With fee bait, IIM awaits NGO managers
Bangalore, March 4: The big daddies with the mega-bucks have begun shopping for the best and the brightest at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM-B) here, but the B-school itself has popped an offer which none has taken so far.
The institute is offering a refund of fees to those shunning high pay packets to work in not-for-profit entities such as NGOs for at least three years.
P.D. Jose, chairperson-placements at IIM-B, said the refund offer has been in place for the past two months, the move aimed at encouraging graduates to look at socially relevant sectors.
But there are no takers, yet, at the institute where annual placements began today. “No applications have come to me,” Jose said.
The placement season goes on for about two weeks, he pointed out, which means that the students still have time to consider the offer.
The institute currently allows students wanting to start entrepreneurial ventures to defer placements by two years.
The refund offer, however, comes with a rider: the salary offered by the NGO should be a certain percentage of the lowest CTC package bagged by a graduate at IIM-B.
This clause ensures that a job with some high paying international NGOs such as the Clinton Foundation won’t qualify for the offer, a fear expressed by some at IIM-Ahmedabad.
The Bangalore school proposes to refund about 30 per cent of the fees every year in each of the three years the graduate works in the NGO. Currently, the fee for a two-year postgraduate course at IIM-B is around Rs 11 lakh.
“Nothing is written in stone really,” said Jose, explaining that the initiative was more an experiment open to changes. The refund at the moment is not a very big figure, he pointed out. “We don’t really have to worry about it,” Jose said.
The defence could come in handy to deflect criticism from some quarters that the institutes should not waste taxpayers’ money invested in training would-be managers.
The IIMs at Ahmedabad and Calcutta, part of the revered trinity of B-schools, said they were so far not considering any such proposal.
IIM-A director Sameer Barua said it was “too early to respond” on the merits of the decision, but the matter was open to discussion. “But there are too many grey areas which need clarity,” he added.
Some faculty members at IIM-A described the Bangalore decision as “bold and laudable”. “At the moment I can only tell you that we are discussing it and a number of professors support this idea,” said Anil Gupta, a professor.
A source in IIM-C said the institute does not have any established rule to refund the course fee to those students who take up an NGO job. “We do not have any such plans right now,” the official said.
“Last year we invited some NGOs for placements as some students showed interest in working in that sector. Similarly we are inviting some film making and film production companies for the final placement this year,” said Prafulla Agnihotri, chairman, career development and placement, at the Calcutta institute.
An NGO insider, however, didn’t find much merit in such a proposal.
“If the student opts out of the NGO job after a couple of years and joins a fat-salaried job, this course fee will become a bonus for him,” he said.
An IIM-B alumnus said there was a rising trend among his peers to opt for NGOs and the voluntary sectors, though their number was still small.
“The social sector is not different from any other. It needs professional skills,” said Rakesh Godhwani, head of IIM-B’s alumni association who left his corporate job to work for the institute.
Management gurus said fresh graduates who wish to work in the development sector should look at it as a career, rather than as a three-year stint.
“Very few opt for such careers because most youngsters join IIMs with a corporate career in mind,” said Samuel Paul, who runs Public Affairs Centre, an NGO, in Bangalore and is a former IIM-A professor. “They want to move up in life. The vast majority still stick to corporate ambition.”
It is more “conviction than the money part” that drives those who opt for a career in the social sector, he said. “Whether by exemption you will encourage, we have to wait and see. It has not been tried out in a big way anyway,” Paul said.
Students echoed Paul. “Apart from the students who have an interest in this sector, the best ones do not usually go for the NGO sector. And they do not care about the refund as the salary they bag is high enough,” said a student at IIM-C.
Corporate affairs in rural woman's world
In 2000, two women Vishakha Rao-Jathar and Sharmistha Gandhi, both MBAs, quit lucrative jobs as management specialists in the corporate world of Mumbai and returned to Nagpur aspiring to be teachers at a local engineering college. Destiny played a joke and both were left jobless after the engineering college failed to see the light of the day.
They could have chosen to return and would now have been living a luxurious life. However, Vishakha and Sharmistha did not lose heart and explored options to put their professional experience in marketing & management to good use. They began by providing support to the growing number of small-scale entrepreneurs in the pervading self-help group (SHG) scenario. “We did market research for various micro firms and NGOs, and also provided know-how, analysed and products, and gave market support,” says Vishakha.
From 2000-2004, Vishakha and Sharmistha helped at least 400 micro enterprises in rural areas to stand tall. Their major marketing and branding consultancy undertaken includes products like ‘Bhusampada’, compost from municipal waste in Saoner, and ‘Aranyak’, the hand-pounded rice produced by an NGO in Kurkheda block of tribal-dominated Gadchiroli district. They also did branding activity for Vedha India, a bamboo artisan cluster in Bhandara, and Wardhini, a food and multi-product cluster in Wardha.
Soon, they were flooded with consultancy offers. But they chose limit their role to a select group of people and NGOs. The turning point came in 2004 when officials of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), which offers direct and bills finance schemes, asked Vishakha and Sharmistha to set up an NGO to extend their expertise in a more organized way.
“Thus, Aroha was born. Aroha is a rising note in Hindustani music and rising notes indicate growth. With the musical notation, we hoped to create harmony in the lives of underprivileged women for whom becoming economically independent has an entirely different meaning,” explains Sharmistha while sitting in their office on Amravati Road.
Although six years is a small period, Aroha has now become a ray of hope for 175 SHGs and 2,500 women. Vishakha and Sharmistha have been motivating women and women SHGs to earn a livelihood, build capacity and training. Aroha also makes its own products. It has also become a resource agency of flagship agencies like District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), nationalized banks and NGOs. Most of Aroha’s work is spread in tiny clusters like Drugdhamna, Gondkhairi, Wadi, Kalmeshwar, Daulameti, Lava and other places in Nagpur’s fast-extending suburbs.
The Aroha conducts training for making papad, pickle, ready mixes, masala, nursery training, vermicompost, paper-craft, candle-making, embroidery, dress designing, consumer products among a host of other products. To make these women aware of their rights, Aroha also organizes legal awareness camps. Over 1100 women have benefited from health check-up camps, community meetings, yoga camps and workshops organized by Aroha. The NGO also encourages its members to plant trees. Each trainee is asked to plant at least one tree.
“My husband works as a mason and his income is not enough to feed seven members in the family. I knew a little bit of zardozi art. I joined Aroha where my skills were honed. I’m happy that I’ve started earning now,” says Rehana Beig, a BPL woman, at Aroha’s Drugdhamna centre.
At the Wadi centre, being run on rent owing to funds crunch, there are 50 women being trained with the support of the government-run Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME). One of the trainees, Usha Jadhav, said, “I’ve passed my Std 12 exam and wanted to be on my own. My husband works in a private firm and has a meagre income. With Aroha, I’ve got an opportunity to become economically independent.”
Aroha does not confine itself to training and then leaving the women to fend for themselves. “Women are taught to understand the mechanics of small business. More so, to promote income generating undertakings in a way that they began reaping good returns to underwrite loans.”
P Satish, chief general manager of NABARD, says cluster development of SHGs is really challenging. “We are happy to entrust the responsibility to Aroha to develop cluster of women engaged in stitching and embroidery-based products. Nagpur is the first experiment and it will be implemented at other places too,” he said.
Today, there is a smile of satisfaction on the faces of Sharmistha and Vishakha when they see the women and girls working at different centres of Aroha. They have no regrets that they did not return to the corporate world.
McDonald’s Celebrates Small Joys of Life with NGO Kids
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Monday, March 08, 2010 -- A baby’s first step, the first time you bunked class, your first holiday out with friends, the first Valentines card you received, the look on your mothers face when you gifted her your first salary, or the look of an underprivileged child when he meets his favourite star – the small joys of life such as these are what we often take for granted in our busy lives. It is indeed a must to enjoy these small pleasures in life simply because there aren’t enough of the big ones to go around. Supplementing this thought, McDonald’s has launched an exciting campaign called “Har Chotti Khushi Ka Celebration.” Designed to position McDonald’s as the ideal venue and platform for every individual to celebrate their little joys of life, the campaign focuses on the Chotti Khushi of celebrating with a delicious Happy Price Menu for just Rs. 20 onwards.
Celebrating the “Har Chotti Khushi Ka Celebration” in true king size, a live onstage show anchored by famous RJ Tarana was organized at St Andrews, Mumbai. Special personalities like Ronald McDonald, the iconic Chief Happiness Officer and the Chamatkar man, Omi Vaidya of 3 Idiots fame were also invited to join in this celebration and share thoughts of what happiness meant to them personally and how they celebrate the small joys of life.
The event which was aimed to spread cheer among the kids & youth of Nareshwadi, an NGO working towards suppression of malnutrition witnessed graceful and well choreographed tribal dance performances by them. Present at the event were also representatives of YUVA, an NGO working for slum dwellers. The day provided a perfect platform for kids to exhibit their talent in the presence of Omi Vaidya, who later on was witnessed joining the performance in high spirits, encouraging kids and adding in to their daily dose of happiness. The event really left the kids & youth from NGO’s with a smile of their face thus making them celebrate their Chotti Khushi in a big way. The event came to a close with Ronald McDonald crowning Omi with the happiness crown for his stunning act to spread cheer among the kids.
Sharing his views on the event, Arvind Singhal, Director Marketing, McDonald’s India (West & South) said that “In today’s hectic pace of life, har choti khushi ka celebration needs to be a mantra for a fulfilling life. For us, it’s not just a campaign line but the way of making our consumer’s life more enriching - and McDonald’s provides consumers truly a chance to celebrate har choti khushi by offering dual benefit of quick service and affordable pricing.”
McDonald’s founded its success in its strategy of Branded Affordability and introduced the ‘Happy Price Menu’ of Rs. 20/ onwards in 2004. The value initiative at McDonald's is all pervasive. At a time when food prices are going through the roof McDonald’s has maintained its prices of Rs 20 onwards. The tremendous value benefit is enabled by McDonald’s renowned supply chain management system and by leveraging economies, which helps minimize costs while maximizing value to customers. McDonald’s strong back ward integration connects it directly with various aspects of the business right up to the farm level, which helps in increasing the productivity in terms of yields and helps the brand manage costs. McDonald’s serves about 5 lakhs of people every single day, its business is about low margin and high volume which helps in maintaining the price.
Branded affordability has creatively portrayed over the years by engaging the audiences with memorable campaigns like - The ‘Bahanas’, ‘bees mein full dhamal’, ‘baap ke samane ka daam’ and now the latest campaign of Har Chotti Khushi Ka celebration where it conveys the message of celebrating small joys does not take much, come and celebrate with McDonald’s with menu offerings of Rs 20 onwards only.
McDonald’s 'Happy Price Menu’ has been a favourite among the consumers since its launch. Happy Price Menu includes popular products like McAloo Tikki™, McPuff Pizza™ and Salad Sandwich™, medium fries, coke float, etc., among others. These products are available across all McDonald’s restaurants.
About McDonald’s India:
McDonald's is the world's leading food service retailer with more than 31,000 restaurants in 118 countries serving 50 million customers each day. Celebrating 13 years of leadership in food service retailing in India, McDonald’s today has a network of over 180 restaurants across the country, with its first restaurant launch way back in 1996. Prior to its launch, the company invested four years to develop its unique cold chain, which has brought about a veritable revolution in food handling, immensely benefiting the farmers at one end and enabling customers to get the highest quality food products, absolutely fresh and at a great value.
In line with its respect for local culture, India is the first country in the world where McDonald’s does not offer any beef or pork items. McDonald's has also re-engineered its operations to address the special requirements of vegetarians. Vegetable products are kept separate throughout the various stages of procurement, cooking and serving. The mayonnaise and the soft serves are also 100% vegetarian.
Annual event of women's NGO
KOLKATA: Millennium Mam, a women's NGO, organised its annual programme on Friday. The NGO organised discussion on issues like the global woman, education and agriculture.
This year, Millennium Mams are unveiling their own potential by Including Themselves' in their life.
The inaugural address |was given by Sunanda Awasthi, the president of the NGO, followed by the speeches of Bishnu Dhanuka and Sanjay Bhuwania, the directors of the NGO.
Rwanda: NGO Exposed After Infighting
Kigali — An imminent 'negationists' network' operating in Rwanda suspected of coordinating Genocide convicts with fugitives abroad and posturing as a local Human Rights organization, has been exposed by its members after a fall out.
Rwandan Association for the Defence of People's Rights and Public Liberties (ADL) was formed in 1991 and receives funding from some groups in France.
Its activities involve conducting 'shaddy' surveys on Genocide convicts to come up with reports that strongly criticize and abuse government policies.
Recently, members of ADL fell out over management of funds which led to some of them ganging up against the association's chairperson, Cassien Kasire, and deposing him because he questioned how money was spent.
"It is an extremely negative association operating with outside negative groups against the government and posing as a human rights organization," Kasire said in an interview with The Sunday Times.
Kasire has been heading the association for the last three years.
"Before I joined this association, people tried to close it and actually there were plans to plot for its closure, but I refused. My aim was to join it and change the radicals in the association," said the embattled Kasire.
"Things turned out to be different when I got there. I realized that I was working with a team of extremists that could not easily be changed."
Malicious reports
The association recently released a report on Local Government Performance Contracts and strongly criticized the whole practice.
The report, a copy of which The Sunday Times has obtained, brands the contracts as a 'slavery' (uburetwa)
According to Kasire; "When I received a copy of the report I realized that the team that had compiled it had termed the whole exercise as slavery. I immediately called for an executive committee meeting and asked them to change the wording."
"During the meeting, my deputy, Leonard Ngerageze, stood up in protest and accused me of having a double mission in the association claiming that I am taking the association to the RPF (party)."
"I told him (Ngerageze) that the aim of the association is not to destroy the country but to help in its construction through promoting human rights," he added.
He said that the meeting of the Executive Committee ended without a consensus.
The association had received Rwf 5 million from the Great Lakes Human Rights body (LDGL) to conduct the survey.
Another organisation, Forum d'Aide Jurisdique (FAJ) according to Kasire, recently gave the association Rwf 28 million to conduct a survey on the situation of prisons in the country.
He said that members of the association were divided into different groups to conduct the survey.
"I learnt that Leopold Hakizimana who was working on Kibungo prison was actually doing something different from what we had agreed on;"
"He was gathering information from prisoners, manipulating it and sending reports to France through a friend called André Barthélemy who heads an association called AGIR Ensemble that is a strong critic of Gacaca," said Kasire.
AGIR Ensemble released radical reports after the Nyamirambo Gacaca court sentenced a human rights activist, Francois Xavier Byuma, to 19 years in jail for his role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Barthélemy is said to beHakizimana's brother-in-law-to. Kasire claims that Hakizimana used to send information from prisons to his sister who would pass on the information to the husband.
"I had to stop Hakizimana by removing him from the surveying team. He was working with Beata Uwimpambere who strongly protested on behalf of her colleague. This was a clear indication that there was something fishy going on," said Kasire.
He added that later, on February 20, Kasire called for a General Assembly to review an audit report on how funds meant for the prison survey were used.
"During the meeting, members of the committee admitted that they had misused the funds and I ordered them to refund the money.
My deputy, Ngerageze acknowledged that he embezzled about Rwf 210,000 but after this meeting, I was surprised to receive a text message from Ngerageze calling for an extra-ordinary meeting," said Kasire.
He added that he never attended the meeting since it was not important for him and this is the same meeting that resolved to suspend him.
"The committee is organizing a general assembly to lobby for my eviction and I insist the intentions of these people are not promoting and defending human rights. Authorities should investigate this association," said Kasire.
The Sunday Times learnt that ADL is currently not registered and still uses documents they acquired in 1991.
Recently, it acquired a temporary document from Nyarugenge District which will expire in September this year.
When contacted, Ngerageze refuted the allegations and instead blamed Kasire for being a dictator and 'the reason why the association was failing'.
"I am surprised he is the one making those claims. He endorsed the performance contract report himself," Ngerageze said.
"We sent him the report and asked him to make changes which he did not do," Ngerageze charged.
He also refuted claims that he embezzled and diverted funds of the association.
"I have proof that all the funds were properly used. He should produce evidence against me because the audit report clearly shows how we effectively used the money," he said.
"I personally don't find any problem with talking to prisoners. We sought permission and got it. This man has a problem that we could not tolerate."
Ngerageze however could not clearly state the differences between him, the committee and Kasire.
He instead claimed that Kasire is a dictator and that he was not going to tolerate him.
source from:http://news.google.com
