Giving Back to the Society
M.P.Vasi Malai, Executive Director, DHAN Foundation
Finding Purpose in Grassroots Development
My journey into grassroots development began during my years at IIM Ahmedabad, when I engaged in deep self-reflection—asking who I am, what strengths and weaknesses I carry, and how I could be most useful to society. This introspection led me to decline corporate placements and choose to work in rural and poor communities. I felt that my upbringing, my education, and my capabilities made me more relevant in the development sector, where I could meaningfully contribute to social transformation.
My early years were shaped in a Gandhian institution, where I learned a principle that continues to guide my life: we must walk with people, not work for them. When people make their own decisions and contribute—whether through savings or partial funding for water projects—they gain ownership, equity, and confidence, and their dependence on outsiders naturally diminishes. Negotiating with poor communities in a respectful and equitable way was one of my earliest lessons, and this has deeply influenced everything I have built thereafter.
A turning point came when I realized how few professionals were choosing grassroots work. Along with colleagues, I helped create institutions like PRADAN and later strengthened DHAN Foundation with a clear purpose: to build professionals to build people. I believed, and continue to believe, that if we bring talented management and technical graduates into the development sector, provide them with conducive salary structures and long-term career pathways, and immerse them in field-based learning, they can design and scale powerful models of poverty reduction. In my experience, when community governance is combined with the support of a committed professional, one individual can transform the lives of 3,000—4,000 people within three to five years. These professionals can then mentor new entrants, creating a continuous stream of development leaders across rural, urban, coastal, and tribal landscapes.
Building People Through Institutions and Values
From the beginning, we have insisted that real development demands long-term engagement—at least 8 to 10 years. Quick fixes and short-term projects may produce impressive reports, but they rarely last. To build confidence among people, to help them manage their own institutions, and to ensure sustainability, we must stay with them for a decade or more. Our approach in DHAN has therefore always been thematic: we begin with livelihoods, build capacities around one theme, and allow communities to diversify into education, health, and other areas over time.
DHAN Foundation stands firmly on six core values that guide our work every day: grassroots action, enabling, collaboration, excellence, innovation, and self-regulation. Grassroots action cornes first; as development professionals, we must be in the field, demonstrating through our conduct what we expect from others. Enabling means, we do not do things for people and thereby disable them—we create the conditions for them to act on their own. Collaboration is essential because isolated islands of prosperity are neither just nor sustainable; we must work with communities, banks, government departments, and partner organizations.
Excellence requires attention to every operational detail – small process improvements matter deeply. Innovation keeps our models fresh and relevant. And finally, self-regulation demands that we internalize discipline and ethical conduct without depending on external enforcement. Thèse values are not abstract; they must be reflected in our everyday actions.
Transforming Communities Through Sustainable Development
Over the years, DHAN has built its interventions through a series of thematic programmes. Our Kalanjiam Community Banking Programme has demonstrated how self-help groups can become powerful institutions of poverty reduction and women's empowerment. Through SCRIPT—Savings, Credit, Remittances, Insurance, Pension, and Digital Transactions—we have mainstreamed financial inclusion while integrating livelihood, health, education, and housing services. We also coordinate the RBI-supported Centre for Financial Literacy across more than 1041 blocks in six states and union territories.
Our Vayalagam Tankfed Agriculture Programme and Rainfed Agriculture programme focus on restoring water bodies and improving agricultural systems. Through a river basin approach and the CAUSE framework—Conservation, Agriculture Advancement, Usufruct Rights, SCRIPT (Savings, Credit, Remittance, Insurance, Pension and Transaction digitally) with Social Enterprises, and Encroachment Eviction/Prevention—we have strengthened community governance of water resources. Our work extends to Panchayat Development, and The DHAN Academy continues to train professionals for the sector. Supporting institutions like KDFS (Kalanjiam Development Financial Services), HOPE (Housing and Habitat Development of Poor for Empowerment Confederation), SUHAM (Sustainable Health Care Advancement), People Mutuals, and Jeevidam expand our reach in microfinance, health services, risk mitigation, and livelihoods.
DHAN's impact today stands on strong evidence. As of March 2025, 6.5 lakh member families have self-declared that they have moved out of poverty, out of the 30 lakh families we serve continuously and 2 crore families for short time single programmes engagement. More than 250 block-level federations are now fully self-sustaining, collectively managing nearly Rs.25 crore in administrative costs annually. Our water conservation work—appreciated by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and NITI Aayog—recently conserved 22.95 billion litres of water in a single year across 14 blocks. Through our financial inclusion ecosystem, members have saved Rs.1500 crore, accessed Rs.2,200 crore in loan services, and availed two crore insurance policies. Our anemia reduction model was selected as the best under NRHM and replicated widely. In the past decade alone, we have implemented 60 projects worth Rs.200 crore with the support of CSR partners, UN agencies, governments, academic institutions, and philanthropists.
Today, DHAN reaches about 3 million households, and we aim to reach 6—10 million families—around 400 million people—in the coming years. As we scale, our focus is to strengthen self-growth within people's institution so that one community-based organization promotes another, allowing natural expansion at low cost. Community financing is emerging strongly—self-sustaining communities increasingly want to give back by funding new groups and supporting education and health programs in partnership with local governments.
The Road Ahead: Social Entrepreneurship and Giving Back
My conception of social enterprise is rooted in Gandhian thought: a social entrepreneur is a trustee—an ethical professional who uses education, privilege, and managerial skills to empower poor communities to govern their own development. They are not charity workers, nor are they profit-maximizers; they are long-term companions committed to enabling people's institutions to become the real drivers of change.
I believe there is enormous room for professionals—engineers, doctors, management graduates, agriculture experts, and others—to flower in the development sector. Attitude and clarity of purpose are foundational. When we regard the poor community as the primary stakeholder—just as businesses regard the consumer—our skills align naturally with that purpose. I also invite professionals in the corporate sector to contribute through CSR and volunteering; even a small portion of their energy can shape humanity's future by advancing poverty eradication.
To me, development work is not simply an alternative career—it is a deeply fulfilling path where one can transform many lives while living one's own values of justice, service, and shared prosperity. My life's journey and DHAN's collective experience affirm one truth: Giving back to society is not an act—it is a way of life, a disciplined practice, and a commitment to walk with people until they no longer need us.