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November 27, 2006 |
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Vikram Akula is the Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2006 in India
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New Delhi, INDIA � Vikram Akula,
Founder and CEO of SKS Microfinance Private Limited, has been named
the India Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson
of the United Progressive Alliance and President of the India
National Congress, presented the award to Vikram during the World
Economic Forum�s India Economic Summit. Vikram said, "This award is
an affirmation of the entrepreneurial spirit of the poor women
working across India."
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Sonia Gandhi presents Vikram with the Social Entrepreneur of the
Year Award
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SKS Microfinance, based in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, applies global
business practices to the field of microfinance. Known as the
�Starbucks of Microfinance�, SKS standardizes microfinance processes
and uses technology to accelerate growth. Indeed, SKS was the
fastest growing microfinance institution from 1998 to 2004 with a
165% annual growth rate. SKS has lent over $100 Million (Rs. 500
crores) in income-generating loans to approximately 400,000 families
in impoverished regions of 11 states of India. In the last year
alone, SKS achieved 125% growth while maintaining a 98% on-time
repayment rate. Their loan members improve their economic well-being
by 11% yearly − often breaking the cycle of poverty within three
years.
Vikram was born in Hyderabad and grew up in the United States. He
witnessed poverty on numerous family visits to India and made a
promise to himself to eradicate it. In 2006, Vikram was named by
TIME Magazine as one of the world�s 100 most influential people.
SKS was selected because, in addition to rapid expansion, SKS leads
the industry in the use of innovative technologies. It is one of the
first MFIs in the world to have a fully-automated management
information system.
The Schwab Foundation and the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, in
collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and
United Nations Development Program (UNDP), worked together on the
selection and award process. An eminent jury including
representatives of the partners as well as Anu Aga of Thermax Ltd,
Ashok Khosla of Development Alternatives, Byrraju Raju of Satyam
Computer Services and Shekhar Gupta of Indian Express selected the
Social Entrepreneur of the Year in India.
The other three finalists were:
Amitabha Sadangi is the CEO of International Development Enterprises
India (IDEI) based in New Delhi. Since 1992, IDEI has developed and
marketed affordable micro-irrigation technologies to 800,000
marginal and small farmers of India. The irrigation technologies
have vastly improved their agricultural productivity, strengthened
their food security bases and integrated them into rural markets.
This often lifts the user out of poverty by raising income by 33 to
50%.
Padmanabha and Rama Rao are the co-directors and co-founders of
Rishi Valley Institute for Educational Resources (RIVER) based in
Madanpalli, Andhra Pradesh. RIVER has developed a multigrade,
multi-level (MGML) methodology that turns the many problems of rural
education into advantages. RIVER has worked with the government to
adopt the MGML methodology in more than 25,000 schools and provides
quality education to 7.5 million children.
S. Rajagopalan and Svati Bhogle are the chairman and CEO
respectively of Technology Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE) based
in Bangalore. TIDE identifies economically rewarding,
environment-friendly technologies and adopts them to be sold by
rural entrepreneurs to demonstrate the local economic benefit of
technology use and overcome socio-cultural obstacles. This has led
to improved livelihoods for 15,000 individuals and the conservation
of 150,000 tonnes of natural resources.
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship was started by
Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, and his wife,
Hilde. Since its inception in 2000, the Foundation has been
searching for the world�s leading social entrepreneurs, who
implement innovative and pragmatic solutions to social problems by
tackling the root causes and creating a social transformation. The
current network of the Foundation spans 105 social entrepreneurs and
their organizations from more than 40 countries. A recent evaluation
study showed that the budgets and the number of beneficiaries
reached of the selected social entrepreneurs grew three times faster
while part of the network. In one year alone, the Schwab social
entrepreneurs raised close to US$ 80 million as a direct result of
the contacts and opportunities offered by the Foundation.
Further information on the social entrepreneurs can be found at
http://www.schwabfound.org.
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