Social issues are many and multiplying in the country everyday. There is a need for ventures that take initiatives to resolve societal challenges. Social Entrepreneurship is the need of the hour since companies that actively take on the responsibility to close gaps within systems and alleviate troubles of the common man will profit not only their own business but also the country at large. Social entrepreneurs in Bihar are many and this article highlights some of the greatest.
Successful social entrepreneurs of Bihar
Dr. Birbal Jha
Dr. Birbal Jha is a social entrepreneur and Etymologist from Bihar who has been working towards the upliftment of the downtrodden communities in India. The Managing Director of Lingua Multiservices Pvt. Ltd., he is driven by the idea of ‘English for all’. Also the Chairman of Mithilalok Foundation, a social organisation working towards socio economic development, Dr. Jha wrote an appeal letter to the Prime Minister of India in March 2020 asking for the ‘Padma’ Award to be conferred to Mrs. Asha Devi, the mother of ‘Nirbhaya’.
Soon to be awarded the title of ‘Mithila Vibhuti’, he is the first person from North Bihar’s Mithilanchal region who connected 4 crores of Mythili speaking people through his flagship ‘save the paag campaign’. Thanks to his efforts, 30,000 youths from the poorest sections of society became fluent in English speaking.
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In social entrepreneurship, the definition of success is very different from a typical enterprise. Financials and balance sheets don’t determine the success of social enterprises.
Sabahat Azim
The CEO and founder of Glocal healthcare which provides telemedicine, Sabahat Azim is a social entrepreneur who has done a lot of good work in Bihar. He catered to the rural poor with affordable healthcare and was named the Social Entrepreneur 2020 by the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Schwabb Foundation for social enterprise for his extraordinary work in providing affordable healthcare and India’s rural works. Sabahat Azim has spent most of his time doing rural service in India.
Under his leadership, in 10 years, Glocal Healthcare built 10 fully functional 100 bed multi-specialty hospitals in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal. It has set up 250 digital dispensaries.
Glocal’s telemedicine platform ‘helloLyf’ partners with Governments, NGO’s, hospitals and other healthcare organisations.
Gunajit Brahma
Gunajit Brahma is a social entrepreneur who was born in Assam and runs multiple companies like Baati Energy, Jeevanksh, and Farmeasy Technologies, among many others. Jeevanksh promotes and markets farm produce of organic farmers in North East India. Baati Energy provides renewable energy sources to uplift the quality of life in society. It also initiated a Solar Water Pumping project in the city of Bodh Gaya in Bihar.
Gunajit’s company Farmeasy works to cut down the burden of small-scale Indian farmers. It provides assistance to farmers to easily acquire farming benefits including loans, and insurance. The company determines whether it’s making a difference by keeping a tab on the number of farmer families associated with it at any given time. Farmeasy improved market linkage for farmers, and drastically reduced cost of production by rolling out a number of training programmes. Gunajit aspires to change the world one project at a time, and he teaches entrepreneurship to the students of IIM Indore as a visiting faculty.
What’s in it for me?
If you are an aspiring social entrepreneur, you have a lot to learn from the success of these three great social entrepreneurs in Bihar. Following in their footsteps, you can create a venture that addresses societal challenges.
With the inspiration received from their stories, you can work hard to break social barriers and aim to create a sense of equality and balance in society. The products or services you offer can provide solutions to seemingly unfair systems.
In social entrepreneurship, the definition of success is very different from a typical enterprise. Financials and balance sheets don’t determine the success of social enterprises. Social impact and change determines your success. Reaching this level requires the right mindset which is seen in the lives of the social entrepreneurs mentioned in this article.
