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Branch Manager Rashida Bano at a meeting with
Aajeevika clients in Holambi Kalan |
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Rashida Bano’s working day begins 6.30am on the dot, when she opens the IntelleCash Aajeevika Franchise’s Holambi branch, and begins checking the registers. “For this job you need three things,” she explains, “punctuality, responsibility and honesty”.
Rashida first moved to the Holambi Kalan slum in Northwest Delhi five years ago, while she was still at school. It was not a voluntary move. Along with tens of thousands of others, she and her family were forced to relocate from their homes in central Delhi on government orders, as part of an urban redevelopment programme.
The Banos were originally allocated a plot of land just 12 feet square, without running water, electricity, or even a roof. Rashida’s father, a tailor, struggled to maintain his business. Rashida’s studies were also severely disrupted. For many families it was a period of intense hardship and economic deprivation.
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| Today, at the age of just 23, Rashida is the branch manager at Holambi, and a key member of the IntelleCash Aajeevika team that provides thousands of women with access to credit across the slum. Each month, her salary is invested in a savings account to provide for her family’s future. “My dream is that in ten years I will be running my own microfinance bank”. |
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Since Aajeevika became an IntelleCash franchisee, Rashida has come significantly closer to realizing her dreams, and fulfilling her potential.
In 2007, she attended IntelleCash’s residential training course in Uttar Pradesh. “We learn how to prepare people to join one of our loan centres, and how to do the GRT, the Group Recognition Test…I learnt a lot.”.
As branch manager, she has also been trained in recruitment, interview and selection techniques by IntelleCash, skills which will be crucial as Aajeevika’s workforce expands.
Aajeevika’s future lies with young people like Rashida. The urban slums where Aajeevika operates are filled with talented people waiting for the opportunity to improve their lives. By providing them with the means to do so, Aajeevika offers a lasting and financially sustainable solution to the problem of urban poverty. |
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