livelihoods and by providing mid day meals and safe drinking water. It also houses a researchwing to study the social models and work on innovations that can bring a positive change in the life of

needy people. Naandi is based on a Public Private Partnership model. It receives grants from the

government as well as funds from private donors and corporates like Tata, Dell, and HSBC. Funds are

also raised through the community. Key learnings of the Naandi Foundation visit are about eradication

of poverty through sustainable and innovative solutions, public-private partnership in a social context

and operational efficiency - logistic management, scale of food preparation, following Six Sigma

principles.

In the evening, the Yatris visit the headquarters of Eastern Naval Command of Indian Navy at Vizag.

They are mesmerized by the might and charm of warships. There a very senior navy officer welcomes

the Yatris. He talks about the role of Indian Navy for India to become a super power. Navy has played a

very critical role not just during the war but also during the peace time. Indian Navy was the first to send

help to the nations affected by Tsunami in Indian Ocean and also helped the citizens of Indian

subcontinent evacuate the Middle East during conflict. It has been providing maritime security to the

merchant vessels and carried out anti-piracy operation. He also talked about similarities of an Indian

Navy Officer and an entrepreneur- both of them are fearless and ready to take risks, all for a cause of

serving the nation.

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The document has been prepared by Amit Sharan Singh, PGP 2010-12, Indian Institute of Management Raipur. He is a Yatri of Jagriti Yatra

2011 and can be reached at amitsharan88@gmail.com

Picture 7: An English medium school in tribal region run by Gram Vikas

Yatris spent the last day of the year 2011 in a very remote village in Barhampur District of Odisha. The

region is surrounded by hills and forests and here works an NGO Gram Vikas , founded by JoeMadiath.

Joe Madiath was born in Kanjirapally, Kerala and student at Madras University where he was the

President of the Madras University Students Union. To fulfill his zeal for adventure and satiate his

hunger for experience he embarked upon a year long cycle journey through India, Nepal and

Bangladesh. In this phase, Joe witnessed the warmth of friendly people as well as the extent of human

cruelty. A bit disturbed but hopeful and determined Joe gathered 400 YSMD volunteers to work in reliefcamps for Bangladeshi refugees. He then moved to Orissa, a state ravaged by natural calamities and

Gram Vikas was set up in 1979 and has been working for the tribal people ever since then.

The working model of Gram Vikas is 100% funds dependant and a major segment of the in-come comes

from foreign grants. Gram Vikas has helped enable local people to govern themselves. The thrust areas

are agriculture for sustenance, introduction of horticultural crops, empowerment through self help

groups and development of the tribes with self-respect.

The first day of the New Year was spent in train and the Yatris involved themselves on discussion about

the lives of the role models. The discussions also revolved on the present socio-economic and culture

situation of India and how can the youth play a decisive role in it. The participants from foreign nationput forth their views about India and he challenges it has to overcome. The discussion was a melting pot

for different ideas for making India a better nation.

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The document has been prepared by Amit Sharan Singh, PGP 2010-12, Indian Institute of Management Raipur. He is a Yatri of Jagriti Yatra

2011 and can be reached at amitsharan88@gmail.com

Picture 8: A group of Yatris interacting with Mr. Arvind Kumar (Nidan)

On 2nd

January, 2012, we reached Patna to meet Mr. Arvind Kumar, founder ofNidan. Nidans mission is

to empower people so that they recognize and get implemented their rights. It has been working with

informal workers and their children from Bihar to evolve a broad based movement for the

implementation of the rights of the poor, be they education, health and livelihood. Nidan has its own

para legal team and lawyers that assist victimize members. It works in close association with the

government for the implementation of government projects in microfinance and insurance. NAVSI,

based in Nidan, started off as a networking organization of street vendors. On one of the field visit of

work area of Nidan, the women who are small time vendors, told the Yatris about the way they have

been promoting saving schemes, insurance and even extending financial support to their families. All

credit goes to Mr. Arvind Kumar and his passionate team.

Picture 9: Visit to the Banyan Tree; the inspiration behind Jagriti Seva Sansthan

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The document has been prepared by Amit Sharan Singh, PGP 2010-12, Indian Institute of Management Raipur. He is a Yatri of Jagriti Yatra

2011 and can be reached at amitsharan88@gmail.com

The next stoppage of the train is a very poor village Barpaar in the sleepy district of Deoria in Uttar

Pradesh. The village is where the Jagriti Seva Santhan (JSS) has its roots. Even the logo of the JSS has

been inspired by the centuries old banyan tree of the village. The village is undeveloped, far away the

nearest town and probably even the electricity takes time to reach here. The villagers welcome the

yatris with the beating of drums and Nagadas. The villagers and foreigners dance together demolishing

the mental barriers of culture and tradition. The yatris visit the village to understand the socio-economic

condition of the village and in the afternoon, they work upon various business plans related to

agriculture, housing, tourism and information technology to change the situation of the village. In the

evening these ideas are presented to the villagers and they select a few feasible projects that can help

them. The selected project teams have been invited in the month of March to work upon their ideas.

The villagers of Barpaar also thanked the Yatris in their own way with presentation of folk songs and

dance.

Picture 10: Anshu Gupta (Goonj) addressing the Yatris

The train reaches Safdarjung station in Delhi at noon on 5th January. Here, the Yatris are to meet Anshu

Gupta, a social entrepreneur and founder of Goonj. The issue of clothing is addressed nowhere.

Keeping this in mind, he started Goonj in 1998 with a mission to re-emphasize clothing as a basic human

necessity and provide clothes to the needy people while engaging them in local developmental issues.

The idea is to make rural poor people earn their clothes so that their dignity is maintained. Goonj, now

sends over 50 tons of clothes per month across the country through a network of 150 grassrootorganizations spread across the length and breadth of country. For financial sustainability Goonj makes

handicraft items from unusable clothes and sells it in the market. It also saves on the transportation

costs by asking people for Rs. 1 for every item they donate. Anshu Gupta, as a role model demonstrates

the traits like compassion, passion to leave a lucrative job and work for the people, effective system

design and ultimately a thinker and doer. He is the role model who has inspired the most to the Yatris.

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The document has been prepared by Amit Sharan Singh, PGP 2010-12, Indian Institute of Management Raipur. He is a Yatri of Jagriti Yatra

2011 and can be reached at amitsharan88@gmail.com

Picture 11: Sanjit Bunker Roy answers to the questions of the Yatris

On 6th

January, Jagriti Express stops at a small railway halt Tilonia is Rajasthan. At Tilonia, is located the

Bare Foot College, started by Sanjit Bunker Roy. Bunker Roy, after his education, decided to work in

the villages much to the chagrin of his parents. His dream is of using traditional expertise rather than

"bookish knowledge" for the uplift of neglected communities. He has worked all his life with the

Barefoot College. One program of the Barefoot College brings women from villages in rural Africa that

run without electricity to the Barefoot College. They are then trained by local Indian women at the

Barefoot College. At the end of their training, they return to Africa with new skills that allow them to

install solar electricity in their villages. Barefoot College is primarily a grant based organisation with

around 90% of the annual expenditure of Rs.10 crore coming from grants and the rest 10% from the sale

of handi-crafts and other products.

Tilonia is a solar-powered school that teaches illiterate women from impoverished villages to become

doctors, solar engineers, architects, and other such professions. The village is involved in rain harvesting,

it has its own community radio station and its own websitewww.tilonia.com. The groom the children as

the future leaders of the country, the school at Tilonia village has its own student parliament. It has its

own Prime Minster and cabinet of ministers that takes part in the decision making process of the school.

The village is a role model for all the villages in the country.

http://www.tilonia.com/http://www.tilonia.com/http://www.tilonia.com/http://www.tilonia.com/

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The document has been prepared by Amit Sharan Singh, PGP 2010-12, Indian Institute of Management Raipur. He is a Yatri of Jagriti Yatra

2011 and can be reached at amitsharan88@gmail.com

Picture 12: A beautiful dance performance by school kids at Sabarmati Ashram

The last and the final leg of the journey is Ahmedabad. At the dawn of 7th

January, Yatris reachSabarmati Ashram at the banks of Sabarmati River. The ashram was the residence of Mahatma Gandhi

and has huge significance for the independence movement of India. The day begins with prayer of all

the major religions of the world, followed by introspection session with the mentors at the ashram. The

mentors help the Yatris ask some questions to themselves like what really want to do, Is it the right

career, What is the meaning of life to them. The ashram school kids present some beautiful dances to

welcome the Yatris. The ashram visit gives the experience what one would get from a temple, mosque

or church.

The evening programme starts with the address by a group of Gujrati women who have been running

the cooperative bank SEWA (Self Employed Women Association). These leaders talk about the journey

of the bank and the hurdles faced in the male dominated society. Follows it a panel discussion onPower of One by Dr. Harish Hande (SELCO), Amitabh Shah (Yuva Unstoppable) and Mansukhbhai

Prajapati (Mitticool). The talk reminds the Yatris about the song by Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore Ekla

chalo re .

Finally the Yatra concludes with the thanksgiving and felicitation ceremony where the contributions of

different people, organizations, role models and also the organizing team are acknowledged. It is the

time when, the eyes become moist but glow with a new light that has potential to change the world.

Parting away feels like breaking of a branch of a tree that had grown so strong in the last two weeks.

Now the Yatris are alumni of the Jagriti Yatra 2011.

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The document has been prepared by Amit Sharan Singh, PGP 2010-12, Indian Institute of Management Raipur. He is a Yatri of Jagriti Yatra

2011 and can be reached at amitsharan88@gmail.com

Picture 13: The last night for the Jagriti Express

After the end of the Jagriti Yatra, the Yatris have began a new journey. A journey to make the world a

better place to live.

Yaro chalo Yaro chalo badalane ki rut hai

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The document has been prepared by Amit Sharan Singh, PGP 2010-12, Indian Institute of Management Raipur. He is a Yatri of Jagriti Yatra

2011 and can be reached at amitsharan88@gmail.com

References:(As accessed on January 15, 2012)

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isth.pdf

15.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Navy16.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naandi_Foundation17.http://www.youtube.com/jagritiyatra118.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5h8xqVWe2819.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWDz23uV-2E20.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spT7e1XdTuY

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