Financial Inclusion and Upskilling Key to Rural Development: Sheena Sakhuja, Director, FAME (Aye Finance CSR arm)

India CSR recently engaged in a detailed discussion with Sheena Sakhuja, Director, FAME (Aye Finance CSR arm) exploring the company’s foray into social impact initiatives, especially in the rural regions of India. With a mission to transform the micro scale enterprise financing in the country, Aye Finance has been actively working towards the economic upliftment of the underserved communities in rural India, and has provided loans to over 6,00,000 micro-enterprises. Through its ‘not-for-profit’ arm, FAME, Aye Finance is solving the ‘beyond funding’ challenges faced by these communities.

Our discussion with Sakhuja delved deeply into the notable initiatives undertaken by the company, underscoring its dedication to social and environmental welfare. It not only brought attention to the ongoing projects but also provided insights into the company’s future goals and approaches, illustrating its ambitions to enhance its influence and play a more significant role in social progress.

Through this comprehensive interview, we gained a deeper understanding of how Aye Finance incorporates responsible business practices and contributes to community development, solidifying its position as a driving force for positive transformation.

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What is the core objective of upskilling rural areas?

Aye Finance was founded with a mission to transform the micro scale enterprise financing in India. For the past eight and a half years each one of us at Aye has been tirelessly working to bring this credit starved albeit credit worthy sector into the folds of organized lending and powering their growth.  We believe, providing support to a micro scale business which lies at the bottom of the pyramid is a qualitatively superior channel of creating social uplift. When micro enterprises progress, they have a multiplier effect on their business ecosystem – creating jobs, improving education of children, better health & safety awareness and better nutrition etc. While we have solved the challenges of economical credit through Aye Finance, we launched our own “not-for-profit” arm FAME to address the “beyond financing” challenges of the grassroots businesses in India.

Job creation in India is the key to unlocking the demographic dividend that its billions are capable of. India must create about 10mn non-farm jobs every year to engage our young workforce. There are many routes to solving this and the route that FAME has chosen is to amplify and harness the capabilities of the 70mn micro and unorganized businesses. These micro scale businesses have so far contributed over 90% of the non-farm jobs and if we can improve their competitiveness and scale it, it will pave the way to the USD 5Tn economy that we dream of.

How have people been in regard to learning and upskilling themselves?

FAME has received tremendous response, especially from women, for their CSR interventions from the grassroots businesses and we have already worked with over 70,000 micro enterprises in a short span of 4 years.

We have been witness to multiple stories of grit and determination where women have worked against all odds and stepped out of their homes to learn new skills to earn a living and respect. One of the ladies in Agra Shoe Training Centre faced a lot of resistance from her husband when she decided to join the training sessions. And today when through the skill she learned she is earning Rs 3-4 thousand rupees and contributes 30% to the household income, her husband now comes to drop her at the centre.   

What activities or training programs are you conducting for the betterment of the people in rural India?

Operating across more than 150 villages in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Haryana, Aye Finance has implemented impactful programs in various sectors, demonstrating a commitment to social and economic well-being. In the Dairy Sector, we have instituted a comprehensive Dairy Development Program benefiting over 60,000 dairy farmers. This initiative extends beyond traditional training, encompassing collaboration with major milk collection companies to ensure fair pricing for milk. Moreover, we have facilitated easy access to farm feed at wholesale rates, enhancing the income potential for dairy farmers.

In the shoe manufacturing sector, FAME launched the Shoe Artisan Program. This innovative initiative empowers women from marginalized communities by providing them with skills in shoemaking, design aesthetics, quality control, and business management. FAME has established a dedicated training center in Agra, creating opportunities for economic independence through wage work for trained women.

Addressing the Kirana Sector, FAME has engaged subject matter experts to advise and enhance the skills and knowledge of kirana shop owners. This includes improving business management capabilities, inventory management, and increasing revenue through digitization and targeted marketing. Additionally, FAME offers grants to women kirana owners, enabling them to renovate and modernize their stores, thereby expanding their customer base and boosting revenue and profits.

In the Savouries Sector, we initiated the Social Enterprise DIWA (Development Initiative for Women Association) to support marginalized women in starting their own enterprises. Despite societal constraints, these women, primarily housewives, have embraced financial independence through this program. We provide them with comprehensive support, including skilling, infrastructure and machinery setup, establishment of distribution channels in rural, semi-urban, and urban markets, branding and marketing, and financial management. This holistic approach empowers women to step into the realm of entrepreneurship, creating not only economic opportunities but also fostering a sense of identity and autonomy.

How is it beneficial to them in terms of their entrepreneurial journey?

FAME has launched multiple initiatives for building and improving the entrepreneurial skills of grassroots businesses and augmenting the incomes of our beneficiaries is the end goal of all our programs.  By opening milk collection centres for our dairy farmers we have increased their incomes by 45%, by providing shoe manufacturing skilling and wage work our women beneficiaries are earning Rs 3500 every month, through our grants program the women kirana owners increased their profits and revenue by 70%. There are hundreds of stories that we are witnessing which builds our confidence to expand the reach of our programs to a larger population and create transformative impact.

What are the challenges that you face?

Social construct is one of the biggest challenges we face while working with women beneficiaries. Their families are not comfortable with them stepping out of the boundaries of their homes and explore opportunities which can lead to financial independence. In one instance we have seen the entire village boycott a milk collection centre which was being run by our women beneficiary on the behest of her father-in-law and repeated interventions counselling the family and the villagers yielded no results and we had to close down the centre.  But we have also seen some women work against the tide which has forced her family to 

Currently in which cities are you working, and what are the expansion plans?

We are currently working with grassroots businesses in Meerut, Modi Nagar, Hapur, Mathura, Agra, Hissar, Alwar, Sikar and Bharatpur. We will be expanding to two districts in Punjab and three more in Uttar Pradesh by the end of the current financial year.

(India CSR)