SAMPADA TRUST a mission to empower..........

With a vision of empowering women through finance, enterprise and customised services, SAMPADA trust got registered in 2002 and is providing Micro Finance, Micro enterprise and Micro insurance services to around 40,000 women clients in 18 different districts of Maharastra.

They form SHGs of women in each operating villages followed by forming a SMS (sayunkt mahila samiti), a federation of five SHGs. SAMPADA provide loan to SMS and the SMS thenafter gives to the concerned SHGs as per the requirement. SHGs then provide loan to the members. SAMPADA charges an interest of 12% (Flat) for loan termed from 9 months to 24 onths depending upon the nature. The SHGs also involve them in savings activities as each member saves Rs.50 per month. They can also take internal loan from the SHG savings with an annual rate of interest at 2 %.

Once the SHG becomes active and gets some decent amount of savings SAMPDA intervenes with the micro enterprise activities and capacity building of the members. They make the members aware about different ways of livelihood generation and ultimately ends up with creating & financing some micro enterprises for the group. The members work together for the micro enterprise and takes the profit home keeping some percentage for the activities of the group.

Source of income of the end users here are either agriculture (small farmers and agricultural laborers) and animal husbandry. Most of them do not have a proper housing and uses kerosene as the main source of lighting and agricultural waste for cooking. As the housing system is very poor, they are vulnerable to the safety concerns (theft, fear for snakes ect). If they are provided with a good lighting system in their budget, it will drastically boost their life style as well as quality of living. SAMPADA has started providing solar lighting solutions to the poorest of poor clients who do not have access to reliable electricity. They have introduced solar LED lighting systems (mostly 2 lighting systems) with an internal subsidy of Rs.500 on each product. The end users are quite enthusiastic and happy about the lights at their home. Among the 56 households who have taken the lights, almost al has put one light outside their home for safety factor. Light makes a lot sense in their life provided that its designed as per their requirement and paying capacity.

SAMPADA is providing these lights with a collection condition of five-six installments without any interest but inorder to make the program sustainable and reach more people they have to design a different financing strategy keeping in view the clients cash flow and also look at a good durable product.