The following is the first in a series of posts in which Beyond Profit will feature strong and successful women in social enterprise. Joanna Harries, an Acumen Fund Fellow at Dial 1298 for Ambulance, based in Mumbai, reports.
A Conversation with Chetna Gala Sinha
Founder, Mann Deshi Bank
Recognizing the opportunity…and having the guts to take the first step
Chetna grew up in Mumbai, India, as the third daughter in a middle-class family with six children. The expectation for daughters was clear – prepare yourself for marriage. A young Ms. Sinha, however, had other ideas. She recalls experiencing anger over the inequality between herself and her brother, who got to continue his studies undeterred. She deferred many a marriage proposal to continue her education in economics and commerce. In time, Chetna did marry and accompany her husband to his rural farming community. However, her passion for commerce and economics, along with her drive to question the status quo, went along with her.
In 1997, Chetna started the Mann Deshi Bank, the first in India to loan to rural women. The bank now serves over 120,000 women, with five branches in Maharastra and has spun off a business school to advise rural women looking to start a business. Her organization’s success is undeniable, but we were more interested in knowing what motivated her first steps.
Interestingly, her motivation was the shock that came when no bank would loan to the ‘backward castes’ in her village, including her husband, when market prices plummeted after the harvest in 1995. Clearly, a need existed for a financial institution that would provide support to these local farmers, and her attitude to the large incumbent banks that refused to see this opportunity became, just you wait…we will show you. And she did – gritty resolve makes for the start of a powerful movement.
This is how Chetna describes Mann Deshi, not as a bank, but as a movement. The vision to empower rural women means ongoing advocacy work to change outdated policies and systems that block women’s rights to control the household finances. Obstacles are ever-present, dealing with bureaucracy and local corruption are common occurrences. Chetna’s mandate to put solutions into practice has not wavered though, and support grows from both men and women across rural India willing to follow her lead and speak out.
The incidence of successful women social entrepreneurs is growing. Those who work at Mann Deshi get to see this trend first hand as it is often the women customers themselves that drive the agenda for their credit needs. Indeed, Chetna comments that most of the implemented products and services at the bank have come from suggestions from their women clientele. When asked why this is, Chetna responds that women are already in the habit of listening to their families, communities, and the market to work out sustainable solutions. A lifelong practice Chetna herself clearly demonstrates.
