Chetna Gala Sinha on why women need to be economically empowered

Photograph by: Abheet Gidwani

Chetna Gala Sinha has successfully bridged the roles of an economic idealist and hands-on social transformer. Her unrelenting commitment to improve the lives of underprivileged women has transformed the ground realities in places where few would expect things to change. Through her work, Gala Sinha has brought the issue of “access versus control” for women to the centre stage. Unless women are given control of the resources, they will not have the power to make their own decisions and be truly heard in society. Through knowledge and skills, women can better exercise this control, and the formidable Gala Sinha and her Mann Deshi Foundation have been doing some truly inspiring work in this direction.

What prompted you to dedicate your life to empowering women?

I was born and raised in Mumbai, and I never would have imagined that what I do now is what I would be doing. When I was pursuing my under-graduation, I was involved with a few Gandhian organisations as it was during the Emergency. Gandhian leader Jayaprakash Narayan appealed to the youth to work in rural India, and that initially fascinated me and then inspired me. I started travelling to the villages and visited Satara district, where I met my husband, Vijay. He was also a part of the movement, though he was a farmer and not highly educated. My experience there was life-changing. I soon moved and realised the inequalities that needed addressing.

Mann Deshi runs on three pillars: financial control, team building and community networks. What are the projects you are currently working on?

Right now I’m most excited by our project to launch one million rural women entrepreneurs through partnerships with social enterprises and mainline financial institutions in India. Why one million? Because if we, as women, create jobs, we will drive the rural economy of India. Yes, banking options are available but we need to innovate and empower. At the World Economic Forum, I launched the Securities and Exchange Board of India-registered fund for women micro-entrepreneurs. In this way, we can build micro-enterprises, and improve the economy of women entrepreneurs in rural India.

Apart from individuals like yourself and a few other organisations, is there enough action around economic empowerment for women in India?

I do feel this is most challenging in a country like India. When it comes to micro-enterprises owned by women, we are lagging way behind. If we don’t have a micro-enterprise sector, I feel women’s empowerment will be hampered. For example, UTI has a women’s fund and I always tell them to communicate directly with the women entrepreneurs: What do they require? What are the information systems available? How many of them have a PAN card? How many know about GST? There’s a lot of information that does not trickle down. Mann Deshi’s efforts alone are not going to solve the entire country’s problems. All we have done is showcase a successful model. Policy makers have to make the change happen and it has to be a collaborative effort with the community. I think the corporate sector has to also bring the business in—big corporations need to go that extra mile and realise the social value of what they do. Community organisations have the passion but those who are reaping the profits should also have the passion to extend their funds into these areas so we can see long-term impact.

The heart of your work seems to be based on organising people—be it the business school or financial independence process, or community networks. How do you make people work together?

That’s the biggest challenge. In 2012, we had a very bad drought and animals were sent to other places because there was no water and the women who work with me asked, “If we migrate in search of water, with whom are you going to run the foundation?” and I felt that they raised a very important issue, so we started cattle care. It was such a bad drought that we had 13,000 animals at one time and we had to continue the camp for a year. Working with a community is all about communicating constantly.

All organisations need to answer some basic questions: Are you a service organisation, or do you only provide the community with access? Do you provide control on finance, assets and knowledge? It depends on the mission of your organisation and the theme you choose to follow. But there should be space for community leadership, and I think for the best output they should head and drive it. When they have the ownership, there will be ownership and real change. We work in a target-driven world, not just in business but also in the social sector. But at the same time, quality and power must be shared. Yes, organisations like ours have founders, but at the same time the community leaders actually drive the organisation. It is a challenge—they are not English speakers, they don’t have computer skills—but they do have vision and skill. They are leaders and they strive for progress. There has to be a dignified scheme that we have to give community leaders. Only then will the pride and power truly seep in and these leaders will drive the community with the policies. It has to be done cautiously. In the early ’60s and ’70s, it was union-led. Now we have the community organisations. So, how do we make these organisations stronger and bring them into the mainstream so they play a significant role with the policy makers and the business sector? And how do we make them understand that we are neither selling a product here nor are we agents of some effect but we do have a vision and if the vision is taken forward we can have some sustainable development.

What’s your advice to those entering the development field today?

It’s very simple. Listen to people—even if they are not educated, they can have knowledge. Listen to women—they’re wise. And make these women equal participants in your journey—you won’t be sorry.

Roshni Nadar Malhotra is a philanthropist and the CEO of HCL Enterprise

Read more in Vogue India’s November 2018 issue that hit stands on November 5, 2018

Photographed by: Bikramjit Bose. Styled by: Anaita Shroff Adajania

On Kareena: Bikini top, Melissa Odabash

Hair: Ajay Kaloya (Ranbir); Priyanka Borkar (Alia); Yianni Tsapatori/ Faze Management (Kareena). Makeup: Mickey Contractor (Kareena); Hemant Naik (Ranbir); Puneet B Saini (Alia). Production: Imran Khatri Productions; Divya Jagwani. Photographer’s assistants: Vikas Gotra (Ranbir). Assistant stylists: Priyanka Kapadia; Fabio Immediato; Aradhana Baruah. Editorial assistant: Janine Dubash