The Vattikuti India Relief Foundation

The Vattikuti India Relief Foundation (VIRF), a Michigan based non-profit organisation, envisioned a programme ‘The Poverty Alleviation Initiative (PAI)’. The programme was designed to assuage the livelihoods of the poor and enable their growth by financial inclusion. The Initiatives for Development Foundation (IDF), is a non-profit civil society organisation based in Bangalore, and provides services in livelihood development and financial inclusion.

Social mobilisation

Social mobilisation by organizing groups based on self help culture

Risk mitigation

Risk mitigation in their livelihood activities and facilitation of ‘even cash flows’ at their household level

Financial Services

Providing access to affordable financial services including livelihood credit through Business Correspondent / Business Facilitator (BC/BF) services to the groups

Community based organization

Establishing the Community based organization (CBO) by federating groups for sustaining the programme. The programme promoted two types of groups (i) SHGs of women (ii) Groups of small / marginal or tenant farmers called as Joint Liability Groups (JLGs)

Social mobilisation

Social mobilisation by organizing groups based on self help culture

Risk mitigation

Risk mitigation in their livelihood activities and facilitation of ‘even cash flows’ at their household level

Financial Services

Providing access to affordable financial services including livelihood credit through Business Correspondent / Business Facilitator (BC/BF) services to the groups

Community based organization

Establishing the Community based organization (CBO) by federating groups for sustaining the programme. The programme promoted two types of groups (i) SHGs of women (ii) Groups of small / marginal or tenant farmers called as Joint Liability Groups (JLGs)

Having implemented the programme in Kunigal, VIRF intends to replicate this programme on a larger scale in other parts of the state and the country. The programme established CSC to provide multiple services to the community under one roof at the GP level. The services covered data collection, collation of the community members, SHG bookkeeping, advisory on entitlements, self-employment counselling, schemes of government to the community, point of marketing of demand-based services and inputs like mobile recharge, feeds, seeds, financial inclusion service, etc.

Economic Improvement

The financial inclusion services provided were holistic- covering financial literacy to the community through street drama, training groups, enrolment of members to open their savings accounts at the banking kiosks on campaign mode and enabling the groups to access livelihood credit. Financial Inclusion was one of the massive interventions that led to economic improvement of the poor community to a significant level.

To know more about this program, access the full report here