| Donors : 2006 2007 2009 | Disbursements : All 2006 2007 2009 |
| Beneficiaries : All 2006 2007 2009 | Benef. Photos : 2006 2007 2009 |
| Functon
Photos: 2006 2007
2009
|
Media reports : 2006 2007 2009 |
In any society with a gap between haves and
have-nots is
huge, have-nots suffer all sort of discrimination due to lack of having
necessary means for a dignified life. The contrast is more glaring in
India
than any other country due to its historic and centuries old
discrimination
against a particular section of humanity - Dalits or
untouchables, numbering more than 160 million. Majority of others,
though not socially discriminated
like
Dalits, also struggle to live with dignity.
These
marginalized sections, due to necessity, take small amounts of loans
from the
landlords and money lenders at astronomical rates of interest and
become bonded
laborers for the rest of their lives. By doing so they not only pledge
themselves, but also their families for generations. They work harder
than
anybody else in the world, but still indebted to the moneylenders
forever. Banks and other lenders are accessible to them for various
reasons.
For them a loan of Rs.3,000 to Rs.10,000 (US
$75 to
$250) is more than enough to break the chains of this bondage. Though
it is a
very negligible amount per western standards, it makes a huge
difference in the
lives of these people. This small amount enable them to start a small
business
and give them independence from the thralldom of landlords and
moneylenders.
There are many organizations working in this
promising area of transforming lives. The success stories of Nobel
Prize winner
Mohammad Yunus, Kiva.org are a couple of examples.
We started Ambedkar Microloans project in
2006 with
a seed money of Rs.10,000 on an experimental basis. Due to its success,
demand,
and 100% of repayment rate, we expanded it to 4 villages in Guntur
District of
Andhra Pradesh, a south Indian state. We provide loans ranging from
Rs.3,000 to
Rs.7,000 to start small businesses like vending vegetables, starting
tea-shops,
small grocery shops, to buy buffalos, to buy pulling carts to carry
water,
luggage etc. Our loans carry an interest rate of 12% per annum.
We primarily target people from Dalit
background as
we consider them to be the most discriminated and vulnerable of all.
Still, we support all those approach us for help without any prejudice.
Our
volunteers living among them identify the beneficiaries and recommend
them to
us.
We are planning to expand it to many villages
and
regions as we are getting requests from several places.
If anyone is interested to help us in this
project,
we provide complete details of the project and how we operate. You may
adopt a
village to start this project. Please write to me at Benjamin_kaila@yahoo.com
for further
information.