Headline Nov 17, 2015/ ''' PUMMELLING... -WRETCHED- ...POVERTY '''

''' PUMMELLING... -WRETCHED- 

...POVERTY '''

THE HALLMARK OF THE DEVELOPING WORLD'S underdevelopment is an institutional framework-

Which systematically excludes the majority of the people from the process of investment and thereby from being a driving force for economic growth. 

Very broadly speaking, in any economy in the developing world:

Where more than 60% of the people live on less than $2 per day, the majority are denied a voice in influencing the basket of goods that are produced through the market mechanism.

Given the extremely unequal distribution of income, combined with an institutional structure which allows only the  rich  to invest, the market produces goods and services that cater to the needs of the rich rather than the poor.

So for example expensive restaurants, motor cars, luxury gated housing estates and expensive private hospitals get produced rather than cheap nutritious food for underfed children, low priced mass transit systems, decent housings for the poor and health insurance for affordable medical care of low income groups.

If economic growth and political democracy are to be sustainable it is necessary to change institutional structure to achieve two inter-related objectives : 

1.- Provide opportunities to all of the people rather than only the elite to participate in the process of investment-

2.- Reconfigure markets so that they can also cater to the poor and not just the rich.

The developing world can move can move towards both these objectives by, among other initiatives, establishing large corporations that are:

*owned by the poor, run by professionals and which produce goods and services that can improve the quality of life for the deprived sections of the society*.

The idea here is that an institutional framework be created so that banks in the private and public sectors combined with a credit fund created by the government could give small loans to poor families by directly placing this credit in their name-

In new large corporations set up through  public-private  partnership and managed by committed high quality professionals. The loans can be repaid from the dividends generated in the first first few years. 

Essentially this is not a new idea.

This idea has been tried with great success, although in a slightly different institutional form, in other South Asian countries. Let me enumerate all this with two very simple and super examples:

A few decades ago Dr. Kurien set up a women-based milk cooperative called AMUL, in a single Village in India. Today, with about  7 million women members.

 AMUL is the largest producer and exporter  of milk and milk products  in the world in terms of revenues earned. 

Another example is  Grameen  Telecom initiative by  Nobel Prize  winner Dr. Yunas in Bangladesh.

The company started by giving mobile telephones  phones to women in remote villages  at a nominal rent so that the women could earn a livelihood by selling a telephone service to poor villagers who wanted to speak their relatives working abroad.

**The village women renting in the mobile phones were made  shareholders. In time Grameen Telecom  became the largest  Telecommunications company in Bangladesh owned by millions of poor women**

Dr. Yunas later set up a company again owned by the poor for helping to overcome malnutrition  in Bangladesh. It conducted state of the art research to produce and sell Yogurt that in a single helping-

Could fulfill one day's nutritional requirements of a child 

The Honour and Serving of this  'MicroFinance Operational Research'' continues. Thank you for reading and sharing forward.

With most respectful dedication and  to the memory of  all the people who lost their lives in the recent attacks in France, !WOW! shares the bereavement with the people, students, professors and teachers of France.

See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World Students Society:

''' A New World '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless