Eminent scholars, professionals and social activists interested in Interest-free Microfinance launched a national NGO, “Sahulat Microfinance Society” in a meeting held at India International Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi on March 28. The Society will have its headquarters in New Delhi and Branch Offices in different regions of the country. Twenty-one experts on the subject participated in the meeting chaired by Mr. Sherif Ahmed Cadri from Kerala.
The Society shall be a voluntary, non-political, non-profit making social service organisation. It aims at providing interest-free micro-finance options to remove socio-economic disparities and to achieve justice and equity for educationally and financially backward sections of the public at large.
The Bye-laws and Rules and Regulations of the Society were thoroughly discussed in the meeting and unanimously adopted. The Society shall be a facilitating and promoting agency to launch interest-free microfinance cooperative movement all over the country. Its targeted plan for the next five years is to establish at least 500 microfinance units at different places all over the country.
The Perspective Plan with financial projection was thoroughly discussed by financial experts and management professionals in the light of several years’ experiences of other interest-free microfinance institutions running in the country. It has been resolved to achieve the 16-point target relating to registration of the NGO and Cooperatives, survey, training and research, establishment of microfinance cooperative branches at 10 places and setting up administrative and managerial units of the NGO during the preparatory year 2010-11. The Action Plan and the Budget for 2010-11 was also approved.
The idea of launching the national NGO was actually mooted by Prof. K.A. Siddique Hassan, Chairman of Human Welfare Trust as part of the Vision 2016 of the Trust which has envisioned a multi-pronged development plan for socio-economically backward families in the country. The Trust constituted a Task Force under the guidance of renowned Islamic economist Prof. M. Nejatullah Siddiqi in February, 2009.
Convener Task Force Mr. Arshad Ajmal presented the Action-Completion Report of the Task Force. During the last one year, the Task Force met several times to finalise the blueprint of the proposed NGO and the roadmap for launching interest-free microfinance institutions, organised orientation and training camps at the national and State levels, conducted a research study by Mr. Palath on Interest-free Microfinance Institutions in African, Middle-East and South Asian countries, considered the status report by Dr. Rahmatullah on existing interest-free institutions running at 221 places in the country, finalised the working model of Interest-free Microfinance Cooperative institution prepared by Mr. Arshad Ajmal.
Prof. Siddique Hassan was elected President and Mr. Arshad Ajmal Vice-President of the national NGO which has 11 members of the Governing Body. Maximum number of General Body members as fixed under the provisions of the Byelaws is 40.
Mr. Amir Ali, Manager of Islamic Bank, Muscat offered Rs.11 lakh for establishment cost of the NGO and Interest-free Microfinance Cooperative Branches and also offered his services for raising fund for sponsoring new Cooperative branches at some more places. Mr. Anup Kaul from BSICS stressed that the proposed microfinance cooperative units should develop a ‘transformational relationship’ with poor beneficiaries rather than ‘transactional relationship’. He viewed that various developmental components of Vision 2016 should converge with the microfinance activities as inclusive strategy towards enabling the poor mass to get livelihood opportunities. Mr. Shashi Bhushan shall prepare a blueprint of the functional description of the NGO Secretariat and the job description of the CEO required for implementing the Perspective Plan of SAHULAT.
K.K. Allikunj (Kerala), Md. Salauddin Khan (Bihar), Md. Aslam Parvez (W. Bengal), Abuzar Kamaluddin (Bihar), Amir Afaque Ahmad Faizi (Bihar), Shaheed Ramzan C.P. (Kerala), Shashi Bushan (Andhra Pradesh), Anoop Kaul (Delhi), Tahir Beg (UP), Nasima Khan (Delhi), Rahmatullah (Maharashtra), Abdur Rahman (Assam), Mohmmad Abbas Ansari (Maharashtra), S. Rafi ahmad (Karnataka), Md. Abdur Rasheed (Maharashtra), H.Abdur Raqeeb (Tamil Nadu), Ausaf Ahmad (UP), and Ameer Ahmad (Kerala) also participated in the formation meeting of SAHULAT.