Avinash is a development professional with 20 plus years of experience. He has diverse experience on watershed project implementation, microfinance, action research, imparting training, conducting research, case study documentation etc. In his professional journey he worked with BASIX, CARE, Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation and Centre for Development and Harmony. His last profile, before he started his own Social Enterprise, was Associate Dean, Eastern Region with Institute of Livelihood Research and Training (ILRT). Currently Avinash is working as Director of his Social Enterprise “Mitratulya Samadhan Seva Pvt Ltd (www.mitratulya.com)“, his better half Anjali (Cost Accountant) is also supporting him as Director in the company. While most of his time is taken by his start up but his passion for Development Sector remains as he loves to take up interesting consultancy assignments.
Social Media:
Twitter: AvinashK2024
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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/avinash-kumar-6b705247
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM to this role?
A. Once you join IIFM, the journey is always very interesting. The 21 months spent with amazing batchmates, seniors and juniors are cherished forever.
I had job offers from PRADAN, Honey Bee Newsletter (Prof. Anil Gupta, IIM Ahmedabad) and Bhartiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST-CII New Delhi). I started my career with BYST New Delhi for Urban Entrepreneurship Promotion. Initial two years I explored my liking in different organizations till I joined Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation (LHWRF), Bhopal as in-charge of their Watershed Projects in Raisen District. This was the proper beginning of my interesting career in Development Sector. The work profile was very challenging as the time I joined was the fag end of the seven-year long Rajiv Gandhi Watershed Mission project. My responsibility was to complete the milestones in terms of timebound construction of watershed structures engaging the villagers’ (as the watershed project was getting implemented under Employment Assurance Scheme-EAS) and successfully handover the project to Watershed Development Committees (WDCs). This was my first experience of working with government (reporting directly to the Collector of the district). The timebound execution of the project deliverables helped me quickly learn the nitty-gritty of grassroot level work, leading a big team of 50 plus team members (from technical and non-technical background), work closely with the community, work in close coordination with the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA). During the one and half years I spent in LHWRF I also got opportunity to lead a watershed awareness project from Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
The next phase of the journey was to work with a very experience development professional Fr. Jacob Peenikaparambil of Centre for Development and Harmony (CDH) Bhopal. The work responsibility was to extend handholding support to 10 partner NGOs in different districts of Madhya Pradesh. The span of support was to regularly monitor the ongoing activities, build capacity of the staff through training need assessment, impart training to them and develop project proposals for them to mobilize fund from national and international funding agencies. During my tenure at CDH I cherish a proud moment that I could connect my alma mater IIFM with CDH to conduct an Impact Assessment Study for one of our partner NGOs who received funding support from an International Funding Agency. Prof. K N Krishna Kumar was the Team Lead and the Impact Assessment Study Report was received very well by the Funding Agency, by CDH and by the partner NGO. The journey of one and half years was continuing well till I realize that my family responsibilities require me to be placed in a job with better monetary benefits!
I joined Integrated Nutrition and Health Project (INHP) in CARE India at Chhindwara as Demonstration Partnership Officer (DPO). Here the responsibility was to develop Demonstration Sites (DS) with the support from partner NGOs in the district which can manifest ideal nutrition and health behaviors by pregnant-lactating mothers resulting into better health of infant and addressing child malnutrition. In addition to performing the key deliverables of the project one very interesting responsibility was to drive a Mahindra Pijo to perform the duty. I earned driving experience of 1,00,000 Kms in different and difficult rural terrain during my two and half years’ stint with CARE India. While INHP project was about nutrition and health but I realized that unless accountability is fixed from the primary level about the nutrition and health of the pregnant and lactating mothers it is very difficult to meet the project objectives. I experimented two models:
- मांग पत्र (Demand Letter) by the Anganwadi Worker (AWW) to the ANM regarding the requirement of numbers of vaccine doses in that particular Aanganwadi Centre (AWC). The Demand Letter was first signed by the Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat so that the Gram Panchayat system is informed about the requirement of vaccine doses for pregnant & lactating mothers and for the infants. The Demand Letter signed by the Sarpanch was handed over to the ANM by AWW so that the ANM is bound to bring the required number of vaccine doses during the Nutrition and Health Day (NHD).
- Ward wise monitoring of malnourished children- the ward members of the Gram Panchayat were given list of malnourished children in their respective wards so that they can periodically monitor the nutrition and health of the malnourished children. They not only counselled the parents but also worked in coordination with AWW for the improvement of malnourished children in their respective wards. We also informed the District Collector about the initiative and he was convinced enough to order implementation of these two models in each Gram Panchayat of the district. My work was acknowledged by the Governance wing of CARE India and based on my successful innovations of Demand Letter and Ward wise monitoring of malnourished children, I was tasked to impart training to PRI representatives of Andaman and Nicobar on their roles and responsibilities so that they can efficiently work towards effective utilization of fund received under Tsunami relief. My journey ended with the completion of phase-II of INHP as CARE India could not successfully bid for INHP Phase-III.
Next phase of my journey was with Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (BSFL- A BASIX Social Enterprise Group Company). I joined at Wardha (Maharashtra) as Field Manager, in-charge of four branches of micro-finance operations. I call myself lucky that my exposure to micro-finance operations was with BSFL where micro-finance work was considered as an approach towards overall livelihood promotion of a rural family. The TRIAD approach adopted by BSFL was very impactful which helped me to perform my responsibilities in an area which was infamous for farmers’ suicide due to their inability to repay debts. My first learning even before I started my work was to learn Marathi to be able to understand the community, their challenges and opportunities for them. Learning Marathi immensely helped me during my one and half year stay in Maharashtra. One of the major interventions during my stint at BSFL at Wardha was to extend Business Development support to the farmers of the region. As Field Manager of micro-finance operations, I was also project in-charge of a NABARD supported project “Distress Reduction of Cotton Farmers”. With support from my team members who were agriculture graduates I designed a robust support system for the farmers which included soil testing and monitoring of fertilizer dose management, counsel farmers to use bio-fertilizers to increase productivity and use of organic pesticides to reduce input cost. The Business Development Services was so effective that the farmers very happily repaid the agriculture loan 100% ‘in time’. They acknowledged and appreciated the Business Development Services and were able to quantify the benefits in terms of profit they earned per unit of their land. After one and half years in Wardha in BSFL, I was transferred to Ranchi (my native). Challenges in Jharkhand for BSFL was multilayered like Constraint of loan disbursement due to long overdue accounts, court cases filed by customers and by staff of BSFL and operational area severely affected by Naxal activities. I trusted my abilities to work in close coordination with the community and with my team. Soon the changes were visible and I was rewarded with a promotion to become Senior Manager (Operations & HR). Things were moving in positive direction then but as a strategy BSFL wanted to fast pace its outreach in terms of customers and finances. I was not very comfortable with this sudden acceleration therefore I decided to bid adieu.
The next one year was filled with struggle as I tried to establish myself. I spent some time in Dehradun with Manav Bharati as Head New Initiatives, then with Vedika Credit Capital Limited as General Manger (Operations & HR) for their micro-finance operations in Jharkhand. At this time, I was approached by The Livelihood School- BASIX group of companies (now Institute of Livelihood Research and Training) to anchor an action research project “Livelihood Pathways for the Poorest at Gaya”. The action research project was to design a loan product which can be suitable for the ultra-poor rural community (mostly for the Musahars). The project was supported by Grameen Foundation USA. The Field Location of the project was at Gaya. I was oriented by none other than Mr. Vijay Mahajan himself about the project, its objectives and his belief that how I can guide the project to achieve its objectives. Working with ultra-poor community in this action research project was very insightful. Ford Foundation had organized a learning sharing meeting at The World Bank Office (Paris) in 2012 to understand the learning from Ultra-Poor projects worldwide. As Project Manager of the action research project, I presented the learning of the project in the meeting and was immensely enriched to know about the different initiatives globally for the ultra-poor. As the project was supported by Grameen Foundation USA, the then Ambassador of USA to India, Ms. Nancy J Powell visited Gaya villages of the action research project and interacted with the women members of the SHGs to understand the benefits from the project.
As the action research project was completed, I was transferred to Patna to take charge as Regional Coordinator, Eastern Region for Institute of Livelihood Research and Training (ILRT). This was the beginning of my role as praxis academician. I was very actively involved in Knowledge Building (through research, studies, development of curriculum and training manuals) and Knowledge Dissemination (Trainings, Workshop, Seminars) activities. Although I was Regional Coordinator Eastern Region but the geographical span of learning was always beyond that which included international assignments as well. After one and half years at Patna I was transferred to Ranchi and was given a promotion as Associate Dean. During my tenure at ILRT I worked with State Rural Livelihood Missions, NABARD, CSRs, NGOs, Academic Institutions and Financial Institutions.
The idea to work for urban households who struggle to fulfill their day to day needs in terms of support of home delivery of essential items and support of technicians viz. plumber, electricians etc. was germinated during my stay at Gaya and Patna where I lived alone while my family continued to live at Ranchi. I could feel that there were times when they required support of home delivery of essential items and urgent support of trustworthy technicians viz. plumber, electrician etc. When I discussed this need with different people who had a travelling profile, they echoed the same concern. I discussed this idea with my wife (who is a Cost Accountant) and she encouraged me that we should start our own enterprise to address this urgent need of the urban households especially for the senior citizen and working couples. After working for 10 good years in BASIX and overall, 18 years in the Development Sector, I decided to change my path and work for this cause. It has been 5 years now and we believe “Mitratulya” is getting its identity as a trusted home service provider in Ranchi. During COVID-19 pandemic, our team supported many households in getting timely home delivery services to receive medicines, grocery, vegetables etc.
So far Mitratulya has been working with its own resources and the continued dedication towards work has earned a reputation of trusted home service provider in Ranchi. We look forward to add another neighboring city in our work area in the coming financial year.
My advice to those who wish to take up entrepreneurial journey is to have immense belief in your idea and have endless patience to pursue the path till you establish your entrepreneurial dream. The journey is full of challenges of all kind and you may not get support from those who you believed will support you. The super positive attitude and ability to sustain yourself till your enterprise is established is the key.
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A.
- Successfully handing over Watershed Project to the Community Organization (Watershed Development Committee) in Raisen District while working for Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation.
- Developed Governance Model to ensure accountability of functionaries from Health, ICDS and PRI representatives while working for INHP project of CARE India.
- Supported farmers of Vidarbha region with Business Development Services to be able to effectively utilize agriculture loan and repay the loan without any pressure while working for BSFL in Vidarbha (Maharashtra).
- Improved the overall micro-finance portfolio of Jharkhand with strategic approach which includes working in close coordination with the community and team members and amicably resolved the legal matters while working for BSFL in Jharkhand.
- Worked with the Ultra-Poor community in Bihar and successfully inculcated savings behavior among the community, presented the experience in an international learning sharing meeting organized by Ford Foundation in The World Bank, Paris.
- While working with Institute of Livelihood Research and Training (ILRT), conducted Livelihood Mapping of Doda (J&K) and Mandla for NABARD, doubling the Farmers Income Study of Assam for NABARD, Livelihood Mapping for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) in Bihar and Jharkhand, developed curriculum on Dairy and Fisheries, imparted training on- Fundamentals of Livelihood Promotion, Agri Value Chain and Market System Development, Effective Communication etc.
- As Event Manager, very successfully organized an International Workshop “Civil Society Dialogue: Accountable Governance for Zero Hunger (SDG 2)” at Ranchi for Welt Hunger Hilfe. We had 50 Participants from 10 countries in the workshop and each one of them felt that they could get very personalized support programmatically and administratively.
- Connected with 500 urban households (mostly senior citizen) of Ranchi who regularly approach “Mitratulya” (www.mitratulya.com) to get trustworthy support to fulfill their day-to-day household needs which includes home delivery of essential items and maintenance support of household gadgets.
Q. What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
A. To be able to support the senior citizen and families of working couple to meet their day-to-day household needs which includes home delivery of essential items and support of technician to meet the need of repair of household facilities and gadgets is a wonderful feeling.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. Learning at IIFM has immensely helped to perform different roles throughout my career. Working in a team and leading it, working in tight timelines, work life balance, networking etc. has been the highlight of my career. The guidance and mentoring received from the faculties at IIFM, learning from batchmates, seniors and juniors have been very helpful to move ahead in my career path.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers. What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles?
A. Mr. Vijay Mahajan (founder of BASIX Social Enterprise Group and PRADAN), Fr. Jacob Peenikaparambil (Founder and Director of Centre for Development and Harmony), Dr. Tabrez Nasar (Ex-Dean ILRT) are the names I would like to mention as each one of them helped me learn and become what I am today.
My advice to freshers and IIFM graduates is to always believe in your capacity and capabilities, be proactive to learn, derive pleasure from your work and stay connected to your alma mater.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. There are so many….Going out to Pachmarhi, Delabari, Bhojpur with my super enthusiastic batchmates. Parties in Bamboosa, participation in cultural and sports activities during Kalptaru and represent IIFM as team member of IIFM Cricket Team for All India Forestry Sports Meet.
Q. In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A. The 21-months course was very engaging and diverse in terms of class room as well as field based learning. Developed very important insights and learning from the course. The faculties of our time helped not only to learn the subjects but also to be prepared for the real-life challenges. Our batch, as we call “Millenium Batch” was very versatile. We had singers, guitarists, theatrical person, sports genius, studious people as well as adventurous characters in our batch. I must say there was lot to learn from each one of them. Our seniors were very caring and loving while the juniors were very sincere and respectful. One regret I have is I could not utilize enough benefits from our very rich library.
Q. The best friends / seniors /faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share.
A. I shared very good time with all my batchmates. I shared room and wonderful memories with Dipak Bhai (Room No. 31) and with Swapnil and Navin. Always remember Sachin and his bindas andaj (he left us so early). Share common interest of participation in quiz with Rajaram. Kultar, who discovered an actor in me and was part of our team for the field work in Odissa where we had wonderful time. Manisha and I were ACR and CR during the last term of our study and we very successfully completed our responsibilities with great coordination. I, Angshuman, Kaustuv, Dipak bhai, Sachin, Amit were the bikers of our batch and had great time with them.
Anmol Jain, Anjan, Alice, Faiz, Nishant were among the favorite seniors from the immediate senior batch while Shakeb and Bhaskar were another favorite seniors. Prof. S Raghavan was my faculty advisor and I remember visiting his home on some weekend to relish home cooked food and food for thought. I remember Prof. C S Rathod for his insightful classes, Prof. P.K. Biswas for his teachings and his passion for sports, Prof. Amitabh Pandey who was not only our faculty but my coach to join IIFM Cricket Team for All India Forestry Sports Meet.
Q. As an alumnus, what is your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. IIFM is a unique place so make the most of it. In addition to the course it offers, the experience of living in the beautiful campus with batchmates from diverse backgrounds is a big plus. My advice to the freshers is to squeeze every moment you live in the campus as it definitely is a lifetime experience.
Q. What is your typical day at the office?
A. As my social enterprise is a start up, my time is spread in office as well as meeting the potential customers to connect with them for our services. I continuously connect to potential service providers (plumbers, electricians, carpenters, refrigerator/A.C./Washing Machine mechanics etc.) and empanel them with my company so as to be able to support the households with trusted and skilled service providers.
Q. And how about weekends, Hobbies, Family and anything else you want to add.
A. Major part of my weekends is spent with my parents, wife and daughter. We go out for shopping, movies, visit relatives and enjoy tea at home with quality discussion. Not to forget that my friends from school features also very importantly in weekends. It has been three years that we gather every Sunday morning to play cricket and do ‘chai-pe-charcha’. My hobbies are playing cricket, singing (developed of late), watching movies, travel.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors.
A. Books: Lie Down with Lions by Ken Foliet, Kane and Able by Jeffery Archer, Stay Hungry Stay Foolish-I Have a Dream-Connect the Dots by Rashmi Bansal
Movies: Sholay, Abhiman, Manthan, Piku, Three Idiots, Jaane Bhi Do Yaron, Golmal (Amol Palekar), The Pursuit of Happyness, Airforce One, Erin Brockovich, Kungfu Panda, Karate Kid (Jackie Chan), Rocky Balboa
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students?
A. I have been an active member of Alumni Association (AA) of IIFM and feels great to contribute towards the work of AA. In the year 2000, I volunteered to start AA Newsletter “ALMA MATTERS” and very happily continuing my association with it. It is such a wonderful platform to be connected with present students, faculty and alumni.
Recently I have given opportunity to contribute to the AA as Vice President and look forward to contribute more with the wonderful team of the Board of Governors.
Q. What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there? What do you think is a positive change and what is not?
A. One obvious change is in terms of the batch size. In our time the batch size was 30-34 which is now 100 plus. Another change is in terms of infrastructure, mess food now has much more options than our time. The leadership of the institute at present is the best as the Director Sir is taking the institute to the new height. While IIFM is growing in terms of number of students and infrastructure, I believe more efforts are required to create awareness about courses from IIFM to wider geographies so that more number of potential students can be approached.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. My batchmates Kultar, Sonia, Nikhil, Radhika, Aditya Vijay Pratap Singh and Rohit Magotra.