I have initiated two institutions, Dhriiti - The Courage Within (NGO) and Tamul Plates Marketing Pvt. Ltd. (a for profit company). Through these institutions I have been able to promote more than 200 micro enterprises generate employment for more than 5000 youth in India. I have been working on arecanut leaf plate manufacturing since the last five and have been able to develop a green industry for rural Assam from a waste material.
Since the last 6 years after I promoted Dhriiti with my friends I have been based in the small town of Barpeta in North East India. This region has a lot of potential in terms of natural resources but due to lack of economic opportunities the youth has been moving towards anti social elements. My effort is to inspire the youth of this region to establish thousands of green enterprises and bring this location on the world map.
Unemployment and Underemployment is the biggest problem that the youth in India faces today, and it also leads them towards anti-social activities. The way out is to promote self employment amongst the youth by encouraging and supporting them to set up their own micro enterprises. The core idea behind Dhriiti is the spirit of enterprise that we want to promote, introduce and inculcate. We realize the urgent need and potential that is present in the rural and semi urban communities in India. A potential which if exploited properly can yield tremendous results in the form of thousands of highly competitive small enterprises. Our attempt is to wed and juxtapose these potentials, to focus in the youth, and to promote small industries and its products in the light and benefits of modern tools of management and technology.
I was born in the steel city of Jamshedpur located in Jharkhand, India, where I did my schooling from Loyola School. I graduated in commerce from SRCC, New Delhi and then worked for a year in CII. My adventurous side then attracted me towards IRMA where I experienced many facets of rural India for the first time and also did my Rural Management. The dreams that I saw in IRMA resulted in the creation of Dhriiti and there has been no looking back since then.
Promoted an organization named “Dhriiti – The Courage Within” (www.dhriiti.org) in December 2004 which promotes entrepreneurship and enterprise development as a solution to the unemployment problem in India. Has been involved in it full time as Director of the Micro Enterprise Development & Management Division (MEDM).
The MEDM division of Dhriiti works to promote and develop small and medium enterprises in rural and semi urban areas. The division intends to set up clusters of cottage/tiny industries with their own marketing federations in different geographical locations. MEDM’s implementation process is unique as it provides a complete end-to-end solution to set up the value chain and supply chain of an industry. We cover all the aspects of enterprise promotion right from technology development, to training, to financial linkages, to marketing linkages and lastly institutional development for long term sustainability.
Presently the MEDM division is promoting arecanut leaf plate manufacturing industries (see www.tpmc.co.in to know more about the product) in North East. In the last 5 years we have piloted the project in Bodoland and other lower Assam districts and reduced the production and market risks for rural producers by 90%. We have been able to establish more than 50 units in the region and are presently expanding it all over the state to take it to 100. The initiative aims to make this a 100 crore industry for rural Assam. Apart from arecanut leaf plates we have also started work on bamboo based industries and are promoting clusters in Barpeta and Baksa district of Assam. The products being focused on are industrial bamboo mats for making bamboo ply and bamboo incense stick.
My role in MEDM is right from conceptualizing the initiatives, raising the finance, to managing the implementation at the field level. I am a leading a multi dimensional team which aims to achieve the triple bottom line of social upliftment, commercial viability and environmental protection. Apart from my MEDM responsibilities I am also involved in all strategic level issues of Dhriiti.
Dhriiti employees & the arecanut leaf plate producers have promoted a company named “Tamul Plates Marketing Private Limited” (TPMC) for marketing the products nationally and internationally. The company provides 100% buy back guarantee to the producers so that they can concentrate on production and need not worry about the market. The company also provides other facilities like technical support and working capital loans to the producers. I am also managing the company operations as the Chief Executive Officer of TPMC.
