Analysis of Civil Services Mains Examination 2011 General Studies Papers

Below is the analysis of Civil Services Mains Examination 2011 General Studies papers:

•     Lesser number of options
•     More number of questions
•     Mix of different sections in one question
•     5-markers were compulsory
•     No minimum number of questions or marks from any topic
•     Emphasis on ecological issues

Mix and Match
As in 2010 there were questions from different sections under a single major question. For instance, question no. 1 consisted of four sub-questions, two on Polity, one on nutrition, and one on health. Fortunately question no 2 exclusively focused on modern Indian History.

This implies that IAS aspirants cannot afford to leave out any topic as the questions will be asked from different sections.

Lesser Number of Options
This is another reason why the GS Mains paper is getting harder progressively. Earlier a candidate had to attempt 3 out of 5 questions or had the liberty of at least one option in all questions except the 2-markers.

But now the 5-mark questions are compulsory which is again a slight disadvantage as not attempting even three or four 5-markers can make a big difference to your final GS score.
 

Emphasis on Ecological Issues
As in the 2011 Prelims paper, the Mains General Studies paper had a high focus on ecological aspects as well. For instance a question was asked about “evolution of Green Benches in the higher judiciary” that combined polity and environment.

Similarly a question on the melting of the Arctic ice was asked in paper 2. It is advisable to cover the environmental aspects in detail when preparing for Geography. This was you can cover two topics simultaneously while preparing for the General Studies paper.
 

More Number of Questions
This trend is visible in the optionals as well not just the GS paper. Earlier there used to be 30 mark questions but now they have been replaced by 20 mark questions. Also while the 2-markers have been retained there is addition of 5-markers which cannot be neglected without compromising on the final score.

The 10 mark questions seem to have replaced by 12 mark ones with 150 word limit instead of 125 words for the 10-markers.

Get prepared for some heavy writing in the GS papers. But more than writing what consumes increased time with the addition of more questions is the thinking required for each question.

It takes more time to think for three 20 mark questions than it does for two 30 markers even though the total marks are the same in both instances.
 

Statistics was Easy
I’ve mentioned this in my earlier analysis that statistics follows a see-saw pattern. One year the questions seem very difficult, the next quite easy. Fortunately this year Statistics was quite comfortable to attempt provided you had enough time in hand.

If you didn’t already know it, I always advise to attempt Statistics in the end as you might waste precious time if you get stuck on one question should you attempt it first. Of course, statistics requires constant practice to tackle the questions correctly and quickly. But if you can, these are some sure marks that can make up for low score in the first paper.
 

Overall Difficulty of the 2011 GS Paper was Moderate
Yes, although it can’t be termed an easy paper, it was not too difficult either. Science and Technology was divided into numerous 5-markers that were pretty straightforward provided you were aware of the current developments in S&T.

The questions on modern History were also of moderate difficulty and were not difficult to understand unlike the History questions in 2009 and 2010.

It seems UPSC was aware that many first timers are attempting this year’s Mains due to the changes in the Prelims pattern and accordingly kept the GS paper to manageable difficulty levels.

How to get 140 marks in Essay in Civil Services Exam Part 1

1. R K NARAYAN’S NOVELS (SWAMI & FRIENDS,THE ENGLISH TEACHER,THE GUIDE,THE DARK ROOM,THE BACHELOR OF ARTS,WAITING FOR MAHATMA,THE PAINTER OF SIGNS etc)
2. WAITING FOR GODOT ----- by SAMUEL BECKETT
3. T S ELIOT ----- SELECTED POEMS
4. THE GOLDEN TREASURY
5. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ( MACBETH,KING LEAR,TEMPEST … ETC)
6. ENGLISH AUGUST ------ by UPAMANYU CHATTERJEE
7. GEORGE ORWELL ----- THE ANIMAL FARM,1984
8. BERTRAND RUSSELL ----- SCEPTICAL ESSAYS, PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS, HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
9. THE DISCOVERY OF INDIA --- JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
10. THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS ---- ARUNDHATI ROY
11. MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN ---- SALMAN RUSHDIE
12. PLAYS OF HAROLD PINTER or at least know about his works.
13. ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE ---- by GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
14. NOVELS OF CHARLES DICKENS like GREAT EXPECTATIONS, A TALE OF TWO CITIES, HARD TIMES etc
15. Search TOP 100 NOVELS OF ALL TIME in Google & read some 5-10 novels of any author “WHOM YOU LIKE” …

How to get 140 marks in Essay in Civil Services Exam Part 2

• Now I will turn to SHORT-TERM PREPARATION which everybody wants:-

2. SHORT-TERM PREPARATION:-

• For this you need 4-6 months in hand. Plz read:-

1. The Hindu articles & analysis (At least read some 500-1000 Articles from Hindu & in one FILE keep the best 100-150 Articles & Revise them.)
2. The Times of India Editorials (Sunday Edition. The SUNDAY TIMES & “NOT” the DELHI TIMES!!! ) 
3. The Oxford Book of Essays edited by John Gross( Read some good Essays) (Selective reading)
4. The Penguin Book of Essays(Read some good Essays) (Selective reading)
5. The Book of Essays by Spectrum & quotations given at the back. Remember 200-300 good Quotations which you can use in any Essay & use them liberally.
6. Oxford Book of Twentieth Century Quotations
7. Oxford or Rupa Book of Quotations
8. Competition Success Review Book of Essays (2 Vols for Juniors & 2 Vols for Seniors). CSR publishes GOOD Essays in Essay Competitions. So you can pick points from them …
9. Read sometimes The Economic Times Editorials (Left hand side only. The 3rd editorial on the left lower corner helps in Essay. Also “The Debate” (for, against & neutral) that comes in Tuesday )
10. Make 2-3 diaries full by QUOTATIONS, DIFFICULT WORDS & their meaning, Who said what etc.

• Try to write in simple, effective & in an expressive manner. Every sentence of your essay must have a FORCE which should shake the examiner …If you have mastery over FLOWERY language, then go for it. Or else write in a simple, straightforward & concise manner.
• I write in a flowery language with LOTS OF QUOTATIONS & difficult words.

Essay preparation for Civil Services Exam can be of two types:- 

1. LONG-TERM PREPARATION 
2. SHORT-TERM PREPARATION

I will first write about long-term preparation. It can be done by those aspirants who have 1 yr or 2 yr or 3 years in their hands i.e. before Mains exam …

1. LONG-TERM PREPARATION 
(The Path Less Trodden):-

• These things should be done when you are doing your GRADUATION these days or u have enough time say 10 months at least to go for Extra-Curricular reading :-

• For long-term preparation be regular with any two national newspapers. I would recommend THE HINDU & THE TIMES OF INDIA. The Hindu gives you simple & effective writing style while TOI gives u stylish English & increases your vocabulary. Both are needed to write a good Essay. 

• Read 2-3 hours everyday. Specially focus on the Editorials & other Analytical & Critical articles. Say in Hindu focus on Magazine, Book Review, Literary Review, Business Review, Open Page, 2 page OP-ED Page etc & in The Times of India focus on its Editorial Page. Whenever you encounter a DIFFICULT PHRASE, EDIOM, PART OF SPEECH etc just see the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary or Chambers Dictionary & in a Diary note down that word, its meaning, its usage in sentence etc. This MUST be done within 1-2 minutes. Don’t keep it pending. 

• Or else one word is lost from your vocabulary. By doing this your VOCABULARY will increase & you will know HOW TO USE THAT WORD IN A DIFFERENT CONTEXT. This is a gradual & continuous process and it will take 12-18 months to make your vocabulary very strong & have command over the language & expressive power.

• In addition to newspapers read as many articles from GOOD MAGAZINES as possible. The following magazines can be referred to.
a. FRONTLINE ( Must )
b. THE ECONOMIC & POLITICAL WEEKLY ( Must )
c. MAINSTREAM (Optional)
d. WORLD FOCUS (Optional)
e. THE ECONOMIST (Optional)
f. TIME or LIFE ( If you have access to a good library)

• I am not saying that you should try to finish all these magazines in one month. But try to read as many HIGH QUALITY ARTICLES as possible. This will increase the RANGE & VARIETY of your thinking & will make you knowledgeable about the happenings around the world & different streams of thought. (For Example: - What is “Stream of Consciousness”? What is “Theatre of Absurd”? What is “Objective Correlative” in T S Eliot’s poems? What is The Revival Movement? Etc) 

• Jot down POWERFUL & EFFECTIVE sentences that you come across in a Diary. Any Quotations or Important Sentences said by Intellectuals like Amartya Sen, Manmohan Singh, Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, Bertrand Russell, Arundhati Roy etc should be noted down.

• Revise your Diary in free time many times so that you can remember these quotations, important words, sentences etc & use them at relevant places in your Essay in Mains Exam.

• Apart from these things read a lot of NOVELS, POEMS, PLAYS, SHORT STORIES etc

• I am giving a list of some of the books that I read. You can pick up some of them …

http://civilservicesexam.blogspot.com

Libra symbol - The Balance
Libra ruling Planet- Venus

Libra quality- Cardinal

Libra element- Air  

Lucky Metal- Copper

Lucky day – Friday

Lucky color –Pink, Blue and Green

Lucky No – 6,15, 24, 33, 42, 51, 60

Lucky Flowers – Daisies and Daffodils

Lucky stone- Lapis Lazuli, Cornelian and Sapphire

Positive Qualities: Diplomatic, Alert, Charming, Balanced and Just
Negative Qualities: Easy-going, indecisive, changeful, insincere, detached, artful and selfish.
Traits: Diplomatic, Alert, Charming, Balanced, Just, Easy-going, indecisive, changeful, insincere, detached, artful and selfish
Famous Personalities:Gandhiji, Jaiprakash Narayan, R.K.Narayan, Ashok Kumar and Hema Malini. 

Born 8.October.1988?: Here is some intersting in My Life:

Libras born on October 8 are level-headed and cannot be swayed by flattery. They possess the usual Libra charm, but they don't trade on it. October 8 men and women believe in paying attention to detail. They are personally ambitious, yet care more for relationships than any professional enterprise. An ability to balance both is a trademark.

Friends and Lovers

These people have a natural talent for making friends, especially through professional channels. They have a very serious approach to romance and often marry their first love. If they divorce, they may have trouble getting back into the dating game.

Children and Family

October 8 men and women need the security and love that comes from being part of a large family. They are often the emotional backbone of the family. As parents, they believe in setting high standards. They know that a little fair, consistent discipline can go a long way. They have a great tenderness for their children.

Health

Since October 8 individuals have problems handling stress, they may experience periodic indigestion as well as poor sleep habits. October 8 individuals need to find holistic cures for sleep disorders.

Career and Finances

People born on this date thrive in careers related to the business aspects of artistic endeavors. They also enjoy working in big-ticket retail. They have creative ideas involving financial investments and have the savvy to become effective financial counselors.

Dreams and Goals

The people born on this date can achieve their goals without ego and have the patience to take each day as it comes. They understand that great goals hinge on details and that if these are left undone there is little chance that even the most ambitious goal can be realized.

Q1 FY 2012 Earnings review

The First Quarter of Financial Year 2011-12 ended in June, and with nearly all results in, let us see how we fared. I gathered the results of 950 companies, and as an important caveat, used consolidated results where available. *

*  Most companies reveal only standalone results each quarter. Increasingly, companies are moving into a holding structure and own a majority stake in subsidiaries. This calls for consolidated financial results, which many companies now release. For Yahoo, we compiled a list of all results using consolidated data where available (and where Q1 of last year was also available in a consolidated format). Consolidated results number nearly 25% of all companies, and the results are substantially different from using only standalone data.
Overall Results

The 950 companies surveyed have more than 85% of the market cap of the index, with a notable exception of COAL INDIA where we do not have comparable Q1 figures for the previous year and thus has not been included.

With over 28% revenue growth the story has been quite strong on the topline, but bottomlines have grown only 12.5%. Growing inflation and interest costs have started to hurt, but our growth has been remarkably strong in the quarter.

We are seriously top heavy: the top 10 stocks are more than 1/3rd of the total revenue, and the top 100, more than 70%. Organized by profit, the top 100 stocks make more than 85% of the total profits seen.

Did you know, the company with the highest revenue, Indian Oil Corporation at 92,523 cr. in the quarter made the highest loss as well, at -3719 cr? The three petro giants — IOC, BPCL and HPCL, collectively lost over 9,300 cr. in the quarter.
Indexes and Sectors

Let's take a look at major indexes on the NSE — the Nifty (the top 50 stocks by market cap), the Nifty Junior (the next 50 after the Nifty) and the Nifty Midcap (the third rung of broad companies, so to speak)

There are a number of sector indexes, where we have included Financials, Realty, Infrastructure, FMCG, Pharma and so on.

(Methodology: Add all the Nifty stock revenues and profits for the quarters ending June this year and the last, and calculate growth)

And, profits:

The Nifty's performance was buoyed by:

1)      Cairn: the stock grew profits by 800% (from 281 cr. to 2726 cr.)

2)      Tata Steel, which nearly tripled consolidated profits from 1852 cr. to 5347 cr.

Minus these two stocks, profit growth on the Nifty was a meager 5%.

The Junior and Midcap indexes have seen profits dip, as RBI measures to slow down the economy and indeed, inflation, work to hurt margins. Note that both these broad indexes have seen big topline growth — shrinking margins with topline growth is an indicator that costs might be getting out of hand. Big winners and losers in these indexes:

1)      GMR Infra: Went from a 28 cr. profit to a 67 cr. loss.

2)      Ultratech cement: Profits great 181% to 683 cr.

3)      Aurobindo Pharma: booked a loss of 122 cr. against a profit of 51.5 cr. last year.

4)      TTML: Switched to a 119 cr. loss after a 558 cr. profit in Jun 2010.

On a sector basis, the Energy, FMCG and Pharma sectors have done the best, and in general they are defensive sectors. IT, which has been seen negatively due to the slowdown in the west, managed to eke out 20% revenue growth while scaling profits 13%.

Financials have been a mixed bag: While revenues grew over 33%, profits fell 2%, largely on the back of an SBI that shrank profits by over 25% (and it has the highest profits and revenue of the lot, so its performance matters). Most PSU banks shrunk earnings but the worst was a 55% profit shrinkage from Reliance Capital. HDFC Bank and IDBI Bank grew over 33% in near earnings.

All banks grew revenues over 25% - a sign that with increasing rates, banks earn more. But the system hasn't yet begun to see defaults, so the impact of slowing growth on the economy (and thus, on the banks) will only be visible after a few quarter.

Realty was the worst of the lot, with a revenue growth of a meager 4%, while shrinking profits 21% in the quarter as against Jun 2010. Orbit Corp and Godrej Properties saw profits fall over 50%.
The Dam is Holding

On the Nifty 50 stocks, an interesting pattern has begun to emerge: In the Jun quarter, 15 stocks showed a shrinking profit, with 16 showing stellar growth (over 25%). The "good" stocks are offsetting the "bad" ones; but how will this play out?

Interest Costs

To conclude, we must see how interest costs are hurting the economy. How much more interest are our top stocks paying?  The cost implication is obvious:

With another rate increase that came after the quarter ended (0.50% in July), and another one expected in September, where will profits go in the September quarter. I'll keep you posted.

Loan against shares: What should you know?

With consumer spending on rise and loans getting expensive, individuals are finding new ways to fulfill their money requirements. Providing Loans against Gold etc. is one more way in which borrowers are able to procure loans from banks. Yet another way to procure a loan is through LAS (loan against security). A loan against shares would fall under this category. This option is not known to many borrowers as banks do not advertise this often. The loan is granted when you pledge your shares to the bank. More and more banks are offering this option now and also expanding the financial assets that can be used as for a LAS option.

How does this work?

You cannot get a loan against all shares. Banks usually define the shares of the companies which can be pledged against the loan. These shares are very liquid, from high quality companies, and highly valued securities. The amount depends on valuation of shares, margin allowed by the bank, and your past credit history. The amount of loan is about 50% to 70% of the value of the shares pledged with the bank. Hence if your stock portfolio for these shares is 10 lakhs, you can get a loan of 5 lakhs to 7 lakhs against the stock portfolio. This again depends on the liquidity of the stocks in your portfolio.

You can pledge your shares with the bank, which will issue a current account. You can withdraw money from this account. The advantage of loan against shares is that you will be charged interest only on the amount you withdraw from the account and for the span of time the fund is utilized. The other advantage is that you require no personal guarantor for loan against shares.

Banks keep changing the shares against which loans can be taken. This happens at regular intervals. This is done to ensure the stability and liquidity of shares which can be pledged.

If you have shares in the physical form, most of the banks require that you convert them into dematerialized form and then only you can apply for a loan. Dematerializing physical shares is not difficult. Few banks may provide loan against shares in physical form too. However, the interest rate will be higher and also the loan amount as a percentage of the value of the share will be lower.

When should you go for it?

You should opt for loan against shares only when you need instant liquidity and you are sure to pay it back in few months. If you have any doubt on your repayment capability, try other sources.

The interest rate on loan against share depends on the prevailing rate in the market. You should compare the interest rate for loan against shares with other options such as a personal loan or need specific loan. If you find a cheaper option, go for that.

Many borrowers take loan against shares to invest it back in shares. Don't do this. Taking a loan to buy shares is a financially harmful habit. In fact many banks attach the clause that you cannot use it for buying shares.

Important points to keep in mind

Getting a loan against share is hassle free and the borrower is mostly free to spend the money in a manner he or she wishes to. This comes with no strings attached. You should have good and valued shares in your portfolio to get a loan against it. However, you must keep some factors in mind when you opt for this.

The minimum amount of a loan against shares is 1 lakh while the maximum amount is 20 lakhs. You can get the loan for a year and renew it in future. The tenure may vary with individual banks. The maximum amount in the case of physical shares is 10 lakhs.

Don't be tempted to borrow just because you have a good portfolio. You have built this portfolio over a period of time with due diligence. Unless absolutely necessary, don't pledge your shares to obtain a loan. If you do pledge to get a loan against the stock portfolio, make sure that you pay it back at the first opportunity.

Look at the various charges such as processing fees, one-time fee, renewal charges, Government levies, and service taxes. Usually there is no pre-payment penalty but it is advisable to ensure this with the bank. These charges may make the actual cost of loan higher than the interest rate charged.

Shares are valued every week to see the maximum limit of loan available to you. As long as the market is bullish, you will have no problem. In fact if the share prices go up, the banks will be able to give you a higher amount of loan. However, when the value of your portfolio falls, banks ask you to pay the difference using cash or by pledging more shares. This could be potentially dangerous if you do not have any cash available with you or any more shares.  Banks may sell your stocks to recover the loan, if circumstances demand so.

The dividends, bonuses, or any benefit on the pledged shares will accrue to you.

On loan against other financial assets

Banks also provide loan against other financial assets such as mutual funds, insurance, bonds, fixed maturity plans, exchange traded funds, and Government securities. The total loan value against the pledged assets varies with individual cases. The value is higher, almost 80% of the asset value, for Government securities as these are risk free assets.

Youngest Female Sarpanch Makes Her Village IT-Enabled

It's a story that's actually many stories.

A village named Soda didn't have water. So the young sarpanch, Chhavi Rajawat (incidentally a young, female MBA graduate) got inquisitive about the funds allocated to the village. Since more had been spent than allocated, she raised funds on her own.

Money came from family and friends - 20 lakh rupees wasn't enough for the Rs 3.5 crore that the reservoir needed.

So Chhavi Rajawat got more even inquisitive about the funds sanctioned to her village. Files at the district headquarters in Tonk revealed a calculation error. Chavi decided to get proactive about the lack of transparency and accountability. Soda thus became India's first IT-enabled village, after tying up with a German software vendor to set up an internet and intranet portal. along with a technology education lab.

The portal allows Soda's 10,000 strong population 24x7 access to the funds sanctioned for the village.

There's also online postings of birth and death certificates, besides posting land records online.

"A fire in Tonk had destroyed land records of many villages," says Rajawat. "This ERP (enterprise resource planning) application will have an electronic database, and store all land records in servers."

Rajawat recently represented India at a recent UN poverty summit.

alkadwivedi

"Most youth in the village are unemployed, as they don't have higher education due to absence of a college. We want to change that with e-education," says she.

There's even a website, www.soda-india.in where Chavi posts info about funds allocated for projects such as a village bank, community centre for weddings and cataract surgery for the needy.

Theres even plans to link Soda's portal with the state government's websites.This will make Soda the first fully computerized Panchayat in India. While there has been a sanction by the Central government (Rs 4,500 crore) for the e-panchayat project, matters of fund allocation and project monitoring are not clearly mentioned. (MensXP.com)

SAVE -SALIEN AREA VITALIZATION ENTERPRISE LIMITED

Agariyas spend eight months period (October - May) in the desert and face hostile environmental conditions - high temperatures, dusty winds, glare and suffer health hazards - high blood pressure, eye & skin diseases. This is further aggravated by lack of access to water, health, education and community life. After suffering the hostile natural conditions and taking all the risk associated with salt production, the producers in the end get only 1% of the final price paid by the domestic users and 8% by the industrial users. Generally, the value of the salt is less than the bag in which it is packed.

In essence agariyas suffer inhuman work environment and unfair value & supply chain. This must change.To improve the quality of life of agariyas and achieve greater productivity & profitability of salt production activity, their access must be increased to institutional credit, markets and technology, replacing the present system of credit linked market services provided by the traders.

Gujarat produces 70% of the salt of the country. Salt produced in coastal and inland regions has domestic and industrial uses. About 70,000 salt producers-Agariyas (having less than 10 acres of salt pan) are engaged in salt production activity in Little Rann of Kutch (LRK In essence agariyas suffer inhuman work environment and unfair value & supply chain. This must change.To improve the quality of life of agariyas and achieve greater productivity & profitability of salt production activity, their access must be increased to institutional credit, markets and technology, replacing the present system of credit linked market services provided by the traders.
Sabras Processing and Marketing (Pvt.) Ltd. established - as a producers owned, producers controlled, professionally managed enterprise hopes to alter the situation.

About Promoters:
SAVE – Saline Area Vitalisation enterprise Ltd. is techno-marketing service organisation (TSO) set up in 1995, under Company Act 1956. The company is designed to provide enterprise development services particularly to primary producers with limited assets and located along the coast of Gujarat.

SAVE promotes its core values of - Ethical growth, just distribution and judicious use of surplus through forging Partnerships with primary producerssuch that it ensures inclusive growth. 
For SAVE, incorporation of SABRAS Processing and Marketing (Pvt.) Ltd. is a way to pursue its core vision of “mainstreaming the marginalized” in a changing economic environment. 
In this model each partner (salt producers and SAVE Ltd.) would share the risk/profits proportionately to their stakes in the venture. Agariyas with their skills and hard work would provide backward linkages while SAVE with its experience would provide access to market, credit and technology.

Ownership of SABRAS:
SABRAS incorporated on 5th February 2007, has an equity of Rs.100,000/- of which 74% is held by 28 small salt producers and 26% by SAVE Ltd.

Governance:The Board of Directors include two agariyas and one representative of SAVE Ltd.

Management :The company is managed by the experienced and qualified professionals of SAVE Ltd.

Operations of the Company :

• Procurement of salt from salt pans in LRK
• Transporting and heaping
• Processing and packaging as per order
• Delivery to the consumer companies
• Technical inputs and credit linkages for salt production

SABRAS is a different company in several ways:

• Majority equity holders produce salt in harsh sub- human conditions in Little Rann of Kutch.
• The raw material producers and suppliers for the company are the marginalized agariyas who also hold majority equity in the company.
• Through the company the agariyas have moved one step forward in the value chain i.e. in addition to producing salt they have been exposed to aspects like market, its demands, quality control, pricing of the product, sales & distribution etc.
• Two marginalized agariyas are members of board of Directors of the company.

Performance highlights over three years:

Perfomance of 2006-7 2007-8 2008-9 No of Agariyas -  (shareholders) 28 28 28 No of Agariyas - (salt procured from) 28 28 39 Quanity of salt procured in Tons 1,880 9,000 10,300 Price increment realised by agariyas (Rs. Per Ton)  10.00 20.00 15.00 Total income of SABRAS (Rs. in Lac) 4.57 28.18 42.59 Shareholders fund (Rs. in Lac) 1.00 1.00 1.00 Total Debt (Rs. in Lac) 8.65 23.76 25.64

ABOUT USVision & Mission We at SAVE view poor as resource and not a liability. We believe that entrepreneurship of poor which needs to be promoted and strengthened to help them improve their quality of life. We perceive strength of poor in their numbers and hence proactively promote their consolidation while engaging with the market economy. We believe that the poor must have propionate share of the expanded opportunities created due to changes in the macroeconomic environment. SAVE promotes enterprises which would help them be part of the mainstream development process. We believe that poor must have access to quality technical and marketing services at a cost. We at SAVE price these services, as it is in this act that lies the self-respect and dignity of the poor and accountability of the professionals. We believe in - ethical economic growth, socially just distribution and judicious use of surplus. Organisational Structure : SAVE is organised in three units. LEAP : Livelihood and Enterprise Advancement Programme Integrated Wasteland Development Programme Salt Producers, Little Rann of Kutch- SABRAS SETU : Linking primary producers with primary consumers both at international and national level PRIME : Planning, Research, Implementation, Monitoring & Evaluation. Restoration and regeneration of Mangroves. Watershed development programme Geographical Coverage: SAVE is operating in following districts of Gujarat. • Bharuch • Vadodara • Anand • Ahmedabad • Bhavnagar • Surendranagar The Board of Directors   Mr. Chinubhai Shah Chairman   Mr. Sam Palia Former Executive Director, IDBI   Dr. Dinesh Awasthi Director, EDI – INDIA   Dr. Sukhpal Sing Prof. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad   Ms. Daksha Shah Consultant, Friends of Women’s World Banking   Mr. Rajesh Shah Managing Director Clients: Primary producers living on coastal areas and engaged in • Agriculture • Animal husbandry  • Fisheries • Salt and charcoal making NGOs & their networks Industries and their associations Corporate organization Development support organizations Government organizations Share Holding : The Company has equity base of Rs. 14,00,000 shared among 230 shareholders. They include agriculture labourers, members of NGO community, staff of the company and individuals who subscribe to the concept of social investment development.

This IIM topper sells vegetables

He is shy, and speaks broken English. He loves Bihar, the state in which he was born and brought up. He is an alumnus (and topper) of IIM- Ahmedabad. He was MTV's youth icon for 2008.

And he is a vegetable vendor.

Surya Ragunaathan meets Kaushalendra Kumar, a young social entrepreneur currently doing some pioneering work in the field of vegetable retail. 

The first of a two part interview. 

What inspired you to be an entrepreneur and start doing something on your own? 

Since childhood, I have been learning many should-be-done-in-agriculture-sector things. Especially in Bihar. I always found farmers had nobody to look up to, no support from anybody. Being a farmer's son myself, I thought I have been given an opportunity (of getting a good education and to be knowledgeable) which most farmers' children don't get in this country. So I wanted to do something for our society and for them especially. Because nobody cares for them.

Is your work completely charitable, or are you also making a livelihood out of this?

We are not doing any charity. We are making our livelihood out of this as well. This is a business opportunity for farmers and for all of us.

So what exactly do you do?

My organisation is called KNIDS Green Pvt. Ltd. and Samriddhii is the vegetable retail project. We focus on mobilizing and organizing the informal and fragmented vegetable sector. We resource poor vegetable growers, vegetable vendors, and farm labourers of Bihar. The goal of the foundation is to create opportunities - gainful and dignified self-employment - for the families dependent on agriculture sector, especially disadvantaged sections namely farmers, farm labourers, agriculture produce vendors and many others. This is a community that brings rice and dal to your home. And nobody cares for them. We ensure sustainable livelihood, enriched environment, improved quality of life and good human values for them.

Can you describe step-by-step the process of your work?

We have been working towards making the street vegetable vendors, your sabziwala and marginal growers more professional.  We also work towards empowering them to face future challenges in the new global economy, thus creating wealth and prosperity from 'farm-gate to food-plate' through undertaking the holistic view of vegetable supply chain under our project 'Samriddhii' We have formed some attractive partnerships between the farmers and vendors with a focus on shared interests and mutual growth. To maintain product integrity from the source to the customer, the organisation has established a totally integrated supply chain and services bundle which connects and maintains the flow of goods from the source (growers) to customer (road-side vendors, organized retailers, food services and hospitality industry). Key benefits of the model include waste reduction (quantity and time), shelf-life extension and cost reduction of agri-produce from hinterlands and upcountry sources to the markets.

We have public and private partnerships with Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA), Patna. We have been assisted financially through soft loan by Friends of Women World Banking (FWWB) Ahmedabad. Recently, Punjab National Bank (PNB) has sanctioned Rs. 50 Lakhs to our project. Approximately 1000 farmers are associated with us. We have our procurement network in two districts of Bihar namely Patna and Nalanda.

How much of your MBA knowledge do you practically use in your work? (Can you give some examples here?)

MBA knowledge has developed confidence in me. I have been using the concepts learnt at IIM-Ahmedabad in designing training modules, expansion strategies and overall development strategies of the work we are involved in. You know, MBA taught me to have a holistic approach to problems.

In the second and  final part of the interview with the vegetable vendor from IIM-Ahmedabad,Kaushalendra Kumar talks to Surya Ragunaathan about his family and his life-long commitment to the state of Bihar. . 

Part I: This IIM topper sells vegetables

When and why did you decide to become a 'vegetable vendor'?

Marketing has been the biggest bottleneck for Indian farmers. They have never considered it as an integral part of their work. It would be impossible to think of their prosperity unless they have ability of marketing. To get first hand experience of vegetable selling and marketing, we decided to learn the menaces of vegetable sales and subsequently lessons learnt are being transferred to farmer members. I used to actually go with my father to the market and sell vegetables on a cart.

How did your parents, friends, and teachers react? Did you have to forgo a well-paying job to do this?

My family members were shocked to know that I am going to start my own organization. And that too in Patna, Bihar! Nevertheless, they did not try to persuade me to go for a job because they are aware of my nature that if I decide something, I will do only that. They have never interfered with my decisions since childhood. They always encouraged independent decision making. My elder brother Shri Dhirendra Kumar has left his job and is working as programme coordinator in our organisation.

Many of my professors from IIM-A are supporting us. Our mentor is Prof. Piyush Kumar Sinha, Chairman, Centre of Retailing, IIM-A. Under his continued guidance we have been able to take this so far. Many of my friends from IIM-A like Om Prakash Singh, Abhishek Kumar, Vaibhav, Vineeta Singh (from IIRM) and many others are continuously supporting us. They always provide their strategic input and sometimes financial inputs too. Their encouragements help me move ahead always.

Do you have a mission in this direction? If yes, what is it?

Our mission is to make Bihar the vegetable hub of the nation and to develop brand Bihar in vegetable sector.

Did you take any kind of training or special research to get into this kind of work?

No, I have not taken any special training. I am born and brought up in a village. My native district Nalanda is the largest producer of vegetables in Bihar. I have grown up here. I have seen their hardships. And I have seen the government’s apathy towards this community. They don’t care. Nobody cares.

Do you plan to do this all your life?

I am committed to the prosperity of Bihar. Most people make fun of the state. But well, they don’t know it’s potential.