The thursday

This thursday(24th sept), I shouldn't say was a bad day but indeed I can't call it a good day too. Our Jharkhand rural electrification project was lost, due to some changes in bureaucratic circle in the ministry at the last stage of approval. Loosing or getting a project funded is part and parcel for all not-for-profit organizations, but then this project could have positively impacted lives of some 500 odd families in the two villages, children in these villages would have got light to study in the night (day time  they have to support their parents on field or in forest), some local enterprise (wheat four mill/ rice dehusking) would have come up with the electricity in place, rabi crops could have been possible with irrigation ................ but all this now got delayed with this....till we get some other donor to support the project.

I might sound pessimistic but at times I feel very suffocated, we are witnessing the problem, with some professional training (thanks to IRMA) and bit of experience evolved after discussing with the rural community we develop some solution but then we have to sit helpless till it fits in the policy agenda of donors. (now which has tilted to climate change issues).....

Was just thinking about alternatives to this... the buzzword these days are social enterprises..as a panacea to this dependence on donor.. but the way its being driven makes me feel ..it has got too much of enterprise and social is somewhere lost... young entrepreneurs r meddling into as it seems to be an easy option for establishing their ventures on the name of social...(i m sorry if i sound offensive but i think these social entrepreneurs should really ask their conscience how much is really social)
Got reminded of the e first page of our TAU in Managing Cooperatives course, where Dr. Kuriens (for those who are not familiar with this name- Amul and White revolution are credited to him/) statement which meant "Till date I have not found any better alternative form of organization than co-operatives to really involve people and uplift their socio-economic status..........."
But then setting up co-operatives in naxal affected areas (co-ops have to have democratically elected functionaries) of India or civil war affected areas of sub-saharan africa demands a lot..

Newer structures of producer company also have not shown much promise......
.....Quest is still on.........Some solution has to be found out......as we say at IRMA..
."If  we won't..... who will ?"