ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chetna Gala Sinha - Banker, social entrepreneur
Chetna Gala Sinha is the founder and chair of the Mann Deshi Bank, aimed at the needs of rural women micro-entrepreneurs in India.

Why you should listen

Chetna Gala Sinha is a passionate listener who respects risk-takers -- which makes her a powerful force in the banking world. A longtime activist and farmer, in 1997 she set up the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank, India's first bank for and by rural women. Today, the Mann Deshi Bank has 90,000 account holders, manages business of more than Rs. 150 crores (or 22 million dollars) and regularly creates new financial products to support the needs of female micro-entrepreneurs. In 2006, Sinha founded the first business school for rural women in India, and in 2013, she launched a toll-free helpline and the first Chambers of Commerce for women micro-entrepreneurs in the country. In 2012, she set up a community empowerment program for farmers that supports water conservation; it has built ten check dams and impacted 50,000 people.

In January 2018, Sinha served as a co-chair of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and in November 2017, she was honored with a leadership award from Forbes India.

More profile about the speaker
Chetna Gala Sinha | Speaker | TED.com
TED2018

Chetna Gala Sinha: How women in rural India turned courage into capital

Filmed:
1,542,110 views

When bankers refused to serve her neighbors in rural India, Chetna Gala Sinha did the next best thing: she opened a bank of her own, the first ever for and by women in the country. In this inspiring talk, she shares stories of the women who encouraged her and continue to push her to come up with solutions for those denied traditional financial backing.
- Banker, social entrepreneur
Chetna Gala Sinha is the founder and chair of the Mann Deshi Bank, aimed at the needs of rural women micro-entrepreneurs in India. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I'm here to tell you not just my story
0
760
3656
00:16
but stories of exceptional women
from India whom I've met.
1
4440
5016
00:21
They continue to inspire me,
2
9480
2136
00:23
teach me, guide me
in my journey of my life.
3
11640
4336
00:28
These are incredible women.
4
16000
2056
00:30
They never had an opportunity
to go to school,
5
18080
3096
00:33
they had no degrees,
6
21200
1776
00:35
no travel, no exposure.
7
23000
2160
00:38
Ordinary women
who did extraordinary things
8
26000
3696
00:41
with the greatest of their courage,
9
29720
2136
00:43
wisdom and humility.
10
31880
2040
00:46
These are my teachers.
11
34680
1440
00:49
For the last three decades,
12
37160
1736
00:50
I've been working,
staying and living in India
13
38920
3416
00:54
and working with women in rural India.
14
42360
2960
00:58
I was born and brought up in Mumbai.
15
46040
2120
01:01
When I was in college,
16
49080
1616
01:02
I met Jayaprakash Narayan,
17
50720
3216
01:05
famous Gandhian leader
18
53960
2296
01:08
who inspired youth to work in rural India.
19
56280
3120
01:12
I went into the villages
to work in rural India.
20
60440
3176
01:15
I was part of land rights movement,
21
63640
2776
01:18
farmers' movement
22
66440
1496
01:19
and women's movement.
23
67960
1360
01:22
On the same line,
24
70400
1296
01:23
I ended up in a very small village,
25
71720
2976
01:26
fell in love with a young, handsome,
dynamic young farmer-leader
26
74720
6416
01:33
who was not very educated,
27
81160
2336
01:35
but he could pull the crowd.
28
83520
2336
01:37
And so in the passion of youth,
29
85880
2576
01:40
I married him
30
88480
1856
01:42
and left Mumbai,
31
90360
1456
01:43
and went to a small village
which did not have running water
32
91840
4176
01:48
and no toilet.
33
96040
1280
01:50
Honestly, my family
and friends were horrified.
34
98000
4136
01:54
(Laughter)
35
102160
1150
01:56
I was staying with my family,
36
104320
2416
01:58
with my three children in the village,
37
106760
2616
02:01
and one day,
38
109400
1776
02:03
a few years later one day,
39
111200
2256
02:05
a woman called Kantabai came to me.
40
113480
2800
02:09
Kantabai said, "I want
to open a saving account.
41
117480
4816
02:14
I want to save."
42
122320
1200
02:16
I asked Kantabai:
43
124600
1496
02:18
"You are doing business of blacksmith.
44
126120
3456
02:21
Do you have enough money to save?
45
129600
1976
02:23
You are staying on the street.
46
131600
2376
02:26
Can you save?"
47
134000
1256
02:27
Kantabai was insistent.
48
135280
1936
02:29
She said, "I want to save
because I want to buy a plastic sheet
49
137240
5216
02:34
before the monsoons arrive.
50
142480
1656
02:36
I want to save my family from rain."
51
144160
2560
02:39
I went with Kantabai to the bank.
52
147840
2576
02:42
Kantabai wanted to save 10 rupees a day --
53
150440
3016
02:45
less than 15 cents.
54
153480
2160
02:48
Bank manager refused to open
the account of Kantabai.
55
156400
3576
02:52
He said Kantabai's amount is too small
56
160000
4936
02:56
and it's not worth his time.
57
164960
2600
03:00
Kantabai was not asking
any loan from the bank.
58
168120
3536
03:03
She was not asking any subsidy
or grant from the government.
59
171680
4336
03:08
What she was asking
was to have a safe place
60
176040
3936
03:12
to save her hard-earned money.
61
180000
2096
03:14
And that was her right.
62
182120
1600
03:16
And I went --
63
184480
1216
03:17
I said if banks are not opening
the account of Kantabai,
64
185720
3456
03:21
why not start the bank
65
189200
2136
03:23
which will give an opportunity
for women like Kantabai to save?
66
191360
4080
03:28
And I applied for the banking license
to Reserve Bank of India.
67
196120
3760
03:32
(Applause)
68
200840
4400
03:38
No, it was not an easy task.
69
206280
3256
03:41
Our license was rejected --
70
209560
2016
03:43
(Laughter)
71
211600
1376
03:45
on the grounds --
72
213000
1216
03:46
Reserve Bank said
that we cannot issue a license
73
214240
2936
03:49
to the bank who's promoting
members who are nonliterate.
74
217200
3480
03:53
I was terrified.
75
221640
1256
03:54
I was crying.
76
222920
1416
03:56
And by coming back home,
77
224360
1896
03:58
I was continuously crying.
78
226280
1936
04:00
I told Kantabai and other women
79
228240
2376
04:02
that we couldn't get the license
because our women are nonliterate.
80
230640
3880
04:07
Our women said, "Stop crying.
81
235200
2200
04:10
We will learn to read and write
82
238440
2096
04:12
and apply again, so what?"
83
240560
2016
04:14
(Applause)
84
242600
5400
04:21
We started our literacy classes.
85
249600
2456
04:24
Every day our women would come.
86
252080
2536
04:26
They were so determined
that after working the whole day,
87
254640
3735
04:30
they would come to the class
and learn to read and write.
88
258399
3457
04:33
After five months,
89
261880
1376
04:35
we applied again,
90
263280
1536
04:36
but this time I didn't go alone.
91
264840
3016
04:39
Fifteen women accompanied me
to Reserve Bank of India.
92
267880
3360
04:44
Our women told
the officer of Reserve Bank,
93
272440
3016
04:47
"You rejected the license
because we cannot read and write.
94
275480
4376
04:51
You rejected the license
because we are nonliterate."
95
279880
3096
04:55
But they said, "There were no schools
when we were growing,
96
283000
2816
04:57
so we are not responsible
for our noneducation."
97
285840
3000
05:01
And they said, "We cannot read and write,
98
289640
2816
05:04
but we can count."
99
292480
1376
05:05
(Laughter)
100
293880
2016
05:07
(Applause)
101
295920
1856
05:09
And they challenged the officer.
102
297800
1880
05:12
"Then tell us to calculate
the interest of any principal amount."
103
300520
4176
05:16
(Laughter)
104
304720
1016
05:17
"If we are unable to do it,
105
305760
1776
05:19
don't give us license.
106
307560
1856
05:21
Tell your officers to do it
without a calculator
107
309440
3576
05:25
and see who can calculate faster."
108
313040
2576
05:27
(Applause)
109
315640
3760
05:33
Needless to say,
110
321120
1896
05:35
we got the banking license.
111
323040
1856
05:36
(Laughter)
112
324920
1696
05:38
(Applause)
113
326640
2240
05:42
Today, more than 100,000
women are banking with us
114
330600
3976
05:46
and we have more
than 20 million dollars of capital.
115
334600
3856
05:50
This is all women's savings,
116
338480
2416
05:52
women capital,
117
340920
1416
05:54
no outside investors
asking for a business plan.
118
342360
2896
05:57
No.
119
345280
1216
05:58
It's our own rural women's savings.
120
346520
1896
06:00
(Applause)
121
348440
4360
06:08
I also want to say that yes,
122
356240
2096
06:10
after we got the license,
123
358360
2096
06:12
today Kantabai has her own house
124
360480
2896
06:15
and is staying with her family
125
363400
1616
06:17
in her own house
for herself and her family.
126
365040
3400
06:20
(Applause)
127
368920
5136
06:26
When we started our banking operations,
128
374080
2296
06:28
I could see that our women
were not able to come to the bank
129
376400
3416
06:31
because they used to lose the working day.
130
379840
2296
06:34
I thought if women
are not coming to the bank,
131
382160
2616
06:36
bank will go to them,
132
384800
1416
06:38
and we started doorstep banking.
133
386240
2160
06:41
Recently, we starting digital banking.
134
389040
2400
06:44
Digital banking required
to remember a PIN number.
135
392360
3576
06:47
Our women said,
"We don't want a PIN number.
136
395960
3616
06:51
That's not a good idea."
137
399600
1656
06:53
And we tried to explain to them
138
401280
1536
06:54
that maybe you should
remember the PIN number;
139
402840
2496
06:57
we will help you
to remember the PIN number.
140
405360
2336
06:59
They were firm.
141
407720
1216
07:00
They said, "suggest something else,"
142
408960
1816
07:02
and they --
143
410800
1216
07:04
(Laughter)
144
412040
2856
07:06
and they said, "What about thumb?"
145
414920
2360
07:10
I thought that's a great idea.
146
418200
2456
07:12
We'll link that digital banking
with biometric,
147
420680
3456
07:16
and now women use the digital
financial transaction
148
424160
3576
07:19
by using the thumb.
149
427760
1536
07:21
And you know what they said?
150
429320
1560
07:24
They said, "Anybody
can steal my PIN number
151
432080
2176
07:26
and take away my hard-earned money,
152
434280
2136
07:28
but nobody can steal my thumb."
153
436440
1976
07:30
(Applause)
154
438440
4376
07:34
That reinforced the teaching
which I have always learned from women:
155
442840
4976
07:39
never provide poor solutions
to poor people.
156
447840
3040
07:43
They are smart.
157
451800
1216
07:45
(Applause)
158
453040
5480
07:53
A few months later,
159
461320
1656
07:55
another woman came to the bank --
160
463000
2016
07:57
Kerabai.
161
465040
1536
07:58
She mortgaged her gold and took the loan.
162
466600
3416
08:02
I asked Kerabai, "Why are you
mortgaging your precious jewelry
163
470040
4696
08:06
and taking a loan?"
164
474760
1696
08:08
Kerabai said, "Don't you realize
that it's a terrible drought?
165
476480
3976
08:12
There's no food or fodder for the animals.
166
480480
3496
08:16
No water.
167
484000
1376
08:17
I'm mortgaging gold to buy
food and fodder for my animals."
168
485400
4496
08:21
And then she asks me,
"Can I mortgage gold and get water?"
169
489920
4776
08:26
I had no answer.
170
494720
1200
08:28
Kerabai challenged me:
"You're working in the village
171
496840
3176
08:32
with women and finance,
172
500040
1896
08:33
but what if one day there's no water?
173
501960
3456
08:37
If you leave this village,
174
505440
1336
08:38
with whom are you going to do banking?"
175
506800
1880
08:41
Kerabai had a valid question,
176
509520
2456
08:44
so in this drought,
177
512000
1456
08:45
we decided to start
the cattle camp in the area.
178
513480
3600
08:49
It's where farmers can bring
their animals to one place
179
517400
4336
08:53
and get fodder and water.
180
521760
2399
08:57
It didn't rain.
181
525600
1256
08:58
Cattle camp was extended for 18 months.
182
526880
2856
09:01
Kerabai used to move around
in the cattle camp
183
529760
3296
09:05
and sing the songs of encouragement.
184
533080
3136
09:08
Kerabai became very popular.
185
536240
1720
09:10
It rained and cattle camp was ended,
186
538640
3976
09:14
but after cattle camp ended,
187
542640
1896
09:16
Kerabai came to our radio --
188
544560
2176
09:18
we have community radio
189
546760
1936
09:20
which has more than 100,000 listeners.
190
548720
3056
09:23
She said, "I want to have
a regular show on the radio."
191
551800
3440
09:28
Our radio manager said,
"Kerabai, you cannot read and write.
192
556280
4376
09:32
How will you write the script?"
193
560680
2056
09:34
You know what she replied?
194
562760
1616
09:36
"I cannot read and write,
195
564400
1576
09:38
but I can sing.
196
566000
1416
09:39
What's the big deal?"
197
567440
1256
09:40
(Laughter)
198
568720
1736
09:42
And today,
199
570480
1256
09:43
Kerabai is doing a regular radio program,
200
571760
3256
09:47
and not only that,
201
575040
1376
09:48
she's become a famous radio jockey
202
576440
3016
09:51
and she has been
invited by all of the radios,
203
579480
2696
09:54
even from Mumbai.
204
582200
1576
09:55
She gets the invitation
and she does the show.
205
583800
2936
09:58
(Applause)
206
586760
5376
10:04
Kerabai has become a local celebrity.
207
592160
2616
10:06
One day I asked Kerabai,
208
594800
1696
10:08
"How did you end up singing?"
209
596520
1800
10:11
She said, "Shall I tell you the real fact?
210
599800
2816
10:14
When I was pregnant with my first child,
211
602640
2816
10:17
I was always hungry.
212
605480
1736
10:19
I did not have enough food to eat.
213
607240
1936
10:21
I did not have enough money to buy food,
214
609200
2856
10:24
and so to forget my hunger,
I started singing."
215
612080
4000
10:28
So strong and wise, no?
216
616640
2280
10:32
I always think that our women
overcome so many obstacles --
217
620160
4416
10:36
cultural, social, financial --
218
624600
3136
10:39
and they find out their ways.
219
627760
2680
10:43
I would like to share another story:
220
631760
1976
10:45
Sunita Kamble.
221
633760
1856
10:47
She has taken a course
in a business school,
222
635640
4056
10:51
and she has become a veterinary doctor.
223
639720
2776
10:54
She's Dalit;
224
642520
1216
10:55
she comes from an untouchable caste,
225
643760
2096
10:57
but she does artificial
insemination in goats.
226
645880
3200
11:01
It is a very male-dominated profession
227
649680
2456
11:04
and it is all the more
difficult for Sunita
228
652160
2656
11:06
because Sunita comes
from an untouchable caste.
229
654840
2496
11:09
But she worked very hard.
230
657360
1656
11:11
She did successful
goat deliveries in the region
231
659040
4456
11:15
and she became a famous goat doctor.
232
663520
2200
11:18
Recently, she got a national award.
233
666760
2400
11:22
I went to Sunita's house to celebrate --
234
670040
3256
11:25
to congratulate her.
235
673320
1616
11:26
When I entered the village,
236
674960
1376
11:28
I saw a big cutout of Sunita.
237
676360
2656
11:31
Sunita was smiling on that picture.
238
679040
2296
11:33
I was really surprised
to see an untouchable,
239
681360
3496
11:36
coming from the village,
240
684880
1496
11:38
having a big cutout
at the entrance of the village.
241
686400
2720
11:41
When I went to her house,
242
689800
1576
11:43
I was even more amazed
243
691400
2136
11:45
because upper caste leaders --
244
693560
2296
11:47
men -- were sitting
in the house, in her house,
245
695880
2736
11:50
and having chai and water,
246
698640
2336
11:53
which is very rare in India.
247
701000
2016
11:55
Upper caste leaders
do not go to an untouchable's house
248
703040
2816
11:57
and have chai or water.
249
705880
1816
11:59
And they were requesting her
250
707720
1896
12:01
to come and address
the gathering of the village.
251
709640
2960
12:05
Sunita broke centuries-old
caste conditioning in India.
252
713280
5640
12:11
(Applause)
253
719520
6176
12:17
Let me come to what
the younger generations do.
254
725720
2560
12:21
As I'm standing here --
255
729040
1736
12:22
I'm so proud as I stand here,
256
730800
2496
12:25
from Mhaswad to Vancouver.
257
733320
2000
12:28
Back home, Sarita Bhise --
258
736120
3096
12:31
she's not even 16 years old.
259
739240
2816
12:34
She's preparing herself --
260
742080
2256
12:36
she's a part of our sports program,
261
744360
2096
12:38
Champions' program.
262
746480
1320
12:40
She's preparing herself
to represent India in field hockey.
263
748800
4016
12:44
And you know where she's going?
264
752840
2296
12:47
She's going to represent
in 2020 Olympics, Tokyo.
265
755160
5536
12:52
(Applause)
266
760720
5256
12:58
Sarita comes from
a very poor shepherd community.
267
766000
3080
13:01
I am just -- I couldn't be
more proud of her.
268
769880
3600
13:06
There are millions of women
like Sarita, Kerabai, Sunita,
269
774480
5096
13:11
who can be around you also.
270
779600
2016
13:13
They can be all over the world,
271
781640
2096
13:15
but at first glance you may think
that they do not have anything to say,
272
783760
4656
13:20
they do not have anything to share.
273
788440
2136
13:22
You would be so wrong.
274
790600
2056
13:24
I am so lucky that I'm working
with these women.
275
792680
3776
13:28
They are sharing their stories with me,
276
796480
2536
13:31
they are sharing their wisdom with me,
277
799040
2656
13:33
and I'm just lucky to be with them.
278
801720
3600
13:38
20 years before --
279
806120
1360
13:40
and I'm so proud --
280
808520
1496
13:42
we went to Reserve Bank of India
281
810040
2096
13:44
and we set up the first
rural women's bank.
282
812160
2680
13:47
Today they are pushing me
to go to National Stock Exchange
283
815720
4096
13:51
to set up the first fund dedicated
to micro rural women entrepreneurs.
284
819840
5776
13:57
They are pushing me to set up
285
825640
2536
14:00
the first small finance
women's bank in the world.
286
828200
3120
14:04
And as one of them said,
287
832400
1776
14:06
"My courage is my capital."
288
834200
2336
14:08
And I say here,
289
836560
1736
14:10
their courage is my capital.
290
838320
2720
14:13
And if you want,
291
841840
1376
14:15
it can be yours also.
292
843240
1720
14:17
Thank you.
293
845520
1216
14:18
(Applause)
294
846760
4760

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chetna Gala Sinha - Banker, social entrepreneur
Chetna Gala Sinha is the founder and chair of the Mann Deshi Bank, aimed at the needs of rural women micro-entrepreneurs in India.

Why you should listen

Chetna Gala Sinha is a passionate listener who respects risk-takers -- which makes her a powerful force in the banking world. A longtime activist and farmer, in 1997 she set up the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank, India's first bank for and by rural women. Today, the Mann Deshi Bank has 90,000 account holders, manages business of more than Rs. 150 crores (or 22 million dollars) and regularly creates new financial products to support the needs of female micro-entrepreneurs. In 2006, Sinha founded the first business school for rural women in India, and in 2013, she launched a toll-free helpline and the first Chambers of Commerce for women micro-entrepreneurs in the country. In 2012, she set up a community empowerment program for farmers that supports water conservation; it has built ten check dams and impacted 50,000 people.

In January 2018, Sinha served as a co-chair of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and in November 2017, she was honored with a leadership award from Forbes India.

More profile about the speaker
Chetna Gala Sinha | Speaker | TED.com