Chapter 3 Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijiat Papad (SMGULP):-A Brief Profile

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2 Chapter 3 Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijiat Papad (SMGULP):-A Brief Profile 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Origin and Basic Philosophy of Organisation 3.3 The Genesis of the Organisation 3.4 Major Events 3.5 Growth of The Organisation 3.6 Salient Feature of the Organisation of culture 3.7 Progress of the Organisation 3.8 Organisational Set-up : 3.9 Philosophy that guides Lijjat ( LIJJAT ) 3.10 Three Golden Rules: 3.11 Distributing Profits 3.12 Decentralization and Organisational set up Threats and Marketing Environment 3.14 Branches and Divisions 3.15 Human Resources Development Lijjat 3.16 Key elements in empowerment in SMGULP 3.17 Issues and Lessons 3.18 Marketing Position of Lijjat 3.19 Contributions to social services Health 3.20 Key Factors for success of SMGULP 3.21 Competitors 3.22 Important Challenges Ahead 3.23 Key Principles of the Philosophy 3.24 Important Features of Lijjat is an organisation 3.25 Conclusion 118

3 Maharashtra State 119

4 Pune District 120

5 Pune City In circle, there is various areas of Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad (SMGULP) in Pune City. 121

6 Chapter 3 Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijiat Papad (SMGULP) A Brief Profile 3.1 Introduction : SHRI MAHILA GRIHA UDYOG LIJJAT PAPAD (SMGULP), popularly known as lijjat is an organisation which stands for women s strength and fully owned and run by women. It is the women s organisation of the women, by the women and for the women. It was started on 15 th March 1959 with 7 lady members with a borrowed sum of Rs. 80 at Girgaon in Mumbai and it has completed 50 years and it celebrated Golden jubilee year in The turning point of the organisation took place in 1966 when it was registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 and also registered under Societies Act 1860 and got recognition from Khadi and Village Industries commission (KVIC) as a village industry. There are 85 branches and 88 divisions across the country with 44,000 plus women as sister members all over India and with, a sales turnover of Rs.1000 crores which includes Rs.52 crores of export. The objectives of the organisation is to provide respectful self employment to the women to make them self reliant and to enable them earn decent and dignified livelihood. Any women who can render physical work in this organisation without caste, creed and colour and agrees to abide by the objective of the organisation can become a member of the organisation from the date on which she starts working. Papad production work starts up in the early hours of the morning i.e 4.30 am every day. Mini bus is provided which picks up the members from the closest point of their residence to the branch and back home. Every branch is headed by a Sanchalika who over see the production on of the branch. The central office has managing committee, which consist of 21 members. Every year 4 members resign and are eligible for re-elected, thus every year, during the General Body meeting there is election of 4 members. After the elections, in the first meeting, the managing committee elects office Bearers i.e Presidents, Vice- Presidents 2(two) secretaries and Treasures. 122

7 All the branches are autonomous units and profit or loss as the case may be, is born by the sister members of the branch by increasing or decreasing their rolling charges accordingly. The credit for rapid process goes to the constant vigilance on the part of sister members maintaining the quality of Lijjat papad with their hard work. Besides lijjat papad the organisation has other products such as-masala,detergent powder and cakes,bakery Products,Chappaties,Gehu Atta. The exports are made through Merchant Exporters to countries like United Kingdom(UK), USA, Middle East Countries, Singapore, HongKong, Japan, Australia and other countries. The Organisation has received an award from Khadi and village Industries commission as a Best village Industry for the period to On 6 th September SMGULP has received the Economic time Award of Business Women of the year for corporate Excellence. In January 2003 Organisation received the award for the Best Village Industry at the hand of hon ble Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajapayee at New Delhi. Lijjat was featured in various T.V Channels, which includes BBC world in the program Business Bizzare. The organisation, over the years, has provided the platform to improve sister-members status in society. 1 Lijjat papad is a brand with a difference. This brand is a special one because it makes a difference in the livelihood of thousand of poor women in India. Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat papad was started 54 years ago in 1959 on a mere sum of Rs.80. Seven ladies started preparing papad and from there, this story of a movement started. From that Rs.80 the brand has grown to become Rs.1000 crore and more importantly many households whose ladies are working with lijjat have been saved from the clutches of poverty. Papad is a form of Indian crispy bread. The papad is taken as a snack and also along with lunch and dinner. Lijjat has become an integral part of the Indian palette through sheer determination and hard work & sister members of lijjat. The most important factor that made this brand a success was the careful operation/ planning that goes behind the brand. It would humble even the smartest management graduate that ordinary women run this entire company. The Lijjat brand built on certain core values that has been ingrained into the entire system. The values are (a) Makes sure that the process runs smoothly b)ensure the highest quality standards c) Give the product at good price. d) Good Corporate 123

8 Governance and profit sharing. It can be said that the organisation derives its values from the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi s idea of sarvodaya. Every Morning a group of members go to Lijjat office to knead the dough. Another group goes to the office to collect the quality checked dough for rolling. These women give the previous days papads for quality check. Another team packs the tested papads. Every member gets the rolling charge (Vanani) based on the productivity. The quality checks process is also rigorous. The member should take a quality pledge and ensure that the house is neat and clean and there is a separate place for this process in their homes. Every member is trained to make a perfect Papad. If any member is found not adhering to the quality standards she will be given due caution notice and if it continues then she is dismissed. If during the testing, any lot is found below standard then the entire lot is destroyed. The entire organisation is decentralized and managed by the committee of 21 members. All the members of the committee have veto power and this ensures that decisions are based on consensus. The committee decides on sharing of profit and all the members of the society get equal share of profit. The decentralization gives the branches power to do the quality checks and the responsibility to maintain accounts. All the members (called as Ben) are owners of this movement and this automatically ensures greater accountability. The brand is having the strength of consistently Good Quality as its USP. Recently this brand is also facing some competition from other competitors. Hence like other brands, Lijjat is thinking seriously about advertising the product. The brand communicates it s crispness and quality through it s ads. The ads Features Bunny (mascot) and a very popular jingle Kurram Karram The positive words of mouth, the advertisement and the consistent good quality and distribution made this brand highly effective and distribution made this brand highly successful. The company has also diversified into detergent brand SASA and other food products. The brand is a unique success story. The story of movement that changed the lives of more than poor women. 2 SMGULP has three branches for its operation such as Prabhat Road which covers Gokhalenagar, Janwadi, Maharshinagar, Kalewadi, FTII (Film and Television Institution of India) and part of Pune city. whereas under Dhyari the area covered is Sinhgad Road, Warje-Malwadi, Khadakwasala, Papadnagar etc. while the Hadapsar 124

9 covers areas of Sadesataranali, Bhekarainagar, Keshavnagar and some part of Hadapsar. The areas are relatively very close by for in the operation area of SMGULP and for such a study,it was essential as to how many hours of work the women put in towards the rolling activity of papad. 3.2 Origin and Basic Philosophy of Organisation Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad (SMGULP) had an inconspicuous and simple beginning in Its main product, papad has a reasonably long shelf life it can be roasted or fried and it serves as snack or taken along with food. Throughout India, since generations, there have been varieties of papads made and stored at home. Most women in general know the art of rolling out papads and the raw material needed is easily found in a normal kitchen. Hence the workers, the raw material and the market were readily available for the commercial production of papads. It all began on March 15, 1959 as a united effort by seven women at making papad on the terrace of their flats in an old large residential building, in Mumbai one of the five building known as Lohana Niwas in Girgaum a thickly populated area in south Mumbai. These women were Jaswantiben Jamnadas Popat, Parvatiben Ramdas Thodani, Ujamben Narandas Kundalia, Banuben N Tanna, Laguben Amritlar Gokani and Jayaben V. Vithalani and one more whose name is not available. They belonged to the Lohana Community. Mostly of them hailed from Gujarat, out of the seven women only Jaswantiben is now around to tell the tale of those early days. She had studied for a short while in school as a child and had not even passed the second class examination. 3 She was in her early 20 s with three young children in She explained how near their house. One Shri Laxmidasbhai had attempted to make and sell papads; but was soon running into a loss. These seven women, who were friends decided to make this venture despite it s loss of Rs. 80. With the needed ingredients from their homes, they rolled out papads on the terrace of their building. After drying and packing them in plain plastic bag, they gave them to be sold to known merchant in Bhuleshwar near where they lived. Jaswantiben Popat said they had not invested any money at all and they were able to pay back the loss suffered by Laximdasbhai by selling the papads that they made. As sales increased, they increased their production. A cupboard was brought to keep the ingredients and utensils. During the first year they stopped production during the rainy season due to lack of facilities to dry the papads. But by the next rain, they 125

10 had the stove and cot over it s where they would dry the papads. They had tried using coal for heating but it coloured the papads. Being thin, they dried quite soon. In fact one of them told that the process became so standardised that took only 15 minutes to dry. Within three months, there were about 25 women working in the group. In two years, the number rose to over 150 women. 4 Jaswantiben said that they came through word of month in the beginning and later through advertisement in the local vernacular newspaper. With the profit that they made in six months, they brought half a tola (gram) of gold for each one of them. 5 This equal sharing of profit or loss was to become the standard practice of the organisation. As rooms fell vacant, in Lohana Niwas they were rented and gradually the women had acquired eight rooms for put among their works. 6 By the end of the third year the terrace of the Lohana building could no longer accommodate all of them. A little after a month or two of their commencing operations Chaganlal Karamshi Parekh alias Chaganbapa, a respected elder of the Lohana community became their guide and philosopher. In order not to compromise on quality, he advised them to standardize the specific quality of the papad production. 7 Intent on retaining their independence, the women had decided from the beginning not to approach anyone for donation even if they ran into losses. Chaganbapa taught them the important of running the organisation as a business enterprise and of keeping an eternal watch on ever facet of it s working and maintaining proper accounts. 8 Two men whose wives were among the first seven helped them in keeping accounts in the earlier years, when lijjat papad was in it s infancy. Later when the organisational structure was established, accountants were appointed to do this work, Lijjat had a monthly financial accounting system from it s inception on March 15, Accounts were written on day to day basis and on the last day of every month, profit and loss account as well as the Balance sheet had to be completed for e.g for the month of January profit and loss account as well as balance sheet had to be ready in January 31. If for any reason the monthly accounts were not ready organisation would remain closed till the accounts were not ready. The annual account i.e annual profit and loss as well as annual balance sheet were just an accounting formality for lijjat as all the financial decisions were taken on the basis of monthly account only

11 was the first year when accounts were prepared as per provisions of the Societies Registration. Act and the Mumbai Public Trust Act. 9 The basic soundness of the organisation arose from the financial creditability of it s functioning. The Salient Feature of the organisation lays down in the first few years of it s beginning and continued through it s later years. There are no written documents for these years only the oral testimony of the women who set up the unit in those days. Initial attempts to start branches in Malad a suburb of Mumbai in 1961 and Sangli in Maharashtra in 1966 were unsuccessful. 10 However in the annual sales of papad rose to about Rs lakhs. 11 In July 1966 the organisation registered itself as a society under the Societies Registration Act On who is founder Chaganbapa, recommendations U N Dhebar,who was there chairman, of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) (government of India)visited the organisation in July In September a formal recognition was granted to the organisation as a unit belonging to the processing of cereals and personally inspected pulses industry group under the khadi and village Industries Act. 12 The KVIC granted a working capital of about eight lakh of rupees and tax exemptions The Genesis of the organisation It was a hot summer day. The sum shone brightly in the cloudless sky. Most of the women in habitants of Lohana Niwas, an old large residential building at Girgum, a thickly populated area in South Mumbai were busy attending their ususal domestic chores. But a few of them seven to be exact, came out of their rooms and gathered on the terrace of the building (Lohana Sadan). They soon started a small hardly drew anybody s attention. Mr. Chaganlal Parekh (Late), popularly known as Chagan Bappa, became a guide who gave them lessons of quality product and quality business A handful of social workers were also present. The gathering was over soon only after rolling of 4 packets of papad and taking a firm decision to continue making papads. This function added a new chapter in the history of organisational efforts in quest of sarvodaya. Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad (SMGULP) was launched. It was a humble beginning. The day 15 th march ladies had set the ball rolling. As the days went by, many more ladies joined and this pioneer batch of the organisation started to grow. 127

12 In those early days the path was not easy. The organisation had it trials and turbulence. Faith and patience of the members were put to test on several occasions. They had no money. Literacy, the organisation started from scratch on borrowed sum of Rs. 80/- on the condition that must earn and return Rs. 200/- within a stipulated time. The organisation has opted for the goal of self-reliance and self-growth from very beginning. As a matter of principle, no monetary help was to be sought from any quarter. Even voluntarily offered donations were not accepted. So work started on commercial footing as a small scale and venture. Difficulties and hurdles were there but they were accepted by the members as a test and trial of their convictions and they met their with a smile. What really helped the organisation was excellent quality of papad, which has remained uniform from, the very first day of production. At no time the members have allowed it to deteriorate. The principle upon which the organisation is based, have made Lijjat Papad a successful organisation Major Events The organisation started to regulate it s activities since It was turning point. One of very important events in the life of the organisation was adoption of a former constitution by it s member on 25 th July The organisation was then registered as a Society under the provisions of Societies Registration Act, 1860 as well as Public Trust under the previsions of Bombay Public Trust Act, The organisation was recognized by KHADI AND VILLAGE INDUSTRIES (KVIC) commission during the same year and that was the great boost the organisation had ever received. 128

13 3.5 Growth of The Organisation Table No. 3.1 Period to )SMGULP recognized by Khadi and Village Industries as also under the Bombay Public Trust Act 1950.SMGULP got registration. 2)visit of SMT LALITASHASHTRI (wife of the then prime minister LALBAHADUR SHASTRI) )First ever loan given by the KVIC of Rs to SMGULP and exemptions of sales tax by Maharashtra Government )Publication of introduction of SMGULP ) First ever press conference on 23 rd April 1969 in TAJ MAHAL HOTEL, Mumbai ) Loan of Rs.2 Lakhs sanctioned by KVIC to SMGULP Chagganbappa Scholarship to the children of sister-members Purchase of property at Prabhat road, (Rajlaxmi for Pune Branch) Full time working in Lijjat by Shri P.D. Dattani after resigning by press correspondence position Production of Khakara as a first sideactivity Starting of Lijjat Patrika Monthly House Magzine and Starting of Production of Lijjat Masala Publication of The Basic Thoughts and Traditions of Organisation Sanctioned loan of Rs. 10 lakhs by KVIC Publication of Auto Biography of Late Shri Chagganbappa (Punyasholka Chaganbappa in Marathi, Gujrathi, Hindi) The first non food product i.e. Match Box, inaugurated by then industries Minister Late Shri George Fernadis. Source : Frequently asked questions about Lijjat prepared and published by friends of Lijjat, September

14 Table No. 3.2 The salient features of Growth Process Year Total Sale Amt. Gross Profit No. of Branches Division Source : Annual reports of SMGULP (period to ) 3.6 Salient Feature of the organisation of culture 1) The Organisation has been of the women, by the women and for the women and has shown tremendous progress not only in the spheres of manufacturing quality products but also in management and is known all over the world. Despite the fact that all these sister-members of the organisation are semi-literate or illiterate, the dedication is to make the best product and to be total loyal to the organisation. 2) The tremendous growth of the organisation over past 50 years is definitely seen as progress to the prosperity of the women. 3) The main motto of the organisation is bringing empowerment to the women if is also clubbed with manufacturing of quality products. 4) No empowerment can be measured unless there is a financial empowerment and to have such financial empowerment, what is required of the women is creating a product which will create a demand in the market and there will be ongoing sell of the product which will in turn bring in income to the organisation for financial empowerment to the women. 3.7 Progress of the Organisation Right from 1959 the organisation achieved different heights of the progress. 130

15 Initially with one product and over last 20 years with the multiple products. In 1963, the organisation got registered with Charity Commissioner as public trust and also registered under societies Act. In the same year the recognition from KVIC came handy for furtherance of progress. Due to this recognition, the path towards the progress of events for the organisation was made easy since various concessions (financially and otherwise) were made available to the organisation. The progress of the organisation solely depended on co-operation of the sister member who were financial weak and income from the work/ compensation for the work received by them, made them empowered Thus both these factors took the organisation to the path of the progress and in addition to such progress it is the product that made by the organisation, strong through it is apparently seen as a very small product for the daily use, and the same is manufactured in many of the house hold, still the product of the organisation being a quality one, tremendous demand was fetched. As on date, despite there are many papad manufacturer in the country, they all are small and sundry and have hardly market share of 25 to 30 % where as Lijjat stands to 65 to 75 % of market share. Being democratic system employed in the organisation it has achieved a confidence in the mind of the consumers that price paid by them for the cost of the product ultimately helps towards financial empowerment of women. From the sale of Rs. 80 in 1959 to the sale of Rs. 750 crores just over a period of 50 years, the organisation is riding high and optimistic to achieve Rs crores with in the next 2/3 years. While it can not be estimated or predicted the future of this organisation in coming 50 years as the activity rolling of papad is slowly diminishing in the fraternity of the women yet the organisation will find solutions to these problems (definitely not adhering to machined made papad). It is also felt by the organisation that there is need of certain other product (Labour oriented and not machine made) and hence starting of detergent unit chappati unit, Masala units and vadi unit. All these units are labour intensive and are parallel to the cause of women empowerment like papad. 131

16 3.8 Organisational Set-up : The organisation has kept Sarvodaya Philosophy as it s ideal. All sister members of the organisations are its owners. All profit or loss whatever it may be is shared or owned by the members jointly. They only have the authority to decide the manner in which this profit or loss should be distributed among themselves. There is managing committee of 21 members to manage the affairs of the whole organisation. There are also Sanchalika (one or More) for center to look after all the daily affairs of the concerned center but the work of the organisation is that each and every member can take any initiation or any initiate or any decision. At the same time each and every member has got the veto power. All the decisions, whether major or minor, have to be based on the consensus among the members. Any single members objection can nullify a decision. Another important fact about the organisation is that a male cannot become it s member and any male employee whether working honorary or on salary basis has no right whatsoever in the organisation. 15 Organisational Structure Chart No.3.1 Organisational structure At Head Office President Vice president Secretary Secretary Treasurer Treasurer 15 managing committee members 3.9 Philosophy that guides Lijjat ( LIJJAT ) Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Limited Papad (SMGULP) is synthesis of three different concepts namely 132

17 1. The Concept of Business. 2. The Concept of Family. 3. The Concept of Devotion All these concepts are completely and uniformly followed in this organisation. As a result of this synthesis, a Lijjat way of thinking has developed there in. The Organisation has adopted the concept of business from the very beginning. All its dealings are carried out on a sound and pragmatic commercial production of quality goods and sell them at reasonable price. It has never accepted and will not accept any charity, donation, gift or grant from any quarter. On the country, members donate collectively for good cause from time to time according to their capability. Besides the concept of business, the organisation along with it s all sister members, have adopted the concept of mutual family affection concern and trust. All the affairs of the organisation are dealt in a manner similar to that of family carrying out it s own daily household chores. But most important concept adopted by the organisation is the concept of devotion. For the member a sister, employee and well- wishes, the organisation is never merely a place to earn one s livelihood. It is a place of worship to devote one s energy not for his or her own benefit but the benefit of all. In this organisation, work is worship. The organisation is open for everybody who has faith in its basic concepts Three Golden Rules: Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat papad (SMGULP) has also formed three golden Rules. 1. All the rights of the organisation must belong to members only. 2. There must be maintenance of Lijjat quality at any cost. 3. There must be clean and time bound accounting system. All the Lijjat follows these three golden rules Distributing Profits The Organisation has accountants in every branch and every center to maintain daily accounts profit (if loss any) is shared among and all the members of that branch. 133

18 There is a committee of 21 sister-members that decides how the profits are to be distributed. The organisation generally buys gold coins-(5 gm or 10 gm,) depending on the profit. Everyone gets an equal share of profit irrespective of who does what work, irrespective of seniority or responsibility. Even a ben (sister-members) that has recently joined gets the same share as others who have been with organisation since long. Each branch calculates its profit and divides its quality among all its members. Mumbai has 12,000 members, the rest of Maharashtra has 22,000 and Gujrat has between 5,000 and 7,000 members Pune branch has 1280 members Decentralization and Organisational set up. In two words-decentralization works, Lijjat has never shied away from sharing power in all the activities. The Sarvodaya philosophy has always been the ideal. All sister members of the organisation are the owners. As mentioned earlier, all profit or loss is shared. Only members have the authority to decide the manner in which profit or loss be apportioned among themselves. The committee of 21 members manages the affairs of the organisation. There are also Sanchalika, or Supervisor from each center to look after daily affairs of a center. But the work of the organisation is such that each and every member can take any initiative or any decision. Another important fact about organisation is that no male employee whether working or honorary or salary basis has voting rights. Other than following this philosophy for our organisational set up, the organisation tries to avoid the usual management nightmares. For instance, production is not carried out in one central location, but in hundreds and thousands of individual homes. The branch system ensures that every activity happens within its own ambit. Testing of quality and packing are done at every branch. Certain activities however are centralized. All raw materials are purchased in Mumbai/Pune and then distributed to the 79 branches to ensure consistent quality of Lijjat papad. 134

19 Given the vastness of India, every region produces different quality of Urad, rice spices, etc. If procured locally, then final product would never be consistent in quality and lijjat would have USP (Unique selling Proposition) in the market. The other centralized process is the grinding of flour. The organisation has its own grinding mills, one in Vashi, (Navi Mumbai) and one in Nasik (In Maharashtra). Since the raw material is purchased in Mumbai, grinding the flour at a company owned mill helps reduce costs. Pricing of the products is also done at head office. The price factors in the cost of raw materials, transport, taxes distributers commission, profit percentage and so on Threats and Marketing Environment Marketing and Selling are two different activities in every organisation. The marketing department creates a demand for the product and sales department fulfills the demand. In marketing departments, for creating a demand it employs various tools to make the consumer attracted to buy the product. The work of marketing department is a continuous process and in case it stops, the products dwindles down. Equally the work of marketing department is on high end but the sales department if does not cope up with the speed of the marketing department, then preference of the consumer shifts to some other products. In Lijjat Papad, there was, there is or there will be no marketing department but only sales takes place. This works against the dictum of the marketing department. The reason behind this is quality created by the women of the organisation and taste buds of the consumers. Many producers of papad tried to copy down the quality of Lijjat but could not manage to any extent to bring up their in the market and over a period of time failed miserably. Since the product they manufactured did not have the MIDAS touch of women of Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad. In any business, manufacturing of any product is not very challenging. Since the proponent has definite directions of manufacturing processes by himself or he/she can borrow technology or technicians or consultant and along with them required the infrastructure, such as land and building plant and machinery etc, then the products can get manufactured. 135

20 However marketing of products so manufactured is very difficult and number of entrepreneurs when make best of the product, fall miserably in marketing, their products and ultimately they have to put their shutters down. In SMGULP, while on one side because desired efforts to make a qualitative product known as Lijjat Papad are made or the other side, management puts efforts in marketing of Lijjat Papad. In late fifties and sixties the household women started in search of employment and scenario of the male dominant job market got divided into male and female employees. In such kind of change, these women carved in for as many ready to use products as where available. Then Lijjat Papad was very handy and working women in particular or even those at home preferred to buy readymade papad instead of taking strenuous efforts to make them. Added to the name of Lijjat Papad is a string attached of that of SMGULP i.e. the women oriented business of community manufacturing product that is Lijjat Papad. The reason behind the easy marketability of this product besides above is its quality and taste as also product to be known to be some taste all over India and hence acceptability of the product by the masses was immediate. The marketing environment even today for Lijjat Papad, despite the fact that there are many players manufacturing papads still enjoys full support from the buyers. Generally it has been seen that many of products get birth in the market There may be many reasons behind this but the main reason is that new products with the better taste, better packaging, better marketing and reasonable price. This scenario has been in food industry where there is constant change in consumers behaviour. There are many organisations that make the papad. Amongst them following are the competitors of lijjat papad- Ganesh papad, samadhan papad, Bikaner papad. The organisation i.e. SMGULP has for the last 50 years never faced any threats of marketing the papads. There may be few other manufactures of Papad in the market as on date but major player is SMGULP. The actual threat to the organisation is that the organisation is afraid of Shrinkage of urban women s participation due to which there is heavy demand for the product still since papad is hand rolled, there is always shortage of Lijjat papad in the market and hence while there is no threats from the competitors, the threat is that of the supplies. 136

21 Branches and Divisions This is the women s organisation of women, by the women and for the women All the sister members of this branch are its owners. All the profit or loss whatever it may be shared or owned by the members jointly. In this branch 7000 kg. papad is produced daily. The total sales turn over in this branch is25 crores per year. Payment Mode to women Women paid on daily basis Based on quantity worked upon (per kg) Stress on quality Raw material is sourced from a common place for consistency of taste. Women have to work in clean environment. Random inspections of women s homes are done to check cleanliness Every batch of papads has to have precise weight. A random sample from batches are fried and tasted. If irregulation is found then the women are warned. If they persist then they might even be shifted to different departments. ORGANISATION STRUCTURE Chart No. 3.2 Pune Branch Sanchalika Committee Members Administrative Staff Sales Accountant Cashier Store Consultant Admin Incharge Officer Staff Sales Staff 137

22 3.14 Branches and Divisions The list of Branches and Division of Lijjat Papad REGISTERED OFFICE Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad Registerd office :- Oracle point 3 rd floor opp. Railway Station Bandra (West) Mumbai Post Box No President Voice-President Secretaries Smt Pratibha E. Sawant Smt.Sharada D. Kubal Smt Sheetal S. Koyande Smt Priyanka G. Redkar Smt. Namita N. Sakpal Table No. 3.3 Mumbai Local Branches Sr.No Place No of Branches 1 Wandi 2 2 Bandra 1 3 Bhandup 1 4 Borivali 2 5 Badlapur 1 6 Dombivali 1 7 Glrgaum 1 8 Govandi 1 9 Juinagar 1 10 Kandivali 2 11 Mulund 1 12 Nallasopara 1 13 Pavegaon 1 14 Vikhroli 1 15 Wadala 1 Source : Lijjat Address card 138

23 Table No. 3.4 Out station Branches Sr. No Place No. of Branch 1 Andhra Pradesh 12 2 Bihar 1 3 Delhi 1 4 Gujarat 16 5 Haryana 2 6 Jharkhand 1 7 Jammu(JandK) 4 8 Karnataka 4 9 Kerala 1 10 Madhya Pradesh 3 11 Maharashtra Orissa 1 13 Punjab 3 14 Rajasthan 1 15 TamilNadu 2 16 Uttar Pradesh 4 17 West Bengal Source : Lijjat Address card Pune Division 33116, Rajlaxmi, Prabhat Road, Lane No-4, Pune Sanchalikas:- 1) Smt Suman Darekar 2) Smt Chetana Nahar Dhayari Division , Chankankar Estate singhgad Road, Dhayari, Pune

24 Products and Division A) Lijjat manufactures several products of which the papad is the most famous: Papad (Five Flavours: lassan, moong, mirchi, Panjabi and urad) Khakhra Appalam Masala Vadi Gehu Atta(wheat Flour) Bakery Products Chapati SASA Detergent power SASA Detergent cake (Tikia) SASA Nilam Detergent power SASA liquid Detergent B) Lijjat has several division and manufacturing units: Dal and flour division (Nasik, Vashi, Pune) Masala Division and Quality control laboratory (Cotton Green) Printing Division (Cotton Green) Advertising Division Bandra Khakhra Division, (Buhari, vvalod district) Chapati Division at Wadala Borivali, Mulund, Kandivali, Govandi, Bandra and jui nagar Polypropylene setup (Kashi-mira road) Vadi factory (Valod) Bakery Division (Valod) Detergent powder and cake Manufacturing unit (Dahisar) and office (Birivai, pune) Export Division Raw material Division (Hing powder, Mira Dal and Mira Fotra) 140

25 3.15 Human Resources Development at Lijjat Training and development is subsystem of every organisation and it helps organisation to sustain throughout every phase of business. It is considered as a competitive edge over rival company. So it has a great importance today in the organisation. (Companies are investing huge amount to make their employees competent to face every change in business and meet the requirement.) The status of the women in SMGULP being that of sister-members automatically the principle of HRD cannot be applied to them. The question then arises as to how organisation discipline can be implemented/injected in the minds of these women and that too when most of the women are illiteraters? The answer has been readily worked out by the women themselves. The actions of these women are some what similar to that of Honeybees, that they collect the drops of Honey from the flowers and uninterrupted carry it to the Honeycomb. In Lijjat too there is no one superior, no one is inferior in discharging their duties to the organisation. The collective efforts of the women in SMGULP is aimed at making a quality product. The HR stipulates a collective approach in making of any efforts towards smooth functioning of the organisation which is inculcated. Revolves only for the members of the staff and workmen. It does not however revolves around the owners. It has been brought in the various chapters of this research work that women s role in SMGULP is as an owner and not worker or work women. In the circumstances the various aspects of HRD does not apply to the women whose study is being undertaken under this research work. However certain areas where the question of maintaining quality, punctuality and delieverance of papad as also safety in terms of food and allied areas are concern. SMGULP has taken support of HRD and taken massive in depth training of the women, since the organisation deals with women who are semi-literate or no literacy. One of the major aspect of HRD which is in practice by the organisation is to adhere to fundamentals such as monetary-wise, respectwise and there is no second thought of dealing with these women. 141

26 3.16 Key elements in empowerment in SMGULP Information : Information with increasing business other advances the need for information dissemination and communication among sister members at various branches has increased. The monthly regional meeting, annual general meeting and all India conventions of branches are held to keep the member aware of organisation s activities and strategies, and to discuss issues such as quality maintenance, production rates, the handling of accounts and everyday problems to assure a better work environment. Lijjat patrika, the in-house magazine, is published and circulated for a nominal rate to those interested in the activities of Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad (SMGULP). It is published in many languages including English, Gujarathi, Marathi and Hindi. Patrika has emerged as strong mode of communication for information related to significant events and initiatives at Lijjat, in addition to presenting article on women. Initially most sisters were uneducated, but realized the important of education for their children, especially daughters. Lijjat offers Scholarship for these children and encourages better performance in studies. A literacy campaign for sister also began through literacy classes at Girgaum on June 18,1999, At first, it was explained that literate women can read or write a letter, maintain a bank account, pay bill, teach her children, assist her husband in his work; and live independently, Later the managing committee decided to start such classes in all it s branches. Besides other literacy and information based activities, participation in various trade fairs and exhibition held across India, Contributed to the popularity of the Lijjat brand. Such Participation also builds self-confidence through exposure and training opportunities for sister-members who plays a significant role in overall functioning of Lijjat Participation The Combination of inclusion and the active participation of women has endured as Lijjat Backbone for 43 years. The interest of all sister are treated equally because the sister hail from the Lijjat family. Any women irrespective of her religion, caste or class can become a member after signing a pledge of devotion, which is her assurance for earning an honest income through co- work.all sister-members across 142

27 all branches of Lijjat- recite an all-religion prayer before beginning their daily activities. The sisters are free to choose their activities such as making the masala(blend of multiple spices), pounding the flour, weighing the flour, vending the dough, rolling papads,receiving papads after weighing, checking the papads, packing the papads, distributing wages, and handling the accounts. Each activity is given equal impotence and sister perform these activites with mutual cooperation and consent,all these activities are thereto helps it by guiding and training new members. Leaving the organisation is voluntary for sister-members. No member sister can be asked to leave unless or until she goes against the organisation s principles. Because of Lijjats main motive of generating self employment for women, no machinery is used at the production level and everything is done manually. However, computers are now being used in some of the Mumbai branches for accounts and administration. Any sister can apply for a loan from the organisation without specifying any reasons. As well for acquiring some of financial independence, women have also realized the importance of social independence. Because women own the organisation lower middle- class women find it very comfortable to work in such environment Accountability Lijjat presents an explicit example of organisation s accountability. The managing committee members are selected from the sister-members on the basis of common consents. Any sister-members can express her interest to be a managing committee member and will be selected after due consideration. The discussions are held openly and decision power lies in the hands of the sister-members who are present on that day. A single member s objection can nullify the decision of the whole group. A member can not ask an employee to quit the organisation without specifying the reason but no employee can ask a member to quit. However a member can be asked to quite by another member (Dr. Members) if found to be involved in false practices or misconduct. Account books are easily accessible ensuring transparency in Lijjat s working. Lijjat follows its own financial accountability principle. For instance selling price of a 200 gm papad pack there is only a 0.5 rupee margin between the production costs. There is piece rate system and sisters are paid on the basis of number of papad 143

28 they roll. There is no credit method for running operations in an organisation. Every payment is done on a daily basis except for the outside supply of raw material. In the initial days of Lijjat the profits of the first six months were shared equally among all sisters in the form of gold. This sharing practice is still in effect, but now the decision whether to share the profit in gold or cash is made at the branch level. 17 Profit and losses are shared quality among the members of a given branch. The cost of national level advertising is borne by all branches and divisions, depending on their individual production abilities. The polypropelene division provides money for advertisement and recovers it from additional charges on the bags those it supplies to branches and divisions across India Local organisation capacity Lijjat became a formally complete organisation after the seventh year of its existence and after that was recognized as a public trust. Initially, Lijjats activities were limited to the former Bombay, but in 1966 it started to establish centers in neighboring urban area, followed by branches in other states such as Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, and Madhya-Pradesh. After continued success and phenomenal growth during the last four decades, Lijjat has been able to mark its presence felt worldwide. A number of people including officials from countries such as Israel, the United Kingdom, Shri Lanka, Sudan, Iran and Uganda have visited India to see Lijjat methods of operation. They occasionally promote similar organisation s in their own countries. When lijjat started its venture, the seven women were determined not to accept donations or help from anybody to run the organisation even if they suffered losses. This practice has been strictly followed during the past 53 years and now lijjat has become financially sound after establishing itself in the market through consistent quality of its production. Lijjat has emerged as an organisation that not only denies any donations from parties but also provides helps to the needy. For instance after the earthquake in Gujarat in January 2001 all the branches of lijjat gave a total donation of more than 4.8 million, including Rs. 1 Million from the central office. There are number of other such instances when they have contributed to enhancing the self esteem of the member sisters. 144

29 3.17 Issues and Lessons : The central office of Lijjat in Mumbai which previously co-ordinated the activities of all the branches but with the increasing number of outlaying branches, authority was decentralized in terms of routine work and sharing of profit at the branch level. However, branches and sanchalikas still need the managing committee s approval prior to undertaking any new project or activity and they all must follow the same set of instructions and have similar accounting systems. 18 In spite of the equal distribution of income among the sister-member, with the opening of more outlaying branches. It was found that a few branches, dominated the administrative process as a duty towards the organisation. The member, if found practicing mismanagement, are relieved from membership. Because the papads are prepared in different parts of India, the quality of the water usually varies and so can the quality of the final product. To prevent any inconsistencies, Lijjat has its own laboratory in Mumbai, where the final products are tested and coded. In the monthly meeting the quality issue and modifications are also discussed. Recently there was a problem of fake Lijjat papad being introduced in the market. In June 2001, three person were arrested in this connection in Bihar, but the threat exists in the global market also. Lijjat website tries to explain the identification features of original Lijjat papad, but with technological advancements, it is difficult to guarantee the original product. Besides papad Lijjat had initiated some unsuccessful ventures such as cottage matches and agarbbati (incense sticks). By the end of 1978, Lijjat had flour Mills, Spices printing and polypropylene division of its own and in 1979 it began manufacturing bakery products as well. In 1966, Lijjat was recognized under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act, and hence obtained exemption from income and sales taxes and could get loans at lower interest rates. Currently, the state government of Punjab and Maharashtra have withdrawn the sales tax exemption on Lijjat Sasa detergent because Lijjat has already grown into sizable organisation. This can potentially obstruct Lijjat s growth in these states. The President of Lijjat urged the State governments to reconsider their stand during her speech at the Economic Times awards

30 Challenges and Potential The story of seven illiterate and poor women who borrowed Rs.80 to start a papad business and took it s turnover from Rs.6196 in the first year to Rs. 300 crores in the next four decades, involving over 40,000 women on its revolutionary match, is admirable at any rate. But to say so if would be undermining the contribution of a well-thought Gandhian business strategy, equally well executed by his followers, late Chhaganlal Karmshi Parekh and Puroshottam Damodar Dattani, who worked relentlessly from behind the scene. Their vision was clear- an exclusive women s organisation run and managed by women, a quality product that these women had the expertise to make and finally, a work environment which is not competition- driven and mechanized but based on pure labour and love for the organisation and its people. Today, Lijjat is guided by separate division of advertising, marketing, sales promotion and export. There is greater co-ordination between branch offices (different production and marketing units) and centralized marketing advertising and export departments. Transfer of finished products to centralize marketing offices from different branches was worth Rs crore and advertisement expediture stood at Rs corers for But more than its much hyped sales figure, Lijjat s experiment in the realm of corporate governance stands out as one of a kind. All the centers are autonomous and profits remain with the respective branches and normally used to augment the business after a due share is distributed as extra vanai charges to sister-members (share of profit). Employees numbering about 5000 including the chair person herself, are in no way superior to sister-members and are therefore expected to behave accordingly. Besides, the phenomenal growth and expansion of Lijjat into a multi product company it has opened up new employment opportunity for the sistermembers. Eligible candidates are chosen and trained to work in its modern polypropylene Sasa detergent and cake and printing divisions. Lijjat s Ranchi branch was established in November 1997 bifurcating from the only branch in Bihar at Muzaffarpur. It pays Rs. 11,000 per month as rent for the building which houses its office and workshop. A trekker (thirteen-sister passenger vehicle) has also been purchased from the conveyance of the sister member from home to the lijjat office and back. This branch has 165 sister members and sold papad worth Rs million in November Vanai charge is Rs. 14per kilogram of 146