SOCIAL INITIATIVES GROUP, ICICI BANK

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Title: SOCIAL INITIATIVES GROUP, ICICI BANK
extracted text: SDA-RF-CH-1A.19

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Introduction 1
Overall Strategy 2
Infant Health at Birth: Maximising the Proportion of Infants Born Healthy 4
Elementary Education: Maximizing the Number of 14-year Olds with a Basic Level of Education 8
Micro-financial Services: Maximising Access to Basic Financial Services 13
The Team 17

Introduction
ICICI Bank is one of the largest participants in the Indian financial system. If it is to continue to grow
and perform well, it needs to participate in the all-round development of the country by focusing
on some of its fundamental problems. ICICI Bank seeks to perform this role primarily as a funding
agency, through a dedicated not-for-profit group, the Social Initiatives Group (SIG)
The changed economic climate in India, with a greater emphasis on the market,
requires an informed and participatory socio-economic order. As a large
player in the economy, it lies in the longer-term interests of ICICI Bank to
actively contribute in bringing the above to fruition. In the current envi
ronment, the SIG feels that its purpose would be served best by focus
ing exclusively on improving the capacities of India's poorest people to
participate in socio-economic processes.
The mission statement of the SIG is "to identify and support initiatives designed to improve the capacities of the poorest of the poor to
participate in the larger economy". The group seeks to achieve its mission by supporting initiatives that are cost effective, capable of largescale replication and have the potential for both near and long-term impact.
For the poorest of the poor to be able to participate in the larger economy, the SIG feels they must be equipped with certain fundamental
capacities. These capacities are in health, education and money. However, given the broad scope of these areas, in order to have a definitive
impact, it is imperative for the SIG to focus on much more sharply defined areas for work. The three focus areas are:
1. Health: Infant Health at Birth (Maximising the proportion of infants born healthy)
This focus seems to have the potential for maximum long and short-term impact and appears
achievable in the most cost-effective and therefore scaleable manner.
The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR: measured as the number of deaths per 1000 live births within
the first year of birth) provides the best available indicator for gauging progress. The target for
the SIG is to work to ensure a steady and significant decline in this rate at a national level, while
seeking to reach a goal of 30 per thousand by 2010.
2. Education: Elementary Education (Maximising the number of 14-year olds who have a basic level of
elementary education)
Education (and not just literacy) up to the elementary level seems to be almost a necessary
condition for any individual (rich or poor) to be able to participate in any manner in the larger
economy - whether at the local farm or in an industrial job.
Here the goal is to work towards the universalization of elementary education all across India by
2010; rural and urban. Clearly, the goal extends much beyond enrolment to cover retention in
school and learning achieved. An appropriate indicator that comprehensively captures learning in
a standardized manner nationally is not available. Until it is available, the drop-out rate and its
reduction will serve as an indicator.
3. Money: Micro-financial Services (Maximising access to basic financial services)
These services would include basic banking (savings and cash management), finance (debt and
equity), insurance (life and health) and derivatives.
The goal here is to facilitate universal access to these four services by the year 2010.

Overall Strategy
At a very basic level, the programmes and projects supported by the SIG must cater to the poorest
They must enable them to become active and informed participants in socio-economic processes as
opposed to passive observers. These initiatives should, above all, be output oriented, with a focus
on producing measurable outcomes that meet a minimum quality requirement. The initiatives
need to be cost-effective. This is in recognition of the fact that resources are limited and
their efficient use is imperative if the maximum number is to benefit. Cost-effectiveness also
facilitates the adoption of the initiative in other contexts.

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The initiative must also be scaleable. Scalability implies the ability to draw upon important
elements of a programme and adapt them to suit the needs of a specific situation. It should
be possible to do so at a national level. Even if the programme itself is not directly scaleable,
it should be possible to take away significant lessons from it in order to enrich work in othei
settings.
All supported initiatives must have the potential for both near and long-term impact
71. Consequentially, it is important that the impact of these programmes, in the neai
and long term, be carefully understood and analyzed in a rigorous manner and nor
through anecdotes. It is critical to clearly understand how an initiative is perform
ing in terms of its predetermined goals and in comparison to alternatives. There
is little doubt that a complex of factors, very often beyond the control of the
programme/ organization, will influence the outcome. Yet, serious and regular
impact analysis can only make the programme richer and is essential. The SIG
assigns greater value to programmes/ organizations that carefully examine the
short-term and long-term implications of their actions.
In pursuit of its goals in the three focus areas, the SIG tends to support reasonably large-sized
initiatives so that issues such as cost-effectiveness, scalability and impact assessment can be dealt
with more directly. These initiatives not only have the potential to provide key research inputs to
other programmes, but also tend to have a large impact that benefits the communities they work
with. The approach of the SIG may thus be characterized more broadly as 'action research', to
distinguish it from pure academic research. However, in its research work and impact assessment
the SIG seeks to adhere to the highest standards of academic rigour. It often works in partnership
with academic institutions such as Institute of Rural Management Anand, KEM, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, University of California, Berkeley and the
University of Southampton.
It is crucial that the programmes supported by SIG be time-bound. This lends clarity to the aim of
the programme and prevents its intent from getting diluted over time.
The SIG works by identifying gaps in knowledge and practice in its focus areas and locating initiatives
that address these gaps in a manner consistent with the SIG's mission. The identification of research
needs is followed by an in-depth analysis of the short-term and long-term implications of various
forms of action. Among other things, this requires taking a comprehensive overview of work already
done in the country and outside. The SIG, thus, seeks to answer certain fundamental questions in its
focus areas through the projects it supports and, thereby, contribute to findings that help the sector
It should be pointed out that the SIG does not function as a rollout agency.
An important feature of the SIG's strategy is the belief in strengthening or supplementing existing
systems, rather than investing in parallel structures. Another key element of its strategy is the
building of long-term relationships with suitable partners. As part of this effort, the SIG works
actively to improve the efficacy of these partners and ensure sustained impact.
In pursuit of its goals, the SIG seeks to work actively with research agencies, Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs), Corporates, Government departments, local stakeholders and international
organisations. It should also be noted that the group believes modern technologies, particularly

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can prove to be important facilitators if used
appropriately.
The SIG also seeks to disseminate its findings and that of others in the field to a broad spectrum
of participants using a variety of media, such as print and the Internet. It also encourages its team
members to develop independent points of view in their own focus areas, and supports the publication
of this work. The most recently published papers by the team members are listed below.
1. Aneesa Arur and Shilpa Desphande (2002), Infant Health at Birth, Working Paper Series,
ICICIsocialinitiatives.org.
2. Tara Beteille (2002), Elementary Education in India, Working Paper Series, ICICIsocialinitiatives.org.
3. Bikram Duggal, Bindu Ananth and Kartikeya Saboo (2002), Micro-Finance: Building the Capacities of
the Poor to Participate in the Larger Economy, ICICIsocialinitiatives.org.
4 Bindu Ananth (2002), Emerging Perspectives in Corporate Social Responsibility,
ICICIsocialinitiatives.org .

In addition to its core areas of focus, the SIG, in a limited manner, supports some other initiatives:
1 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Promoting the concept of CSR among Indian companies so
that more partnerships emerge in pursuit of common goals.
2. Non-governmental Organization (NGO) Capacity Building: This is supported through the GIVE (Giving
Impetus to Voluntary Effort) Foundation and the web site ICICIcommunities.org. The web site seeks
to provide a variety of services to NGOs listed on the site including facilitating the receipt of donations
online (Give Online), sale of NGO products (Shop Online), volunteering of time and skills (Volunteer
Online) and news (News Online).
3. Modernization of the Indian Financial System: This involves encouraging appropriate research and
institution building efforts on a national basis. The web site, www.ICICIresearchcentre.org, is a virtual
non-profit research centre that acts as a platform to address and encourage debate, and develop
a non-partisan opinion on various issues of concern and interest in financial economics relating to
emerging markets. ICICI Bank has supported the development of various financial institutions such
as the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange. It has also supported the Institute
for Financial Management and Research, Chennai.

Infant Health at Birth: Maximising the Proportion of Infants Born Healthy
The focus on health derives from the understanding that health is a fundamental capacity that
every individual should have to achieve his/ her potential and participate in the larger economy
Within the area of health, the Social Initiatives Group (SIG) emphasizes both survival and quality
of survival. The SIG believes that low birth weight, particularly that caused by
growth retardation in the womb, is an important variable in this context In the
SIG’s view, its importance derives from its potential influence on survival,
general susceptibility to illness, and physical and cognitive development
over the life-time of the individual. By focussing on low birth weight and
Infant Health at Birth more broadly, the SIG believes that it can have the
greatest possible impact on health as an individual capacity.

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A high incidence of low birth weight is indicative of poor general and
reproductive health and female nutrition across the lifecycle. The SIG
envisages its role as (a) facilitating research, debate and action on
nutritional deficiencies that cause low birth weight, and (b) facilitating
debate on and validating strategies to improve access to and quality
of primary health and nutritional services through the public health
system.
Malnutrition during fetal development is generally manifested as low birth weight or birth weight
less than 2.5 kilograms (kg). Low birth weight has a significant impact on infant survival, morbidity
and development. Approximately two-thirds of all infant deaths in the first month of life in India are
among low birth weight babies, although not all low birth weight babies die. Death in the first month
is a significant contributor to the current high level of infant mortality in India. Out of every 1000 live
births, approximately 68 babies die within the first year of life. Of these, approximately 43 babies
die within the first month itself (NFHS-2 1998-99).
Nearly a third of all babies in India are born with low weight at birth' .
Of these roughly 70 per cent weigh less than 2.5 kg because of growth
retardation during fetal development (Intra Uterine Growth Retardation IUGR). IUGR babies are more prone to growth and subtle neurocognitive
deficiencies. The impact of IUGR on physical and cognitive development
tends to be irreversible. Moreover, recent research suggests that IUGR
may predispose the individual to cardio-vascular diseases and diabetes
in adult life7.
IUGR, therefore, has implications for both survival and achievable potential. Its prevalence levels
suggest the strategic rationality of a preventive focus on IUGR to reduce low birth weight incidence
IUGR mirrors the health and nutrition of the poorest, particularly that of women. Interventions
designed to reduce the proportion of low birth weight babies would necessitate improving female
health across the lifecycle, with an emphasis on nutrition. IUGR, thus, constitutes a poverty-centred,
capacity-building and gender-sensitive health focus3.
Based on the above, the SIG has adopted the reduction of IUGR as its operational objective in the
area of health. Since this is not directly measurable and there is a direct association between the
incidence of IUGR and the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), this indicator is proposed to be used as the
best available measure of progress.
The nutrition of the fetus within the womb is not a simple function of maternal dietary intake
during pregnancy. Several maternal, fetal and placental factors impinge on the nutrients the fetus
receives. These factors are influenced by deficiencies in female nutrition across the lifecycle and
over generations. Nutritional deficiencies may be related to both the quantity of intake as well as
the composition of the diet. At the same time, a number of nutritional deficiencies tend to co-exist
and interact in their impact. Hence a simple increase in dietary intake during pregnancy may not
translate into an increase in birth weight, especially among chronically undernourished women.

The SIG has identified the need for further research along three major lines and aims to fund
action-reserach projects seeking to address knowledge and practice gaps here.The research gaps
identified may be summarised as follows:
1 The nature of nutritional deficiencies that trigger and sustain IUGR.
2. The point(s) in the female lifecycle at which interventions addressing nutritional deficiencies
would have the greatest impact on the reduction of IUGR.
3 Strategies to improve nutrition, particularly female nutrition. This includes bolstering the efficiency
of and access to the public health system at the primary level. It would also include more effective
strategies to improve intra-household distribution of food and access to health care.
The identification of nutrition-centered research gaps does not reflect the
belief that social and economic factors that result in poor female nutrition
are unimportant. It is an attempt to define unambiguous nutritional
goals for action. This is perceived as a crucial first step towards defining
the strategy to achieve these goals. The strategy will be derived on
the basis of an indepth study of the factors affecting female access
to nutrition.In our opinion, an appropriate strategy does not necessarily
involve supplementary feeding.
.
A brief summary of some of the Infant Health at Birth projects
the SIG has supported follows. For details on these projects please visit the website,
www.icicisocialinitiatives.org.

First World Congress on Fetal Origins of Adult Disease (February 2-4,2001)
Organised by the Medical Research Council, University of Southampton, U.K. and
the SNEHA-lndia group, the First World Congress, a scientific conference in Mumbai,
focused on the emerging Fetal Programming hypothesis. The hypothesis suggests that
developmental 'insult' in the womb-such as inadequate fetal nutrition-prompts the fetus
to adapt as a survival tactic. A visible marker of this adaptation is often low birth weight.
The hypothesis proposes that this adaptation may 'programme' the body with a pre
disposition to developing adulthood diseases like cardio-vascular diseases and type II
diabetes.
The First World Congress was attended by approximately 400 International and Indian
scientists and researchers working in the area of low birth weight and its impact. It
served as a forum for dissemination, discussion and debate on the Fetal Programming
Hypothesis and low birth weight. The papers presented at the conference were published
in a special supplement of 'Pediatric Research', the official publication of the American
and European Pediatric Societies. The SIG was one of the co-hosts of the First World
Congress.
The First World Congress was followed by:
1. Infant Mortality Workshop (Mumbai, February 5, 2001)
The Workshop, organized by the SIG in Mumbai applied insights from the First
World Congress to the problem of Infant Mortality in India. A specific focus
was on the contribution of neonatal mortality and low birth weight to infant
mortality. The objective was to identify practical or practicable strategies
that address bottlenecks to reducing the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR).

The workshop was attended by representatives of NGOs and research groups
from the South Asian Region, the Government of India and international and
national scientists. It succeeded in bringing to focus the strategies innovated
by various groups in the region to improve the access of the poorest to
quality primary maternal and child care and facilitating debate and discussion
on them.
2. Maternal Nutrition Workshop (Aurangabad, September 30, 2001)

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This workshop was organised by the SNEHA-lndia group. Several prominent
Indian pediatricians and researchers participated in the workshop. The aim
was to explore the maternal nutritional factors that impact IUGR and review
the validity of strategies adopted to address these factors. The workshop
organized in Aurangabad began the groundwork for planned intervention
research to increase birth weight by improving maternal nutrition.

Prepregnancy Iron Stores
This three-year community based action research project has been undertaken in
conjunction with the Topiwala Medical College and B. V. L. Nair Charitable hospital, a
municipal hospital in Mumbai. The project is based in two slums of Mumbai and seeks
to explore the hypothesis that increasing prepregnancy maternal iron stores will result
in an increase in the birth weight of babies born subsequently. A significant amount of
research has established an associational relationship between iron deficiency anaemia
and birth weight. The failure of national programmes to address iron deficiency anaemia
during pregnancy suggests the need for a more effective strategy to prevent - rathei
than cure-it. The 'Prepregnancy Iron Stores' project attempts to achieve the same
through the development of innovative Behaviour Change Communication strategies.

Mumbai Maternal Diet Study

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The Medical Research Council, University of Southampton, UK in conjunction with
SNEHA-lndia and the Centre for the Study of Social Change, Mumbai has undertaken
this three-year study. It aims to research the impact of food based micronutrient
supplementation on birth weight through a randomized controlled trial in slums of
Mumbai. The study is based on recent research, which has highlighted the potential of
micronutrients as factors limiting fetal growth. The SIG is supporting the 'feasibility' and
'preparatory' phases of the study. As part of this study, documentation and analysis
of knowledge, attitudes and practices related to the consumption of micronutrient rich
foods in India will also be undertaken.

Outreach Services Study
EPOS Health Consultants (India) Pvt. Ltd., a Delhi Based company, is conducting the
Outreach Services Study. This is a secondary literature review. The literature review is
expected to identify and analyze the most critical factors impinging on the efficiency of
the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM).

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| The ANM is a Maternal and Child Health worker whose
performance is key to improving Infant Health at Birth. She
is responsible for providing Ante Natal and Post Natal Care
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' Prov|d|n9 basic curative care. Available literature suggests
// ' tffw' ’ that the ANM is very overloaded. It also points out that there
* is considerable room to improve her performance. In the
current phase the literature review is focusing on common
factors constraining ANM performance across all states. The findings will better define
the SIG's strategy for engaging with the public health system in India.

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Sympmed
Sympmed is a diagnostic and MIS software developed by the Foundation for Research in
Community Health (FRCH), an NGO based in Pune. Currently functional in the Purandhar
taluka of Pune district this software serves to monitor the quality of care 'delivered' by
health workers and as a retraining device. It also facilitates decentralised public health
planning. The SIG is working with FRCH to understand the training processes that it has
developed for health workers. The SIG is also interested in drawing relevant learning
from its community-based approach to health care.

Community Based Management of Birth Asphyxia
This three-year project aims to validate a community based strategy for the provision
of essential new born care, including resuscitation, in 640 villages of Anand and Kheda
districts of Gujarat. The project is being implemented by the Tribhuvandas Foundation,
an NGO based in Anand. It envisages the provision of neonatal services by a Village
Health Worker, a suitably trained, literate local woman, employed by and reporting to
a local community based institution (in this case the Dairy Co-operative Society). A
specific objective of this project is to understand the nature of the linkage between the
co-operative structure and the provision of primary health services at the village level
and explore the potential of such a linkage for adaptation in other contexts.

White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood in India (WRAI)
The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood in India (WRAI) is a network of
international and national organisations working at different levels to reduce maternal
mortality in India. Member organisations include international aid agencies, national level
NGOs, small local NGOs and government departments. The SIG is an active member of
the White Ribbon Alliance of India.
WRAI is currently engaged in identifying and analyzing safe motherhood good practices
being implemented by development organisations across India. The SIG is supporting
the research on effective strategies and also the production costs of a 'Good Practices'
manual. The manual is intended for groups working at the grassroots level who are best
placed to impact maternal mortality, and, therefore, birth outcomes.
Dissemination of findings from these projects is one of the key strategies of the SIG.
The Infant Health at Birth Resource Centre is envisaged as a web based platform for the
exchange of ideas, research and action related to the optimisation of birth outcomes.
The resource centre will be hosted on the website www.icicisocialinitiatives.org

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Elementary Education: Maximizing the Number of 14-year Olds with a Basic Level of Education
The focus on elementary education derives from the belief that education (and not just literacy)
up to the elementary level is a necessary condition for any individual, rich or poor, to be able to
participate meaningfully in social and economic processes. The Social
Initiative Group's (SIG) efforts in elementary education aim towards
its universalization, with a substantial difference being made by
2010. To achieve this, the SIG seeks to contribute definitively,
through research, debate and action, towards filling key gaps in
knowledge and practice in the elementary education system in
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India in a phased manner

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The SIG believes that elementary education should serve as an
effective means in productive and fruitful pursuits, especially in the light
of its mission statement Elementary education implies that an individual
should, by the age of 14 years, possess foundation skills such as the
ability to read and write with fluency, numeracy, comprehension,
analysis, reasoning and social skills such as teamwork
Equally elementary education should instill in children courage,
confidence, curiosity, independence, resourcefulness, resilience,
patience and understanding. It is only then that an individual will be
equipped with the basic skills that foster meaningful participation in social,
political and economic processes and allow him/ her to avail of opportunities to learn advanced
skills throughout life4.
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The two main challenges in universalizing elementary education in India relate to expanding access
and maximizing the efficiency of investments made in elementary education. While there has been
considerable progress in the former over the last decade, the latter requires urgent attention. Drop
out rates from primary and upper primary school levels at roughly 33 per cent and 37 per cent
respectively are high. The problem is compounded by the fact that many who officially complete
the elementary cycle have abysmally low levels of learning.
The fundamental aspect of the SIG's work in this focus area, therefore, centres around targeting
attendance rates, learning levels and retention rates so as to ensure that everybody acquires the
basic skills associated with the elementary cycle. This involves systematically understanding the
relationship between various kinds of inputs and the final output - a 14 year old with the requisite
levels of learning and the ability to meaningfully utilise this. The two main inputs that the SIG has
been working on are pre-school education and teacher performance. By focusing on these two
inputs, the SIG hopes to address key intrinsic and extrinsic factors impinging on a child's ability to
learn.
1. Universalizing pre-school education
Two key variables believed to impact the participation, learning and retention of a child
in school are psycho-social readiness and physical readiness. Many children, especially
first generation learners, are at a disadvantage in this regard. A properly designed and
implemented pre-school programme (for 3 to 5-year old children) can counter much of
this disadvantage. In fact, literature from around the world suggests multi-dimensional
benefits of pre-school education including5:
• Increasing the efficiency of investments in elementary education
• Lowering welfare, health and education costs
■ Increasing social equity

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certain initiatives in pre-school education as part of this exercise. Two initiatives worthy
of mention are Pratham Mumbai Education Initiative and Jana Sanskrit!. The former is an
urban initiative working in urban slums, while the latter operates in rural West Bengal.

2. Enhancing teacher performance
Approximately 97 per cent of the expenditure on elementary education is used in paying
teachers' salaries, and yet drop-out rates are high and learning levels low. It is widely
asserted that the average government-school teacher may be too poorly equipped to
perform well6. The SIG believes that effort needs to be directed towards:
Providing academic support to improve general and subject knowledge
Providing support for improving teaching skills
Enhancing teacher motivation
Better representation of disadvantaged group
Flexibility in curriculum
Better management and effective feedback mechanisms
In its goal of helping teachers perform better, the SIG is firmly
committed to partnering with government institutions, non
governmental organisations and other players. The SIG foresees
important partnerships with organisations such as Eklavya in
Madhya Pradesh, Vidya Bhawan Society and Digantarin Rajasthan.
Eklavya, in particular, has much to offer by way of learnings in
improving feedback mechanisms.
While mainly supporting initiatives that address pre-school
education and improving teacher performance in a manner
consistent with the mission statement, the SIG is also interested
in addressing the following related issues.
• Understanding cost-effective means of providing
quality elementary schooling to difficult-to-access
children.
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Understanding different models for bridging
never-enrolled and dropped-out children into age
appropriate grades in regular schools.

A brief summary of some of the elementary education projects the SIG has supported
follows. For details on these projects please visit the web site,
www.icicisocialinitiatives.org.

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Pratham Mumbai Education Initiative (1995-6 till date)
Pratham, a non-governmental organisation, which ICICI Bank has partnered with for
seven years, has provided valuable insights on universalising primary education in
urban slums. Pratham has developed an innovative strategy for motivating children
to enroll and complete the primary cycle. It reaches out to nearly 70,000 children in
Mumbai alone. The SIG is supporting three core programmes of Pratham, pre-school
(Balwadi Programme), remedial education (Balsakhi Programme) and the Bridge Course
Programme, as well as related research studies.

4k.JUh The Balwadi Programme is an important component of Pratham's overall strategy for

universalising primary education. In Mumbai, nearly 30,000 children between the ages
of 3 to 5 years from slum communities throughout the city receive pre-school education
in Balwadis supported by Pratham.
The Balsakhi Programme involves a teacher's assistant - a young and enthusiastic
person from the community who assists the regular primary school teacher in teaching
children who are lagging behind. The programme started in December 1998.
The Bridge Course Programme, started in October 1998, is aimed at children who
have dropped out or never been enrolled in formal school. There is an average of 15
children (between age 6 and 10 years) in each class. The classes generally start in
the community, and move to the local municipal school building if space is available.
The teacher is usually a local person with Class 10 education. While informal methods
are used initially, these gradually give way to a more structured teaching-learning
environment.
Through its various programmes, especially the recent Outreach programme, Pratham
Mumbai has been able to reach a large number of the urban poor in a cost-effective
manner. The model has proved to be replicable, having spread to several urban locations
What remains to be understood is the long-term impact of its core programmes in a
systematic and rigorous manner. Pratham Mumbai has constituted a Research Advisory
Group to guide such work. It has also initiated a long-term cohort-tracking exercise
in the Balwadi and Balsakhi programmes in Mumbai. The Balsakhi research study
draws heavily on the Vadodara Balsakhi research project, guided by Abhijit Banerjee,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and funded by the SIG.
The SIG is also supporting the Delhi Pratham initiative in a rigorous study undertaken by
it to understand the linkages between learning at the elementary level and basic health
interventions such as de-worming tablets, iron supplements and Vitamin A tablets

Jana Sanskrit! Centre for Theatre of the Oppressed
Jana Sanskriti is a voluntary organisation involved in education in the rural West Bengal.
The SIG is supporting a programme of pre-primary education in three blocks in South
24 Parganas. Jana Sanskriti has been using theatre as a medium to establish a culture
of dialogue (instead of monologue). In addition, it uses a curriculum that it believes
will enable children to make the transition into formal school easily and be retained
there. This project is particularly attractive because it was set in a rural area with very
basic facilities. Given that pre-school education is a priority area, the SIG is interested in
understanding the requirements in rural areas in comparison to those in urban areas

Digantar, Jaipur
Digantar Shiksha Evam Khelkud Samiti (Digantar) is a voluntary organization based in
Jaipur, Rajasthan. It has done important work in pedagogy, curriculum and material
development, and providing resource support to other agencies. Much of this
derives from learnings from three schools run by it in villages off Jaipur.
The pedagogy followed in Digantar schools is based on learning with
understanding, self-learning and freedom of pace of learning. Critical thinking
and questioning is encouraged. The education provided aims at developing
autonomy of thought, reasoning and sensitivity. An integral component in
this process has been working with teachers to bring out and enhance
their various abilities.
Digantar's great strength lies in its ability to take its findings on
elementary education beyond the three schools operated by it.
It has been involved in training and material development for a
number of large-scale government programmes, such as the Lok
Jumbish in Rajasthan, as well as those for smaller non-governmental
organizations. Apart from having reached a large number of children, as an organization,
Digantar also promises to provide important insights into the theory and practice of
elementary education in rural India.

Eklavya Foundation, Madhya Pradesh
Eklavya Foundation is an NGO based in Madhya Pradesh that is primarily involved in
educational research and innovative action. Its work includes micro-level experiments to
evolve educational innovations and macro-level action to introduce as well as sustain
educational innovations in the mainstream system.
Eklavya's genesis lies in the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme (HSTP) which it
has developed over the years. HSTP focuses on improving science education from Class
6 to Class 8. In contrast to the prevailing textbook-based method of 'learning by rote',
which negates all child-centric principles of education, HSTP concentrates on learning
'by discovery', 'through activities' and 'from the environment'. It emphasizes the process
of science, promoting scientific temper and making the child a confident and life-long
learner and creator of knowledge. At present, Eklavya covers nearly 700 middle schools
(mainly government schools) spread over fourteen districts of Madhya Pradesh. Over
100,000 children study the HSTP curriculum every year and they are taught by 1500
teachers.
In order to make a comprehensive impact on the quality of education in upper primary
schools, Eklavya decided to take up innovations in subjects other than science. A
curriculum development programme in social science for Class 6, 7 and 8 was initiated
and piloted in nine government middle schools in Madhya Pradesh. While working
in middle schools, Eklavya realized that many children had not developed linguistic
abilities required for these classes. This was the starting point for the Prashika primary
education programme. The Prashika package focuses not only on linguistic abilities, but
also on cognitive and affective skills that are important for the overall development of
the child at this stage. Eklavya's approach involves development of teaching-learning
material, teacher training, non-invasive examination and methodology, and facilitating
administrative and management structures in the school system.

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Eklavya also plays an important role as a resource agency, providing intensive inputs
to collaborators, interacting extensively with various groups involved in education and
participating in seminars and workshops.

Cll-Khullam Khulla
An important area of interest for the SIG has been to utilize mass media to invigorate the
process of learning and thereby enliven the work being done by children and teachers
in schools. The SIG has been supporting an educational television serial, Cll-Khullam
Khulla, designed to motivate children to learn and teachers to perform better. The series
brings to its viewers the alphabet, numbers, concepts, values and specific subjects in
science and social studies through an interesting mix of puppetry, animation, graphics
and music. The inspiration for Khullam Khulla drew from the belief that the television
is a highly effective and widely available resource. Cll-Khullam Khulla is currently being
aired on the Doordarshan National channel. The SIG has been exploring options for
using radio for the same purpose.

Bal Vividha Education Fairs 2000 and 2001
Bal Vividha is an educational resource fair organized every year by Comet Media
Foundation, a voluntary organization working in the field of educational media. The
fairs are based on the principle that learning should be joyful and relevant to the
child's everyday experiences. They seek to reach out to those looking for viable options
and alternatives in enhancing the learning experiences of their children. Apart from
displaying the work of various voluntary organizations in elementary education, the
fairs also feature learning workshops where resource people pass on their insights to
teachers for use in their classrooms.
Given the importance accorded to dissemination of learnings by the SIG, platforms such
as these fairs are important. In addition, the SIG will be hosting the Education Resour co
Centre in the portal, www.icicisocialinitiatives.org, which aims to be an interactive
cyber storehouse of material in its focus areas.

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Micro-financial Services: Maximising Access to Basic Financial Services
Participation of the poor in the larger economy necessitates a transition from being passive
observers to active participants in the growth process. This may be seen as the ability to maximize
returns on factors of production and manage vulnerability/risk. Maximizing returns on factors
of production in turn would entail the ability to engage in an enterprise, obtain secure
wage employment, maximize return on surplus and access mainstream markets
and competitive technologies. Managing risks, on the other hand, would entail
effective strategies to counter structural, market and life-cycle related risks.
The Social Initiatives Group (SIG) understands the economic development of the
poor as progressing along a continuum; from a state of reduced vulnerability
to a greater ability to take risks and participate in mainstream markets and
further towards scaling operations and creating opportunities. Continued access
to financial services is instrumental in enabling mobility along this continuum7.
Micro-financial Services has therefore, been defined by the SIG as those financial services that
enable the poor to reduce their economic vulnerability and participate in the growth process. The
SIG's understanding of the role of Micro-financial Services yields a typology of financial services that
spans both protective and promotional services8.
1. Banking and investment services
Basic banking services that include savings and withdrawal facilities meet the demand
for liquidity whether it be for enterprise purposes or for emergencies. The availability
of savings products, the design of which takes into account the cash flows of the poor
would be very crucial to the effective mobilisation of savings. There is also a need to
innovate for 'micro-investment' products that enable the poor to maximise returns on
their surplus.
2. Insurance including life, disability, health and assets
The vulnerability of the poor points to insurance being a crucial product. Existing ways
of informal insurance among the poor are: drawing down on savings, reciprocal need
based gift exchange, selling physical assets and diversifying income sources. However,
there is only a limited role that these informal mechanisms can play. There is a need
for a mechanism to pool, price and trade the risks of the poor and the means to do this
would be an insurance product that is able to bring under its fold the poor with varying
risk profiles.
3. Finance including credit, equity and leasing
This class of products has great relevance to the promotion of micro-enterprises. Even
when these services do not benefit the poorest of the poor directly, they may provide
benefits to them through the promotion of economic activity and employment. Equity is
an important means of sharing the risk of enterprising poor to engage in ventures with
the possibility of high returns.
4. Derivatives
Derivatives are instruments the value of which is derived from the value of an underlying
asset. Derivatives enable a buyer and a seller to enter into a contract in the present
period to buy/sell at a future date at a pre-determined rate. The principles of a derivative
contract appear to have relevance in the context of commodity markets and indices
based on weather and other variables that have a bearing on the livelihoods of the
poor.

Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (BSFL), Hyderabad
BSFL is a Micro-finance Institution (MFI) that provides credit in the rural areas of Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Orissa. BASICS Ltd. is a group of financial services
and technical assistance companies. BSFL, registered with the Reserve Bank of India as
a Non-Banking Finance Company, is the main operating entity through which credit is
delivered by BASICS.
BSFL's mission is to promote a large number of sustainable livelihoods especially for
the rural poor and women through the provision of financial services and technical
assistance in an integrated manner. BSFL is run with a commercial orientation. It is
the only MFI in India and is among the few in the world that has been capitalized by
mainstream financial institutions. ICICI Bank has invested in the equity of BSFL.
BSFL believes that credit is a necessary but not sufficient condition for sustainable
livelihoods. Therefore, while BSFL provides different loan products for individuals as
well as Self Help Groups of women, Indian Grameen Services, which is an affiliate
company, provides the technical assistance and training. The customers of BSFL include
subsistence farmers and the landless poor, small farmers, micro-enterprises and small
enterprises.
Being one of the earliest practitioners of micro-finance in India, BASICS constantly
endeavours to share its expertise with other organisations in the field. BSFL is emerging
as an important partner for the SIG's work in the field of micro-finance. The relationship
with BSFL has provided insights into the challenges in effectively providing financial
services to the poor while addressing the questions of sustainability and outreach.

Joint Study with UNDP on the Impact of Social Mobilisation and Micro
Credit on Women's Empowerment
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has undertaken a study, with support
from the SIG, to examine some of the implicit assumptions regarding the impact of
micro-credit on women's empowerment that currently appear to be guiding policy and
practice debates. The study attempts to bring out the impact through an analysis of six
case studies of organizations working in different parts of the country.
The initial field studies and subsequent analysis demonstrate that credit
has made a significant impact on poverty reduction. There are also
some "first level" changes resulting from membership and participation
in a women's collective. These changes have been observed even in
cases where the intervening voluntary agency may be focused solely on
mobilizing women to provide access to finance. Agencies with an explicit
empowerment agenda, working on what is popularly called a "credit plus"
approach, have been able to create changes with deeper ramifications as
far as women's sense of agency, the scope of choices and the ability to
make these choices is concerned.
A document that synthesizes and brings out the experiences and findings of the studies
shall be published for wider dissemination.

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Research by Sa-Dhan on the Development of Standards for Micro
finance Institutions
Sa-Dhan is an association of Micro-finance Institutions (MFIs) in India. With suppoit
from the SIG, Sa-Dhan has undertaken a study to identify standards for MFIs. The
research attempts to identify accounting and reporting, performance and governance
standards. Specific benchmarks will be recommended as part of this effort and Sa-Dhan
will strive for the acceptability of these among the MFI community.
Sustainable Access to Rural India (SARI) Project for providing Internet
connectivity in rural Madurai
This project attempts to enable connectivity through a new technology, corDECT
Wireless in Local Loop, which is capable of providing both telephony and Internet
connectivity simultaneously. A hundred kiosks shall be established in the first phase of
the project. The next step in the project will be to provide a number of applications over
the network. These would include applications in education, health, micro-finance,
rural banking and e-governance. Local banks in the area may be wired and they may be
able to use the remote connectivity to provide banking services to customers. DHAN
Foundation, a local NGO, is partnering with the SIG to implement fifty of the kiosks
through its SHG members. The project is at the same time striving for commercial
viability that may in turn have implications for the scalability of the provision of Internet
access for rural India. SARI Foundation is part of the Digital
Nations consortium of the MIT Media Laboratory and Harvard
University's Center for International Development in collaboration
with IIT Madras and the l-Gyan Foundation.
Dissemination of research findings and models in micro-finance
is an important aspect of the SIG's work. The Micro-finance
Resource Centre on www.icicisocialinitiatives.org is envisaged to
be a web-based platform for information dissemination, dialogue
and debate on issues critical to micro-finance. It shall disseminate
key findings from the projects supported by the SIG and build a
community of users who will contribute to the resource centre
being at the cutting edge of micro-finance. The resource centre
will be critical in promoting successful models of micro-finance

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UNICEF (2000), The State of the World's Children, Geneva, United Nations Children's Fund.
David Barker (1998), Mothers, Babies and Health in Later Life, Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone.
Aneesa Arur and Shilpa Deshpande (2002), Infant Health at Birth, Working Paper Series, ICICIsocialinitiatives.org.
Tara Beteille (2002), Elementary Education in India, Working Paper Series, ICICIsocialinitiatives.org.
Mary Emming Young (1995), Investing in Young Children, World Bank Discussion Papers. Washington D.C.
The World Bank (1997), Primary Education in India, New Delhi, Allied Publishers Limited.
Bikram Duggal, Bindu Ananth, Kartikeya Saboo (2002), Micro-finance: Building the Capacities of the Poor to Participate in the Larger Economy, Working Paper Series.
ICICIsocialinitiatives.org.
With a population of over one billion, of which the poor constitute over 300 million, the number of poor households in India could be estimated at over 75 million. Thu
dependence of low-income households on informal sources of finance is as high as 78 per cent (Vijay Mahajan (1999), "A Framework for Building a Sustainable Rural
Financial System for India", BASIX Publication). Roughly 4.5 million households have been reached by the banking system. Another 0.5 to 1 million are clients of various
Non-Governmental Organisations/ Micro Finance Institutions in the country. Despite a massive rollout, 70 million households are yet to access formal financial servicn
providers. This points to an urgent need for innovations in rural banking and micro- finance.

The Team
Samyukta S. Rao
Formerly the Head of Mid-Office Operations in the Treasury, ICICI Ltd., Samyukta S. Rao is the
Financial Controller for the SIG and also looks after initiatives in Corporate Social Responsibility, NGO
Capacity Building and Modernization of the Indian Financial System.

Shilpa Deshpande
A Masters in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), Shilpa Deshpande works
in the Infant Health at Birth focus group in the SIG.

Aneesa Arur
A Masters in Development Studies from the London School of Economics (LSE), Aneesa Arur works
in the Infant Health at Birth focus group in the SIG.

Tara Beteille
A Masters in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics (DSE), Tara Beteille works in the
Elementary Education focus group in the SIG.

Puneet Gupta
A Masters in Rural Management from the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Puneet
Gupta works in the Elementary Education focus group in the SIG.

Bmdu Ananth
A Masters in Rural Management from the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Bindu
Ananth works in the Micro-financial Services focus group in the SIG.

The SIG is headed by Nachiket Mor, Executive Director, Wholesale Banking, ICICI Bank.
The SIG has gained significantly from the contributions of former team members, Bikram Duggal and
Kartikeya Saboo, who now work in the Rural and Micro-banking Group.
The SIG also draws on the expertise of consultants in its work. In 2001-02, Dr Bela Doctor and
Rajeev Cherukupalli worked with the Infant Health at Birth team and Mili worked with the Elementary
Education team.

Design & Printed by dickenson 022-6631190

The mission of the Micro-financial Services team at the SIG is to act as a catalyst in the
development of a vibrant micro-financial services market that will improve the access
of the poor to these services. This access is envisaged to be both reliable as well as
cost-effective. Towards this end, the SIG works on two fronts: sustainable delivery
mechanisms and appropriate products.

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The SIG's work in this area is based on an analysis of gaps in existing delivery
mechanisms and products. Where existing models display no potential for scale,
it becomes imperative to innovate to reach larger numbers of the poor. The effort
towards mainstreaming would be preceded by significant testing of models and
rigorous research. Models are tested for their potential to scale-up, cost-effectiveness
■ and ability to reach the poorest of the poor. Such innovations are then expected to
be mainstreamed by scaling up through the existing institutional structures such as
the banking network in India. Dissemination of tested models for their rollout and
up-scaling will be the next steps in the process.

f BI Therefore, the three broad elements of our strategy are:
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1. Fine-tuning existing models for scale
2. Innovating to address gaps in access to financial services by the
poor and
3. Researching the impact of micro-financial interventions to improve
programme designs.
There is a need to enhance the role of mainstream institutions in extending micro
financial services to the poor. In this regard, sustainable mechanisms by which
mainstream banks and financial institutions can provide financial services to the poor
even in remote locations in a cost-effective manner are being explored. There have
been several innovations demonstrated by the voluntary sector in this regard and
the SIG would actively pursue collaborations between mainstream institutions and
voluntary sector organizations to scale-up such innovations. An important strategy has
been to understand the role of technology in impacting cost-effectiveness of providing
financial services to the poor. For instance, one of the SIG's projects in Tamil Nadu
attempts to understand whether wireless technology can be put to use to develop low
cost models of banking. Another technological intervention being explored is the use
of smart cards in rural banking.
With a mission to catalyse the development of a vibrant micro-financial services market
for providing financial services to the poor, the SIG works towards the development
of appropriate products and delivery mechanisms through research, pilot-testing and
dissemination for up-scaling.
A brief summary of some of the Micro-financial Services projects the SIG has
supported follows. For details on these projects please visit the website.
www.icicisocialinitiatives.org.

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