My Rad a Final

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MYRADA Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency

Business Ethics Assignment

REMIN SLADANHA

SUJATH SHAROFF

RANJITH R

NEHA SETHI

SI U



M Y R A D A

Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency (MYRADA) is a Non

Governmental Organisation managing rural development programmes in 3

States of South India and providing on-going support including deputations of

staff to programmes in 6 other States. It also promotes the Self Help Affinity

strategy in Cambodia, Myanmar and Bangladesh

1.INTRODUCTION

Established in 1968, MYRADA is a non-governmental organization working

for micro-credit initiatives and sustainable development in Southern India. From

1968 to 1978, MYRADA concerned itself with the resettlement of 1 5,000

Tibetan Refugees with the Indian government. After 1978, MYRADA shifted

its focus to working with poor communities in rural India. Currently,

MYRADA centers its attention on the districts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh

and Tamil Nadu through its 14 act ive projects. MYRADA focuses on the

building of appropriate peoples¶ institutions rather than on the delivery of

goods. Efforts are made to motivate the people to contribute money and time

and to absorb the skills necessary to maintain these goods. MYRADA had 489

staff members in 1994 and 1000 rural volunteers trained in community health

care, animal husbandry, forestry, literacy and other relevant areas who provide

services in the project areas. MYRADA is now working directly with 75000

families, approximately 8,50,000 people.

2.The Mission Statement

y To foster a process of ongoing change in favour of the rural poor in a way in

which this process can be sustained by them through building and managing

appropriate and innovative local level institutions based on their rights and

rooted in values of justice, equity and mutual support .

y To recreate a self-sustaining livelihood base and an environmentally clean

habitat and the institutions to sustain them, based on a balanced perspectiveof the relationship between the health of the environment and the legitimate

needs of the poor .

y To promote institutions, strategies and skills through which poor families

are able to exercise their rights to develop their livelihood strategies leading

to food security and to secure the rights of women and children ,minorities

and marginalised sectors.





Membership in MYRADA-facilitated SHGs is over 160,000 of whom more

than 95% are women. They control a Common Fund of over Rs.1.1 billion (ownsavings, interest earned on loans given to members, bank interest, etc.). They

have advanced over 1.1 million loans amounting more than Rs.2.7 billion. Thus,they have created money in the hands of people, given them the choice tonegotiate with others, to cope with adversities and to pursue their aspirations.

1.2. Resettlement of displ ed communities: Apart from the resettlement of Tibetan refugees that marked the origin of MYRADA, it has also enabled the

resettlement of over 10,000 others (Srilankan repatriates, and released bondedlabourers) on lands allotted by the Government. As a consequence of these

experiences, MYRADA was also approached by and assisted the Governmentof Karnataka and assisted in the preparation of rehabilitation plans for around20,000 families being displaced by a major dam project (the Upper Krishna

Project).

1.3. Support for risk reduction measures so that investments in economic

spheres translate into actual increases in income. To give an example, invillages bordering forests there is no guarantee that investments in agriculture

will result in better yields when the crops are subject to predation by wildanimals. In rainfed drylands, without investment in soil and water conservation

activities agriculture is a risky proposition. Hence, MYRADA strives to reducesuch risks. Promotion of LEISA, fencing of crop lands in risky locations,construction of godowns and safe storage structures, promotion of

mixed/alternate crops, post harvest value addition, life and asset insurance, etc.are some of the measures taken up on scale to reduce risks to the poor.

1.4. Promotion of non-farm sk ills and enterprise development is an area that

MYRADA believes holds an answer to the threatened livelihoods of the rural poor in the current context of liberalisation and globalisation. The youth see agreater future in the manufacturing and services sectors when compared to

dryland agriculture. MYRADA has successfully trained a number of young menand women who have since found employment as masons, electricians,

plumbers, fitters, drivers, in the garment industry, as veterinary pro moters, food product retailers, etc. In one location, MYRADA has also enabled a group of over 200 young women to set up a private limited company of their own ±

where they are the shareholders, managers, and workers ± to assemble watchstraps and make gold and silver jewellery. It has also set up a Technical

Training Institute where boys and girls (including high school drop outs) canlearn trades for employment in the industrial sector. Nevertheless,entrepreneurship development and training for employment in the non-farm

sector remains an area in which MYRADA has to expand its investments andefforts.

1.5. Micro-f inance activities : MYRADA has always been clear that it shouldnot compromise its development role with the role of a financier. On the other



hand, besides continued and as yet unmet needs for credit by the poor, there is

enormous space for innovation in the field of micro -finance that has not yet been tapped by mainline financial institutions. Hence, MYRADA has promoted

a non-banking and not-for-profit micro-finance institution called SanghamithraRural Financial Services. In the relatively short time that it has been inoperation (since January 2000), it is partnered with over 90 NGOs and has

advanced credit of over Rs.2.6 billion directly to mor e than 6,000 SHGs

(including repeat loans to the same groups). It is now well -known in the field of micro-finance and has started to independently command the attention of othersin the field, who visit to learn from its systems and field practices.

Goal 2 : Achieve Universal Primary Education

Donor support to MYRADA has enabled it support more than 20,000

children to complete 10 years of schooling. It is not that the children have beengiven substantial material inputs to stay in school, though that has also been

done; it has been more of working with parents to convince them of the value of schooling, and working with the government and the school committees to build

a better learning environment in schools. Around 1,580 classrooms have beenconstructed for schools in rural areas. In close to 200 schools it has been possible to provide drinking water, toilets, teaching materials, play materials,

library and laboratory materials and so on. More than 300 schools have beensupported with additional teachers to tide over staff shortages, and Myrada has

worked to strengthen school committees in over 300 schools and motivate them

to work for school betterment.

Regular summer camps are held for children in some of MYRADA¶s

project locations with a mix of lessons and cultural activities. Teachers¶ training programmes have been conducted in the past in the techniques of µJoyful

Learning¶. Close to examination times, special coaching classes have beenconducted each year to enable children of non -literate parents to prepare better.

Donor support in some locations has enabled MYRADA to contribute to

an insurance programme where a lumpsum of money is realised by the time thestudent completes high school. This facility has been extended to more than

5,000 children. As briefly mentioned under point 1.4, MYRADA has set up one

vocational training institute that is now independently registered. It offers 3 to 6month courses in a variety of vocational skills for both boys and girls. It has

residential facilities. This institute trains upto 120 youth per year, and one of its

important features is that unlike other vocational training institutes, it also takesin boys and girls who have discontinued school after coming up to Class 8 or 9.

It is important to note that till date, the SHGs promoted by MYRADA

have advanced more than 20,000 loans to members to support the education of their children. Apart from the financial facility, this indicates that the members

who are drawn from the poorer sections of society now see a futu re in investingin their children.



Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

As already mentioned, more than 95% of the membership in SHGs is of women. The important thing to note here is not only do they now have savings

in their own name, access to credit, and have experienced a rise in status comingin the wake of this money power, every member of each SHG also undergoes

between 8 and 14 modules of training in a variety of topics that prepare them to

face the challenges of integrating with the mainstream. To this end, MYRADAconducts more than 5,000 training programmes for CBOs each year.

A recent rapid stock-taking review has shown that more than 200 womenfrom self help groups have been elected to Panchayaths and other local bodies.

MYRADA can take credit for organising the devadasi women of Belgaum District (Karnataka) not only to work for their own social and

economic development but even more importantly, to carry out a movement

through which dedications of future generations of devadasis has beeneffectively contained. The women now have an organisation of their own

(MASS). They have also expanded their activities to include prevention of child

marriage, besides which they have a legal support programme that is availableto all vulnerable people and not just the devadasi members of MASS. Adoption

of a similar approach directly by the Government in the neighbouring district of Bijapur-Bagalkot, and the involvement of MASS by the Government and NGOs

to support similar movements in Raichur and Koppal districts have been other achievements.

As already mentioned in a prior paragraph, MYRADA has beeninstrumental in setting up MEADOW, a Private Limited Company that isowned, managed, and staffed by 200 young women. They are linked with a

major watch manufacturer earn wages upward of Rs.3,000 per month from

making watchstraps, assembling watches and table clocks, and crafting jewellery. Initially, MYRADA had been asked to manage this programmedirectly but refused on the ground that its role was to promote the growth of

appropriate people¶s institutions to manage their own programmes. MEADOWhad been functioning successfully for the past 8 years, has built up a good asset base (land, buildings, machinery), and has been making profits each year. The

women themselves are respected as major bread earners in their families; theyare taking their own decisions, are no longer under pressure to marry early, and

have the freedom to do many things where earlier they were controlled by their families.

Through Community Managed Resource Centres MYRADA has beenable to establish legal help desks in more than 25 locations, and in mostlocations the services are being provided mainly to women.

In the last 2 years MYRADA has been able to organise around 350 SHGsof female sex workers. Though this was not originally planned (the plan wasonly to work on HIV-AIDS issues with high risk groups), the women showed

interest in forming SHGs. These SHGs are also receiving institution-buildingtraining inputs, and some of them have also taken membership in the





grantees. As a part of this programme it has been able to initiate rural outreach

through training programmes for 2,400 SHGs. It is also providing inputs to100 provincial colleges and 20 factories. The Red Ribbon Clubs formed in the

colleges are attracting a lot of favourable attention, and CDC¶s overallsatisfaction with MYRADA¶s efforts has resulted in its taking the assistance of MYRADA to (i) Provide technical assistance to USAID grantees in

Maharashtra to improve their quality of work (USAID had requested CDC for

this help, and CDC has requested MYRADA for it), and (ii) Take up a programme of Panchayath Training to raise awareness among PanchayathMembers and get their co-operation to address HIV-AIDS issues in their constituencies. (These 2 initiatives have not y et been started but will soon be.)

As a result of the above programmes, MYRADA has developed stronglinks with the Karnataka Positive People¶s Network (KNP+) and its district

chapters. Consequent to this engagement, KNP+ has been involvingMYRADA to facilitate vision building exercises for its district chapters andalso to strengthen its own accounting and management systems.

MYRADA has also been taking up HIV-AIDS awareness as a µcredit-

plus¶ training activity for self help group members on almost all its projectlocations. In addition to HIV-AIDS and STIs, MYRADA is also addressing problems like tuberculosis, leprosy, diabetes, diarrhoea, etc. in needed

locations through public and private collaborations.

Since disease manifestations are closely linked with the status of water

and sanitation, MYRADA is also engaged in drinking water and sanitation

programmes on a large scale, both on its own and in collaboration with theGovernment. Its initiative to promote the construction of home toilets through

the creation of loan funds (mobilised from UNICEF and managed by SHGFederations) is regarded by UNICEF as the first initiative of its kind, about

which UNICEF has made a video document; it has also ushered in policychange through which funds are being created at the level of each Block for the Government to advance as loans for toilet construction.

Goal 7 : Ensure Environmental Sustainability

MYRADA¶s commitment to work on environmental sustainability issues is

most obviously manifested in its efforts to promote watershed development inrainfed drylands. As early as in 1983-84, it was the first NGO to be formally

invited into a partnership with the Karnataka State Government and a bi -lateral

agency (Swiss Development Cooperation) to work on participatory integrateddevelopment of watersheds in a drought prone area. The experiences andlessons from there have fed into the refinement of the watershed development

approach in India.

Currently, MYRADA is the State Partner to the Watershed DevelopmentDepartment in Karnataka on the World Bank assisted Sujala Watershed



Programme. It is also the Lead NGO for this programme in 2 districts, besides

being directly involved in implementing the works on 35,000 hectares (under the Sujala Programme).

Until last year, MYRADA had both supervisory and implementation roles on alarge watershed programme supported by DFID and managed by the Karnataka

Watershed Development Society. It was also involved in a forestry programmes

in partnership with the India-Canada Environment Facility (in Andhra Pradesh,where it formed a network of 8 other NGOs to collaborate on this programme),

and with DFID (in Karnataka, mainly to orient the Forest Department Staff onhow to be more people-friendly and engage in participatory forestry

development). With regard to regeneration of arid lands and forest management,MYRADA¶s major contributions have been in two areas : (i) Directinvolvement in the regeneration of arid lands and promotion of forestry on

watershed principles, with appropriate tech nical and management inputs andthrough appropriate local level institutions, mainly undertaken in Anantapur

district (Kadiri), Chitradurga district (Challakere), and Gulbarga district(Kamlapur and Chincholi). (ii) Promoting the adoption of participatoryapproaches by the Forest Department through training of all cadres of their

staff, mainly operationalised in the Western Ghats Project (Karwar district).

MYRADA, in almost all its project locations, is also supporting watersheddevelopment work with the support of NGO partners like Novib, German AgroAction, etc. and in collaboration with district governments under State and

Central programmes. Through such government and private partnerships,treatment works have been/are being carried out on approximatel y 150,000 ha.

of land in various locations.

As already mentioned, MYRADA is partnered with UNICEF and the districtgovernments on school and household level water and sanitation programmes inTamilnadu and Karnataka. (It was earlier involved in the World Bank ±

Government collaborative Integrated Rural Water Supply and SanitationProject). Very recently, it is collaborating with a Bangalore -based NGO ±

Arghyam Foundation ± on water resources augmentation and management intwo locations.

Environmental protection and promotion are also encouraged through an

increasing focus on LEISA technologies and a fuller utilisation of agricultural

and domestic µwastes¶ (through biogas, vermicomposting, eco-san toilets,indigenous growth promoters and pest repellents, ra in water harvesting, tree planting on field bunds, etc.), all of which are being promoted on a large and

significant scale and are also being visited by other organisations (e.g. onelocation in Erode District had no fewer than 1,500 visitors in 2005-2006, fromfarmers, other MYRADA projects, State Governments, Central Government,overseas NGOs, Agricultural Universities, etc.)



Goal 8 : Global Partnership for Development

MYRADA¶s NGO partnerships contribute in no small measure to enablingwider global links. Besides, it is a part of networks like Banking with the Poor

and the Asian NGO Coalition that not only create platforms for dialogue butalso undertake joint activities for wider sharing and learning. Of late, it is also

engaged with e-groups on subjects like poverty reduction, HIV-AIDS,

livelihoods promotion, micro-finance, etc.

Self Help Promoting Institutions¶ Network (SPIN) : Perhaps this does not fitin under µGlobal Partnerships¶ but to MYRADA it is an important effort.

Initiated in one district (Chitradurga) and subsequently replicated in four other locations (Kadiri, Mysore, Gulbarga and Chamarajanagar), this is a network promoted by MYRADA and focussed on developing common data base,

sharing of information and experiences, capacity building, and commitment tothe maintenance of mutually accepted quality standards in field work,

particularly in the promotion of SHGs. It is a formal platform for NGOs,Government, Banks, and other support organisations to interact with one

another on a regular basis. It has been playing a very useful role in the sector.

The Executive Director of MYRADA is on several national and international

bodies as an Advisor /Consultant to deliberate on development policy and

practice (e.g. Consultant to IFAD, Member of Reserve Bank¶s Committee on

Financial Inclusion, Member of the National Committee to reformulate

Watershed Guidelines, etc.)

4.WORK:-



Sharing and Learning:

MYRADA believes that one

of the major sources of

learning is to share. In support

of this belief, it annually

responds to over 300 requests

from bankers, governments, NGOs, teaching and research

institutions, international

agencies,etc.with training

programmes in the areas of

micro finance management

through self-help affinity groups, watershed management systems and NGO

organizational and financial systems. These experiences in sharing have been

both adhoc and in the context of a long -term programme where MYRADA

offers support over a period of to 5 years. Examples of this long-term supporthave been in Cambodia, in three states in the North East in collaboration with

IFAD, in Haryana with the Mewat Development Agency and IFAD and in

Myanmar through UNDP MYRADA has learned a great deal through these

joint ventures. The benefit of sharing is also experienced when MYRADA's

own staff visit other institutions to learn from them.

Capacity Building in MYRADA

MYRADA has been conducting capacity building programmes for various

categories of participants in the past decade. Over 7000 training programmes

are conducted on our projects annually, of which 90% are for community -based

organisations from our own project areas and from elsewhere. MYRADA has

ten rural training centres in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra

Pradesh.

1.KARNATAKA

HD Kote ± Mysore

Holalkere ± Chitradurga

Huthur ± Chamarajnagar

Kamalapur ± Gulbarga

Kamasamudram ± Kolar

2. ANDHRA PRADESH



y Kadiri - Anantapur

y Madakasira (Agali, Gudibanda and Gayatri Colony) ± Anantapur

3.TAMIL NADU

Achettipalli - Hosur ± Dharmapuri

Arepalayam ± Erode

Talamalai ± Erode

These centres are located within MYRADA¶s Project areas so that all the

training/exposure programmes conducted will be based on field experiences and

interactions.

Availing MYRADA¶s services for training

MYRADA has so far only

responded to requests for

training from interestedinstitutions and therefore

does not have a published

training calendar.

MYRADA arranges

training on its various

projects based on the needs

of the client after

considering the following aspects: Training needs of the participants Profile of

the participants: Job responsibilities, language preferences, distances fromMYRADA training centres Development strategies envisaged in the client

organisation Follow-up support required MYRADA also provides long-term

training partnership/ mentoring support to other institutions either on

MYRADA¶s Projects or in the location of the client institution¶s own work

areas.

Areas of capacity building support

Broadly the areas that MYRADA trains/mentors in or exposes to are:

y Concept of Self Help (Affinity) Groups ± for credit management and

empowerment, facilitating SHG development, monitoring in SHGs (including

Participatory Impact Monitoring), capacity building for SHGs, federations of

SHGs, building linkages between SHGs and other institutions etc .

y Watershed management through people¶s institutions: Concept of participatory

watershed management, building people¶s institutions for watershed



management, planning of watershed management programmes, monitoring

and evaluation (including Participatory Impact Monitoring), resource

mobilisation for watershed management, building visions for sustainable

resource management, etc.

y Participatory Community Development Approaches: Participatory Planning,

Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation of development i nterventions.

Building ownership in community development, building appropriate people¶sinstitutions for resource management, PRA, Project Management for NGOs.

y Appreciative Inquiry: MYRADA has been involved in a recent experiment in

applying Appreciative Inquiry for community development. We will be happy

to share our experiences with other development agencies.

Batch Size

Keeping in view effectiveness of training ± MYRADA prefers batch sizes of not

more that 20-25 persons

per programme.

Language

MYRADA offers

training in Kannada,

Tamil, Telugu and

English (and in some

cases Hindi). In case the

participants are

unfamiliar with all these

languages, we prefer to

have at least two-three persons in each batch who are proficient in any of the

above-mentioned languages to facilitate translations.

Facilities

MYRADA's training centres offer simple shared accommodation and a variety

of South Indian menu for food. The training halls are themselves fully equipped

for training. MYRADA arranges for travel within the Project from a pick-up point, which will be specified in our communication. The participants

themselves must pay for all transit costs at Bangalore/other cities« though

MYRADA will arrange for accommodation and other services if required.

Training processes and Contents



The training schedule is prepared based on the requirements of each batch.

There is a great amount of flexibility in the training content. Participatory

training methodologies are used and the trainers are drawn from the Projects

themselves and sometimes from other institutions. All the training programmes

will involve at least 40% of the time on the field with assignments.

Budgets

The budgets and mode of payment for the programmes depend on the duration

of the training, category of participants and the programme requirements and

will be communicated on formal request.

5.MYRADA's Common Fund

The common fund (CF) receives cash receipts from membership fees,

savings, donations, fines, and loan recoveries, while cheque receipts include

institutional contributions from MYRADA, CAPART, NBARD and

commercial banks. A major part of the CF is held in a bank account opened in

the groups name. All withdrawals by cheque is based on meeting resolutions. A

small part of the CF is held in cash to advance emergency loans, besides loan

recoveries that are to be deposited in the bank. Cash advances are based on

meeting resolutions or ratified in case of small emergency loans. Cheques

payments are made for refund of loans to institutions, loans to beneficiaries,

payments for assets of members that were purchased in bulk etc. while cash

payments are made for loans to beneficiaries and to meet incide ntal expenses.

As experience mounted, ideal characteristics of a workable group formationstrategy emerged: small size, voluntary participation, high initial intervention by

NGO, economic and social homogeneity, effective, decentralized and

democratic participation, basic knowledge in literacy and numeracy, etc. This

was later concretized by forming of Credit Management Groups (CMGs) Such

groups helped not only in the usual 'backward and forward' linkages, but in

sideways linkages as well - that is, support from a group to a family to become

economically viable and self-reliant. Asset management was also better

administered by groups rather than the individual family or household. Savings

from the group was a critical starting point for all activity, creat ing self-

confidence among other things, among the members. More than 4,000 such

homogeneous small groups have been formed by MYRADA in South Asia.

These autonomous and voluntary groups fostered the emergence of innovative,

appropriate and replicable ideas on a continuing basis by providing the people

opportunities to come together and to share and learn from each other's



experience. Latent values of group support, traditional to most societies, came

to the fore with such groups.

A key feature of the savings and credit programmes of MYRADA is the

Group's Common Fund (CF).

Membership fees, regular savings,

fines imposed for not having

satisfied limits in savings or loan

repayment, interest payments and

other sources are used to build up

the fund. The CF also demonstrates

the Group's seriousness in credit

management. This is used to

convince Banks, and other financial institutions to lend to the group who will

then onlend, in small amounts, to its members. Loan disbursal/recovery, terms

and conditions etc. are decided by the group itself, with advice in training,

suggestions from NGOs and Banks etc. Figure 5.3 explains the growth and

utilization of the CF within a group.

The significance of MYRADA's programmes can be seen in the involvement of

all three primary actors of the Triangle for group loans, deposit mobilization,

formation of small groups (in three stages: 'formation', 'stabilization', and

'empowerment'), sensitization and training of bankers etc. Roles are also

provided for the international NGO and research and training institutions for

monitoring and evaluation, grants and loans, information sharing etc.

Some of the defining characteristics that ensured successful management of the

group included:

Participation: Effective participation in meetings , credit management etc

was possible if the groups are small, with 20-30 members.

Regular savings, size of loans, schedules of payments and recoveries,

interest on loans etc. were decided by the group itself.

Sanctions/fines was found to be an effective measure to avoid 'deviant behaviour'. Most were monetary fines, but serious cases were expelled

from the group. All fines were credited to the group's common fund.

Economic status of members - Loans and savings were offered only to the

very poor. Well-off farmers or those who had progressed as a result of the

group's assistance, were allowed to be part of the group in an advisory

capacity, but were not eligible for loans.



Office bearers were usually

elected for one year only, to

avoid consolidation of

power. They were elected well

in advance so that training

could be provided to them

by MYRADA staff.Meetings were critical and

attention was paid to its

frequency, schedule and attendence (weekly meetings, fixed day and

time, attendence register etc.)

Rules governing conduct, behaviour, management of finance and

activities etc were framed by the group itself.

Common funds that revolved briskly was an indicator of a "good" group -

thus it was not the amount saved in a fund, but its circulation that was a

good indicator.Records maintained by the group indicate the degree of transparency

adopted by its members: attendence register, meeting minutes register,

savings ledger, members pass book, receipt and payment vouchers, cash

book, loan ledgers etc. were some of the records kept by the group.

Address:

MYRADA Head Office

No. 2 Service Road

Dumlur Layout

Bangalore 560 071

INDIA

telephone: 091-80-5543166, 5564457, 5572028, 5578279

fax: 091-80-5569982

e-mail: [email protected]

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