Sarojamani was restless. It was past 5 pm and Jayakumar had still not arrived with the battery. She has been a small vendor for the last 17 years. Earlier, vendors had to either scramble for a place below the streetlight or spend on expensive, low illuminating light sources or pack up their business by sunset. Sarojamani recalls spending over Rs 900 per month on gas lights, and even then customers would turn away from her ware due to poor illumination.
“Why has the light not come?” asked Kantaraju, who sits next to her. Kantaraju is also Jayakumar's customer. He shifted from petromax lanterns due to the high cost of kerosene and the issue of maintenance.
The delay of light soon becomes the topic of discussion among all the vendors around until someone yells, “Jayakumar has come."
“Traffic jam,” explain Jayakumar and his brother with an apologetic smile, while they hurriedly take the battery out and connect it to the lights in the hawkers' stalls. Within minutes, the whole vicinity lights up and everybody's faces as well.
Customers visiting the busy market in Dasarahalli, off Tumkur Road in Bangalore, are surprised to see the whole surrounding lit up by CFL bulbs. People can now judge the freshness of vegetables, fruits and flowers under the bright lights. It was a different story just two years back. The vendors found themselves battling darkness every night, with no safe and reliable alternatives in sight. It all changed a year back when Jayakumar distributed "Dari deepa" to these vendors.
Jayakumar provides battery-operated CFL lights to these vendors at a cost of Rs 15 per light, every evening from 6 pm to 10 pm. He takes the batteries back in the night and recharges them for use the next day. Around 20 people in Malleshwaram and some 60 people in Dasarahalli are his customers.
Jayakumar is not the only one in this business. Vijaykumar of Bommanahalli was the first entrepreneur to distribute lights and batteries to the street vendors in Bommanahalli and Madiwala. The enterprise which started off in a small scale has grown into a huge business. Other entrepreneurs like Jayakumar, Srinivas and Ramesh worked under him and with the experience they gained they are now successfully operating similar businesses in Dasarahalli, Malleshwaram, K R Market and Naganathapura.
This business idea has been developed by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), S3IDF (Small Scale Sustainable Infrastructure Development Fund), a Section 25 company based in Bangalore. S3IDF implemented its first such project in Kundapur, Udupi district, a few year back.
“S3IDF aims at providing basic infrastructure services to people. We provide these services by fostering self-employing small scale businesses, garnering financial assistance from banks for the entrepreneurs and linking them to appropriate technology suppliers. Providing eco-friendly, hassle-free and cost-effective lights to street vendors is one of the projects that we have taken up. Our purpose is to motivate local people to start small businesses/ enterprises by using local resources,” says Krishna C Rao, the Chief Operating Officer of S3IDF in Bangalore.
Though the government is trying to encourage new entrepreneurs and small scale enterprises, banks are hesitant to give financial assistance to them. As a result, S3IDF has provided partial guarantee to enable some of its entrepreneurs to avail loans from banks. “But this trend should go,” feels development officer Nataraj.
"When I approached the banks for the financing of this business, they hesitated. I initially invested only Rs 20,000, while S3IDF loaned the rest of the amount. Now I am thinking of providing push-carts to vendors,” says Jayakumar. “Vendors generally hire pushcarts for their wares. Instead, I will provide them pushcarts, for which they will pay me back in installments and finally own the carts themselves.”
“Entrepreneurs like Jayakumar are aplenty, but they are hardly recognised. Self-employment is not generated by huge industries or outlets alone, but small efforts also pay good results,” says Nataraj.
Take the example of "Dari deepa". One system of CFL bulb, battery and associated accessories costs just Rs 2,500. This is a one-time investment. If you get a rent of Rs 15 per light, per day, 100 lights bring an income of Rs 1,500 daily, enough to pay for maintenance (including the electricity bill of Rs 500-600 per month for charging the batteries) and loan repayment, earning a sufficient amount as profit.
As this is a profitable venture, the whole family of Vijayakumar, Srinivas, Jayakumar and Ramesh are involved in this business.
These lights have lit up the lives of vendors as well. “I have been selling snacks for the last 6 years. These lights have improved my business,” says Babu, a vendor in Naganathpura.
“I used to spend Rs 70 a day on petromax lantern. Sometimes, when kerosene was scarce, I had to go without lights. The lantern would also give away during business hours and I would have to repair it, neglecting my business. These bulbs are hassle-free,” exclaims Shafi, who travels all the way from Mysore.
As far as possible, S3IDF does not provide direct financial assistance to anybody.
“Entrepreneurs should learn to maintain accounts and repay loans properly. If it is a loan from the bank, on-time repayment and maintenance of bank account makes these small time entrepreneurs bankable, enabling them to deal with banks directly without our assistance,” opines Nataraj.
S3IDF has taken up projects like providing small flour mills, efficient stoves for silk reeling, etc. But its main focus has been on extending "Dari deepa" all over.
Those interested may contact: Small Scale Sustainable Infrastructure Development Fund (S3IDF), No. 813, 12th B Cross, 23rd Main, 2nd Stage, J P Nagar, Bangalore- 78; Ph: 6590 2558.
