India Inc. continues to go all out to make its presence felt globally, led by its by now almost proverbial front-runner - our information and communication technology (ICT) industry. But even as scores in Indian cities reap the benefits of this flourishing sector, a few socially-minded people are beginning to talk seriously about the urgent need to bridge India's urban-rural digital divide.

Opportunities for social businesses abound

Unlike Mishra, who carried a deep-rooted desire to initiate "change" at a grass-roots level since childhood, Major Shiva Kiran stumbled onto an avenue of social work, almost by fate. Having returned home to Hyderabad in 1995 after a seven-year stint in the army, he found that there was no effective mechanism to keep their area - Begumpet - clean. Major Kiran promptly formed a Resident Welfare Association to, as he says, "start owning responsibility for our own locality."

At the time, he was working in the field of mapping-GIS and advertising with a team that also included G S Kumar, ex-Director of the Survey of India and a geomatics professional, Sai Kiran, B Srinivas, Vijay Chandra, Ramesh, Raju and volunteers he now calls Subraks. But the group had also been looking out to dabble in an activity that was both socially relevant as well as commercially viable. Soon after, they came in contact with, and tied-up with Exnora a Chennai-based NGO working with innovative approaches. Their interaction with Exnora, and other agencies led them to identify solid waste management as the window of opportunity they were looking for.

Moreover, as Major Kiran points out, "Politicians aren't interested in this activity," so the going was a clear field from the bureaucratic perspective too! Exnora lent their name, and hence their reputation, as well as an experienced volunteer - Suresh Bhandari - to Sukuki Exnora, which started functioning in 1996, although it was only formally registered in 1999.

Zero waste management:

As an NGO concerned with the environment, Sukuki Exnora's core areas are consultancy, training, research and development, and advocacy in the area of solid waste management, comprehensive solutions for municipal solid waste management, the rehabilitation of rag pickers into street beautifiers, and the rehabilitation of communities engaged in sanitation activities.

It seeks to drive home the concept of zero waste management to the masses, through its Subram community project aimed at establishing a zero waste solution for communities, events, industry, hotels and marriage halls. Major Kiran explains that "waste generally comprises of organic waste - vegetable and food remnants - that can be reduced to compost, and inorganic waste - paper, plastic, metal and glass - that can be recycled (and thus recovered for industrial use).  Almost 60% of Indian waste is organic; the balance 40% is inorganic. So waste can either be recycled or composted, such that virtually zero waste remains! However, there is a small amount (about 2-3%) of waste that can neither be recycled nor composted like batteries and medicines that need to be deposited in a sanitary landfill. Sadly, India is yet to create scientifically designed sanitary landfills - what municipalities call landfills are actually dump yards."

Sukuki Exnora's Subram centre to facilitate material recovery was set up in 2002 with the support of the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad and the Environment Protection for Training and Research Institute. Today, 10 personnel work the centre which serves around 3000 households. Yet another Subram centre was established with the support of the Kadapa Municipal Corporation in 2005.

A self-sustaining social business:

Another project - Cleanway-Railway - supported by the South-Central Railway is a formal contract to enable the environment-friendly management of waste generated in railway colonies - comprising of about 6000 quarters. The project activities include door-to-door garbage collection and resource recovery. Yet another PET bottle recycling project is concerned with the collection and recycling of PET bottles.

Today, Sukuki Exnora runs or provides consultancy to a range of similar community projects supported by BHEL, ITC Ltd., Dr. Reddy's Lab, Buddha Purnima Project Authority (part of Hyderabad Urban development Authority), Greenland's Residents Welfare Association and the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad. These projects collectively serve thousands of households, thus validating Major Kiran's opinion on what it takes to start a social business - "an attitude of thinking beyond your immediate family."

In 2000, the Sukuki team also set-up Sukuki Gensys (Generating Systems) to generate multiple opportunities across segments. Over the years, this business branch has lent Exnora short-term financial, administrative and people support. Nevertheless, Major Kiran affirms that social entrepreneurial ventures can be self-sustaining - this only depends on the commitment and efficiency of those involved and hence, the quality of services provided. The fact that Sukuki Exnora's activities have been self-sustaining from day one speaks shoals for his teams' commitment and competence. Of course, he also expresses his gratitude for the tremendous support received from bureaucrats, the management of organizations they have worked with and countless well-wishes.

Social business = contentment:

He goes on to say that he perceives environment management, utility services- municipal, water, power and other infrastructural fields as lending themselves well to a social business model. In the coming years, the Sukuki Exnora team will work to develop more self-sustainable working models, and by organizing awareness programs, aim to apply these models to projects on the ground. As for solid waste management, their target is to cover 25% of Hyderabad's households over the next 2 years.

But that's not the only outcome of running a social business. According to Major Kiran, "the satisfaction one experiences when dealing with people working at the grass roots can only be experienced, not expressed. The happiness these people enjoy, despite the kind of job they do, is tremendous. To celebrate World Environment Day, we took our entire cleaning team to IMAX theatre for a movie! I believe we all need to do more to recognize their effort and lend dignity to their work."

For more information: Sukuki Exnora, http://www.sukuki.com 

Charu Bahri is a freelance writer and author of two books. She also writes funding grants and software for a charity working in the health sector. 

Issue BG79 Oct07

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Comments (1)

	1. 29-11-2007 20:50
	gr888 it was an eye opening information i too was thinking of somthing like this but never got to do it, this is realy a good start keep it up Registered Report

Vishal Shukla

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