Madhuri Ghosh
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A profile
[ From the archives of the Times of India]
Sumati Yengkhom
Madhuri Ghosh formed the Bagnan I Mahila Bikash Cooperative Credit Society in 1997 that now spans 80 villages
Credit for a rural revolution
Madhuri Ghosh, the Mohd Yunus of South Bengal
Around the same time when Mohammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank were writing their Nobel story of rural empowerment, a woman in the humble districts of south Bengal started a micro-credit scheme similar to that of the Bangladeshi icon who was feted with the Peace prize in 2006. Madhuri Ghosh hadn’t heard of Yunus or his work when she formed the Bagnan I Mahila Bikash Co-operative Credit Society Ltd in 1997, but her feat is no less inspiring. The story of Madhuri and her micro-credit revolution that now spans 80 villages in Howrah’s Bagnan I block is also one of the triumphs of virtues of humanity and a lesson that not every successful business model must be centred only around profits. The BMBCCSL, which started with contributions of Rs 5,000 now has a corpus of Rs 11 crore and has given a social and economic uplift to 23,042 people in these backward villages. It was her stint as a primary school teacher that Madhuri says decided what she would do for the rest of her life — which was to educate and empower women in villages.
The revolution, so to speak, started in 1995 in a village called Bangalpur, 80 km from Kolkata. Madhuri, now headmistress of the Bangalpur Jyotirmoyee Prathamik Balika Vidyalaya, had also become a member of the standing committee on education in Bagnan I. As she began touring villages extensively during literacy campaigns for women, she realised education without self-reliance would bring about little change in these feudal parts. She saw an opportunity in the government’s Training for Rural Youth for Self Employment (TRYSEM) and Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA) schemes and encouraged women to learn tailoring, knitting and food processing that would help them earn. At the same time, she started forming self-help groups. In 1996, the DWCRA Samanwaya Samity was founded, followed by a central marketing outlet. With Rs 5,000 as contribution from a handful of self-help groups, a corpus of Rs 1,33,000 was created. This fund gave birth to BMBCCSL in 1997. The society set up cash counters in a dilapidated school room in Bangalpur with aid from UNICEF. Today, it operates from a sprawling three-storeyed building and comprises 1,103 self-help groups. Its members include housewives, vegetable vendors, ragpickers, rape victims and widows. “It wasn’t easy in the beginning. I had to face the wrath of men, who accused me of dragging their wives and daughters out of home. But they understood my cause when these women started contributing economically to the family. Today, I am proud that I have more than 23,000 daughters who are economically independent,” Madhuri says.
The society also has a fully computerised bank and is run by an all-woman team. Loans are given to members either for expanding their business or household needs. A monthly interest of one per cent is charged. For long-term loans, the interest is 1.5 per cent. There is also a reward scheme in place for those who repay on time, which ensures that there are almost no defaulters, Madhuri says. The society also intervenes in cases of domestic violence and other crimes against women. Silently supporting Madhuri in her mission is h u s b a n d Gopal Ghosh. The retired s ch o o l teacher has helped Madhuri to chalk out strategies for the society since its inception. “I believe in the empowerment of women. I am extremely proud of my wife,” says Ghosh. Madhuri, who wears her green chiffon sari almost like a uniform, has her next task cut out. She wants to take the society to the only two villages in the block that have stayed out of its map. Given its pace, that should happen soon as well.
