Youth for Development

Inspiring stories of change from the State Bank of Indias Youth Fellows

Youth for
Development
Inspiring stories of change from the
State Bank of Indias Youth Fellows

The future belongs to

the young generation

Indias
demographic
potential
offers us an
unprecedented
edge

I often mull over Mahatma Gandhis

oft quoted statement You must
be the change you wish to see
in the world. I feel it is primarily
addressed to the youth, the trustees
of tomorrow. As such I thought
it quite apt for the celebration of
the International Youth Day. It is
especially relevant for India, as
India is set to become the youngest
country by 2020 with over 60
percent of its population by then
falling in the working age group. This
demographic potential offers us an
unprecedented edge and it is for our
youth to draw on the words of the
Mahatma and leave their imprint on
the world.
The future belongs to the young
generation and it is imperative that
todays youth empower themselves
with knowledge and information
which will give them the strength and
conviction to stand up and demand
that the right path be followed. They
need to be professional, acquire
the right skills, gather the correct
attitude so that their energies can
be focussed on bringing about the
change they wish to seea change
towards equality, better quality of
life, health and environment.

meet their needs. India has been

observing a National Youth Day on
12th of January every year since 1985
in honour of Swami Vivekananda
whose thinking and philosophy
had galvanized the youth into a
potent force. We too at SBI have
conceptualized an initiative Youth
for India Fellowshipto accelerate
growth and development in the rural
sector while transforming Fellows
into caring citizens with a more
holistic worldview. Our programme
in association with reputed nongovernment organizations (NGOs),
encourages the youth in joining
hands with rural communities,
empathize with their struggles
and aspirations for equitable and
sustainable growth. We need to
continually tap into this vitality
as the hope of the world rests on
the shoulders of this cohort. The
International Youth Day celebrated
globally on the 12th of August will go
a long way in adding to the growing
awareness about the potential of the
young.
Arundhati Bhattacharya
Chairman,
State Bank of India

The youth today are very aspirational

and we must provide adequate
resources and the enablers to
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Empower young people to play a

strong role in building a more inclusive
and sustainable future for all

Young people are

the driving force
of development

Young people are among the

greatest assets countries have. For
India, which is estimated to have 356
million young people, it offers a huge
demographic dividend. The energy,
enthusiasm and innovation of young
people can be an important driving
force of development.
The State Bank of Indias Youth for
Development Fellowship recognizes
this spirit of young people. The
corporate social responsibility
initiative undertaken by one of
the countrys largest public sector
banks places young people in rural
areas along with established NGOs
and allows them to call on their
ingenuity, innovation and passion to
make a difference in peoples lives.
As the stories in this booklet tell us,
its transforming both their lives, and
the lives of the local communities
they support.

about the role and the potential of

young people in todays world.
Experience from across the world
reveals that when young people
lack opportunities to engage
proactively and realize their potential,
development may be affected. In
turn economic and social crises
can impact young people. It is
essential to include and empower
young people to play a strong role
in building a more inclusive and
sustainable future for all.
Yuri Afanasiev
United Nations Resident Coordinator
and UNDP Resident Representative

We commend the State Bank of India

for their commitment to this exciting
initiative and in particular, the
Chairperson, under whose leadership
this Fellowship Programme continues
to expand.
We can think of no more appropriate
setting to celebrate the achievements
of these Fellows than International
Youth Day, celebrated each year on
12 August, which raises awareness
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SBIs Youth for India Fellowship allows

young people to follow their heart
Youth for India is a corporate social
responsibility initiative launched by
State Bank of India to bridge the
growing urbanrural divide in India. The
Fellowship allows young Indians to follow
their heart and implement innovations
that promote the socio-economic
development of rural areas. Launched
in 2011, Youth for India is a thirteen
month-long Fellowship that enables
bright, urban youth to work on rural
development projects. During the course
of the Fellowship, the Fellows live locally
near the project site, working closely
with experienced non-governmental
organizations.
SBI Youth for India Fellows are from
diverse academic backgrounds
including from some of the best
institutions in India, like the Indian
Institute of Technology, Indian Institute
of Management, National Institute of
Design, National Institute of Fashion
Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru University
and Mumbai University. Many have
worked in the private sector in leading
corporate and consulting companies,
such as the Tata Group, Reliance,
Deloitte, Accenture, IBM, Infosys, Ernst
& Young, Thomson Reuters, CISCO
8

and L&T, before taking a break from

their lucrative careers to apply for the
Fellowship.
The current batch of Youth for India
Fellows was selected from among 6,500
applicants. More than half the current
Fellows are women. Projects undertaken
by the Fellows include health and
sanitation, behaviour change, income
generation activities rooted in the
local economy, and strengthening local
governance institutions.

Showcasing inspirational stories:

Youth for Development Dialogue

On 12 August 2015, to mark the occasion of International Youth Day, a few of
State Bank of Indias Youth for India Fellows will showcase innovations they
have undertaken during 2014-15 in four states, including Gujarat, Madhya
Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan.
Projects undertaken by SBI Fellows complement flagship initiatives of the
Government of India such as the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Beti Bachao Beti
Padhao Scheme and Smart Villages.
Fellows will be presenting their work to an audience of young people, leading
development practitioners, policymakers, representatives from bilateral and
multilateral agencies, corporate sector and UN agencies. The dialogue is
organized by the State Bank of India and the United Nations in India.
These presentations will be but a few of the many inspiring efforts undertaken
through the Youth for India Fellowship programme managed by State Bank of
India. You can read more inspirational stories at http://www.youthforindia.org/
9

Every woman bleeds and it

should not be a matter of shame.
Every woman has the right to earn
and she should not refrain
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Simren Singh
Twenty-five-year-old Simren has always
been convinced of the need to break
the taboos that surround menstruation
in India and has worked relentlessly to
create awareness on the issue. Better
menstrual hygiene promotes improved
health status of women, in particular
teenage girls. But women in rural areas
lack convenient choices in the use of
sanitary napkins.
Many rural women adopt practices
that are unhygienic and contribute to
their poor health. As a Youth for India
Fellow, Simren worked along with Seva

Lets Talk Menstruation!

Mandir, an NGO in Udaipur, to bring
about behaviour change in menstrual
hygiene practices among tribal women
in Khervara. She also helped promote
income generation by training the
women in the village, most of whom
were wives of migrant workers, to make
and sell eco-friendly, hand-made cloth
sanitary napkins.

in adopting the changed behaviour,

the village development committee
has sanctioned a new sewing machine
so that more sanitary napkins can be
produced for the women in the village.

The first batch of sanitary napkins was

produced by 10 women. The women
started by using a machine made
available by Jatan Sansthan. Seeing
the enthusiasm of the local community

Simren is from Dehradun. She holds a

Bachelors degree from Lady Shri Ram College
for Women, New Delhi and has completed an
MA in International Relations from Jawaharlal
Nehru University.

11

I hope I have inspired village communities

and local government bodies that Clean
India is not just a phrase. It is actionable
with very little effort
12

Priyvrat

Clean Villages, Clean India

Thirty-one-year-old Priyvrat joined the

SBI Youth for India Fellowship with one
aim to promote community hygiene
in rural India. He took a sabbatical from
his job at the State Bank of India and
headed to Odisha to pilot a project
on decentralized waste management
systems to improve sanitary conditions
in Hardingo village in Ganjam district.
In a span of six months, Priyvrat
was able to mobilize 177 households
to adopt solid and liquid waste
management and segregation practices.
With the assistance of Gram Vikas, a
local NGO, the gram sabha and the

village sarpanch, he conducted waste

audits in the village. In meetings with
the villagers, he explained the benefits
of community hygiene. With community
support, he organized cleanliness drives,
street plays and drawing competitions
among school students to help promote
waste management practices. By
installing colour-coded dustbins to
segregate waste, thereby reducing
the time-consuming job of waste
segregation, he made it easier for the
villagers to adopt the change. He also
promoted revenue generation by setting
up a system for the community to sell

recyclable material to the local scrap

dealer, which was a great motivator
for the villagers. Hardingo village will
soon be a clean village. Priyvrats pilot
project has been approved by district
authorities and will be rolled out in
many more villages in the district.

Priyvrat is from Haryana. He studied Mechanical

Engineering at Maharshi Dayanand University in
Rohtak, Haryana.

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Good governance backed with the right

technology can transform peoples lives. Through
this Fellowship I help motivate people to
participate in governance and be change leaders
14

Ashwini Shelke
As the daughter of a village sarpanch,
Ashwini Shelke grew up knowing
the transformational power of good
governance, especially at the local
level. Which is why she chose to
create awareness about the role and
functioning of panchayats and promote
e-governance as her initiative under the
Youth for India programme.
For the past nine months, Ashwini
has been working in Kanpuri and Sidri
village in Madhya Pradesh to promote
her vision of good governance. In Sidri,
she organized the first ever mahila
sabha to address womens grievances
and is also credited for the village

Good Governance, Better Future

electing its first woman sarpanch. Mahila

sabhas are now held regularly, at least
once a month, in the village.
Ashwini has also spent considerable
time in raising awareness among
the villagers, particularly farmers,
by organizing film screenings and
a door-to-door campaign about
government schemes that they can
access to supplement their income.
She has worked with local government
officials to bridge the gap between the
government and the people.

is supervising the construction of the

panchayat bhavans e-governance cell
and is also providing basic computer
training to the villagers. She believes
that the e-governance cell will enable
the residents of Kanpuri to access
government schemes through the
Internet and assist in providing facilities
such as printing and photo copying
services.

In collaboration with the Aga Khan

Rural Support Programme, Ashwini

Ashwini holds a graduate degree in Economics

from Mumbai University. She used to work
part-time as a teacher before being selected for
the Fellowship programme.

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The SBI Fellowship has been a very gratifying

experience which has provided a new direction
to my life and understanding of how technology
can help build livelihoods
16

Anant Vats

Skilling India

Technology and how it can be used for

social change has always fascinated
Anant Vats. Its this passion that he
brings to in his work with bamboo
artisans in the Dang region of Gujarat
under the Fellowship programme.
Thirty-three-year-old Anant has
introduced innovative mechanical tools
to help bamboo artisans improve the
quality of their products and reduce
the drudgery associated with working
with bamboo. In close collaboration
with BAIF Development Research
Foundation, Pune, Anant has developed
a number of low cost prototypes,

including a bamboo axe and a splitter.

The bamboo axe helps in cutting
bamboo into four or eight uniform
splits in one go. This axe prototype
is not only cheaper compared to the
traditional axe, but also requires less
effort. The bamboo splitter developed
by Anant helps mechanize the process
of splitting bamboo. He has also
introduced a heat etcher, a tool that
helps bamboo artisans make decorative
patterns on their products, and a box
sander, an electrical powered tool that
helps reduce the time required to finish
bamboo products, typically a painful
and time-consuming process.

Nearly 40 artisans in two pilot

villages, Ambapara and Dagarpada,
are producing more than double the
quantity of bamboo mugs. They have
witnessed a 40 percent increase in
income through the sales of these
products at a local tourist spot in
Gheeradoot. Anant is now developing
a financial proposal to secure funding
for bamboo artisans to enable more of
them to purchase these prototype tools.

With a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a

Masters from the Indian Institute of Technology,
Chennai, Anant spent the last five years as an
entrepreneur before taking the plunge and
moving to Gujarat as an SBI Fellow.

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Working with tribal children, most of them

first-generation learners, has taught me that
all kids have the same potential. With little
honing and attention, they can do wonders
18

Sunayana Chatrapathy
Till a year ago, 31-year-old Sunayana
Chatrapathy spent most of her days
shuttling between glass cabins and
meeting rooms as a Human Resource
Manager for a Bangalore-based
technology firm. But Sunayana knew
that was not her true calling. In search
of something more meaningful and
gratifying, she quit her job.
Today, Sunayana is an SBI Fellow,
working and living in a remote location
in Odishas tribal belt, imparting
education to 500 tribal children in a
local school. Together with NGO, Gram
Vikas, she has developed an activitybased learning module for primary
school students. It aims to make

Learning, the Fun Way!

learning fun and engaging for these

young children.
She employs a technique called math
manipulative which uses pattern
blocks, cubes, fraction circles, geoboards and more - to teach concepts
and vocabulary as well as encourage
imaginative play and exploration. She
is also training teachers to ensure
sustainability of the project. Till now, she
has trained 35 teachers in 30 different
concepts.
Another feather in Sunayanas hat has
been introducing computer training to
the students and teachers. With her
assistance, teachers are now computer

literate, using a computer to prepare

monthly reports, download educational
videos in Odiya and send emails.
Sunayana has also looked for innovative
ways to fund her initiative, using social
media tools like blogs and Twitter to
raise awareness about her project and
the challenges she faces. Recently
Pratham, an innovative learning
organization aimed at improving the
quality of education in India, sent her
books worth INR 25,000 after reading
her blog. And her tweet compelled a
stranger to donate a laptop that the
teachers now use in their classes to
show videos.
Sunayana will finish her Fellowship in
October but has no plans to back to
corporate life. She hopes to work with
government schools and strengthen its
curriculum.

Sunayana is from Bangalore. She holds a Masters

degree in Business Administration from the Symbiosis
Institute of Business Management, Pune.

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I have learnt is to be patient. At first, tribal

women didnt even talk to me. Now they are
my friends and accept my guidance. If you
want to see results, thats the way to go
20

Diksha Mishra
Unlike most 20-somethings, Diksha
Mishra did not plan a vacation with her
friends after finishing college. Nor was
she looking for a job. She had her mind
set on a different agenda to volunteer
her time for rural development,
especially for women. So at 23, she
packed her bags and left for a remote
and nondescript tribal village in Dang,
Gujarat to work on a project to improve
womens health and create an alternate
source of income for them.
At first she hoped to create a viable
market for locally produced poppadum
but something more pressing caught
her attention. Over 90 percent of
households she visited were battling

Healthy Women, Healthy Environment

with thick indoor smoke from traditional
cookstoves. Not only were women
most adversely affected, it was a health
hazard for the whole family.
Diksha addressed the problem by
developing smokeless cookstoves with
L-shaped chimney to avoid making
holes in the roofs of the kaccha or
mud houses. The cookstove is made
from mud and locally sourced material.
She added an iron grate on top of
the cookstove, which allows food to
be cooked faster. This innovation has
reduced firewood consumption by
nearly half. Earlier if cooking one meal
required 10 logs of wood, this cookstove
uses only five, which means women

spend fewer hours collecting firewood

and have more time for themselves.
To ensure the sustainability of the
project, Diksha invited experts from a
nearby village to train 21 women from
local self help groups to build and install
these cookstoves themselves. Today
eight women travel within Dang district,
building and installing these cookstoves
for INR 400. This includes a labour
charge of INR 100. These easy-to-make
cookstoves require only one hour and
women can easily make three to four
such stoves a day. This earns women an
additional INR 2,000 every week.
Working with the Aga Khan Rural
Support Programme, Diksha has now
expanded her pilot project to 4-5 villages
in Dang and one village in Bihar. She has
installed over 30 smokeless cookstoves
and demand is only growing.

Diksha is from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. She has a

Bachelors degree in Economics from the University
of Delhi and a Diploma in Human Rights, specializing
in Womens Rights from the Indian Institute of Human
Rights, Delhi.

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United Nations India

55, Lodi Estate, Post Box No: 3059,
New Delhi 110003, India
Ph: +91-11-46532333
Email: unrco.in@one.un.org
Website: in.one.un.org
@UNinIndia
/UnitedNationsIndia

SBI Youth for India

c/o State Bank of India
CSR Department
Air India Building, Seventh Floor
Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021
Ph: +91-08025554678
Email: contactus@youthforindia.org
Website: youthforindia.org
@sbi_yfi
/sbiyouthforindia

Photo Credits: Pranab K Aich/ UN in India | Mithila Jariwala/UN in India | Ruhani Kaur/UN in India | Dhiraj Singh/UN in India | Ishan Tankha/UN in India