Meeting with a Select Group

After the workshop, it was decided that a select group meets and examines the proposed model and the imperatives minutely to chart out an action plan. This was the first time I was to have an interaction with the community leaders without the presence of Stan. I couldn’t understand a word of what they would say and vice versa. Couple of the support staff accompanied me in the meeting.

As per our proposed model, the starting point was to start sourcing collectively in order to obviate the exploitation at that end. Also, starting another savings program was not the objective. Instead, all the savings of the community should get accumulated without spending time and effort on executing a savings program. I’d proposed that the community collates entire income of all members, who are willing to participate.

This requires some explanation.

Accord had started a savings program a few years back. As per the program, each family would save a pre-defined small amount every month or every week. Drops would turn into an ocean over a period and after a few years a large corpus would be available for the community. This was in line with a successful program run for ten years for employees of Accord similar to a provident fund. It was called the ‘Adivasi Mutual Fund’. There is nothing new about the program framework. The only difference was that the collective booty was in-principle a community asset rather than an individual one.

My view is that this program is not suited given the context. The operation of a savings program for the entire community is different from a PF kind of fund for the employees. Collection from employees is automatic, whereas collection from the entire community involves educating them about the program, convincing them to participate and going around every week/month physical collecting the savings. Once convinced, it does not ensure that the next collection will happen without more convincing. For the savings program, a role called ‘savings coordinators’ was defined and people were employed, whose job was to do the above. This made the collection very expensive. Also, people had started asking what interest they will earn on the savings. The question was not unreasonable at all. If they save with an outside bank, they’ll earn 4% pa interest in savings account, higher on fixed deposits. This indicated that the community saw the savings as an individual asset rather than collective. Savings program, therefore suffers from multiple lacunae. Financial feasibility, Customer expectations, Competence of staff and regulatory compliance were all areas of serious concern. That was one part of the analysis. 

Another important question was that if we are walking the path of self reliance, why should there be a need to convince? Why should they save a part of what they can, why not all? If the sense of community was alive, the test was whether they can also treat their savings as collective. It is not another program initiated by an NGO for tribals. It was supposed to be their initiative for their own benefit. They must take charge of it together. It is possible that the entire community does not agree to participate, but it is necessary that whoever participates, does it completely.

It is not my view, but what appears aligned to the stated objective is that all participants to the initiative collage their entire income and source whatever they can collectively, retain the freedom to withdraw from their savings as and when required and the saving be available for the community as capital for enterprises, as infrastructure development corpus, as insurance against eventualities. The collective saving will be the armory of the community to combat ‘market forces’, which, by design, are unfair upon those at the bottom of the pyramid. If there is any semblance of a bank for the community, this was it - whether it is approved by RBI as a bank or not.

All our work so far assumed that there is a strong sense of community, that the ethos of the community are valuable to them and there is a pain they experience because the ethos are being diluted due to the onslaught of the market forces and cash economy. Are our assumptions based on our assessment of what is correct for the community? We need to be willing to keep our biases aside and check if our assumptions hold water. What will determine that is whether they’re willing to act in line with the assumptions, not just agree to the concept.

In this meeting with the select group, I would get my first-hand assessment. The workshop had ended with a unanimous consensus on the conceptual framework and the necessity of walking the path of self reliance. There were two views on what the next step should be. One view was that we test the collective sourcing mechanism amongst the small group of Accord employees and after a few months, extend it to villages and the larger community. The other view was proposed by a few leaders during the workshop. They said that we should not conduct any pilots. We should explain the concept to people through meetings with gram sabhas and get their views and agreement before we move ahead. This suggestion, I felt, was a deferment of commitment – an indefinite deferment.

The first test at the meeting was which course of action they decide to take. They decided to do a pilot. I felt relieved – there was still life in the project. Then I proceeded to explain the next steps. We’ll first need to identify one or a team of two people, who’d take on the responsibility of executing the collective sourcing. There were no names immediately suggested, but the group said that they’d decide soon. They also felt that a 5 member team should supervise the working. The next steps were to identify items to be collectively sourced, check for suppliers, logistics, prices. This will require involvement of the executive team. Once this is done, first sourcing can be done by borrowing money from AMF. The next month, salaries of all participating members would be pooled and they can draw from the collectively sourced items. The balance after deducting the costs will be available to them for withdrawal.

This seemed to strike the group as a thunderbolt. Will we not get salary? I clarified and re-clarified that they will get salary. Just that instead of it being credited to their bank account with outside bank, they will be cumulated with a common entity. The money will be their individual balance. The cost of whatever they consume from the collectively sourced items will be deducted from this balance and the remaining will be available to them for withdrawal.

I could see skepticism, disagreement and even a bit of annoyance. The real test is here. “Why should we pool all our income? Why can’t we pool in a smaller amount every month?” they asked. “If all our surplus is pooled, how will we meet emergency expenses?” was another question. Their fear, it appeared, was that they’d be foregoing their savings towards the community saving. Perhaps the model seemed like being paid in kind instead of cash and they’ll give up their freedom to choose what they buy and also justify their purchases. The air had a tension, as if we were discussing salary cuts or possible lay-offs.

I assured them that their salary and their right to use it would not be altered. Just the mechanism will be modified. Instead of being transferred to their bank account, it will get pooled. Records will be maintained at individual level. Whatever they consume from the collectively sourced goods will be reduced from their balance. They may withdraw whatever they need to pay in cash like bus tickets, etc. I explained that at present, each of them has a bank account with some bank and their savings are parked there. If 5000 families have Rs. 2000 as their savings account balance, Rs. 100 lac is lying with outside banks. Instead, if this money is lying in a pool, it is available for common use or contingency. That is precisely the benefit sought of having a bank. As far as emergency is concerned, a big amount can be kept at village level to meet any contingency. Individual saving may be limited, say to 1 - 5 thousand. Instead, a cash reserve can be kept for every 20 families or so. There are approx 300 villages. If Rs. 10,000 at every village, Rs. 30 lac is kept as cash reserve. That way, emergency is better covered with just 30% of the deposits. By pooling income instead of collecting savings, the cost of collection is nearly obviated. That is the reason total income should be pooled instead of collecting a fixed saving. There is no fixed amount, which is relevant for every family. Some families may find 250 per month difficult to save and some will end up saving only 250, though they can save 1000.

I explained the answers multiple times. I assured them that by doing this, they will be truly taking charge of their community finances and economy. Accord or Stan or I are outsiders and may not be available in the future. By taking this step, they’d be providing for that eventuality. But after a little while, I sensed that I’d lost their attention. They were too pre-occupied with their fears to listen to me. Slowly their fears managed to drive my logical arguments aside.

After the meeting, I spent some time reflecting. Had I failed in convincing them? Could I have done anything differently? Should I have met them only in Stan’s presence? After all, I did not speak their language. I don’t know. But being true to the spirit of research, I must understand and accept what has happened. Not let my biases interfere.

Their reaction and their fears are perfectly in line with mainstream thinking. If their thinking is the same, are they any different? Are our assumptions about their values and identity misplaced? The stress test seems to suggest so. It would be appropriate to let some time pass, let the thought process sink in and wait to see if their fears subside.