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PAT- General Information
Name of the Entity
PEOPLE’S ACTION FOR TRANSFORMATION (TRUST)
Registered office
No. 4, A-Block, 1st Floor, St. Paul‟s Complex,
Bharathiar Salai, Trichy Corporation,
Trichy District, Tamil Nadu – 620001.
Contact Details
Phone / Fax : 0431 – 2413434
Email : [email protected]
Web : www.pattrichy.org
Registration status
Legal Status : Registered under the Indian Trust Act
Reg. No. & date : 107/97 - 02/05/1997
Tax Exemption : Registered under 12A
FCRA No & date : 076040280 - 28.09.2001
Details of PAN : AAATP4968N
Trustees of PAT
Mr. K. Hirudayasami - President
Mr. R. Stephen Francis Xavier - Secretary and Chief Functionary
Dr. V. Iyappan Shankar - Trustee
Ms. A.X. Anne Jose Patricia - Trustee
Mr. R. John Rajasekaran - Trustee.
Funders of PAT
1 Ananya Finance for Inclusive Growth Pvt. Ltd, India.
2 Maanaveeya Development and Finance Pvt. Ltd.
3 Indian Overseas Bank
4 State Bank of India.
5 NABKISAN Finance Limited.
6 Micrograam Social Development Foundation.
7 ICICI Bank
8 IDBI Bank Limited.
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Dear Members,
We live in an India where economic history is
being written. Back in 1991, Dr. Manmohan
Singh started economic liberalization aimed at
accelerating the pace of economic growth and
eradication of poverty. Now, the present
government is making fast strides in financial
inclusion by the PMJDY initiative, which aims at
providing “one bank account for every Indian
household within a year”.
For the past 18 years, People‟s Action for
Transformation (PAT) has been involved in active
financial inclusion of the underprivileged, in
conformity with the national policy on financial
inclusion. After its registration on 02 May 1997,
PAT started its social intermediation in the lives
of women, children and the youth. In 1998, with a
mission to empower women, PAT started forming
women‟s Self Help Groups (SHGs). Other
interventions were in the area of Children‟s
Development, educational programme for the
children of the SHG members, vocational training
programme and health camps. In 2000, it started
the SHGs bank-linkage in association with Tamil
Nadu Corporation for Development of Women
Ltd.
PAT‟s core business, which consists of providing
customized micro loans to marginalized women
through its 10 branches, spread across five
districts of Tamil Nadu state caters to the financial
needs of 35,000 clients. Apart from providing
livelihood opportunities for families, the activities
of PAT influence the community and
environment.
The Business Correspondent (BC) model, which
is the RBI regulated extension of financial and
banking services through microfinance
institutions, done in collaboration with the ICICI
bank and the IDBI bank, has proved a strategic
approach to fund sourcing for loans to SHG
members. This was a respite in the face of
national funds crunch.
Women empowerment is a unique mark of PAT,
beginning with the notable feature that 64 of the
68 strong staff team of PAT are women. Girls get
better job openings through the employability
skills programs. The use of energy efficient and
non-conventional energy equipment, encouraged
by PAT, enable women to ensure better health and
save on finance, time, energy, consequently
enhancing the quality of life at home.
Old age social security is a matter of concern for
India. A massive 88% of the Indian population do
not have any social security in place to provide for
their financial needs in the old age. In responding
to this issue, PAT in partnership with ESAF,
continues to provide the PFRDA Swavalamban
pension scheme to its members.
Speaking of climate change and environment,
PAT has been able to make an impressive
contribution to the protection of the atmosphere
through the distribution of clean and renewable
energy loans. These together lessen the demand
for biomass fuel, prevent deforestation and reverse
climate change by reducing green house gas
emissions. We are glad to be part of the global
movement against climate change.
PAT is committed to the global crusade against
the growing menace of climate change. As a part
of this initiative, PAT makes available energy
efficient micro energy sector loans to SHG
members to procure clean energy equipment.
Acting locally, we are proud partners of national
perspective on environmental awareness.
The welfare and development programs continue
to provide slum children with a foundation for
life, schoolchildren with an enhancement of their
learning abilities, the youth with better career
opportunities and the elderly with better eyesight.
In the face of the currently global economic
slowdown, PAT continues to be relevant to the
un-bankable and under banked poor, which have
no other means of sourcing funds needed for their
livelihood. There has been a steady growth of
MFI loans to clients. Since the Microfinance
sector is showing a marked market growth PAT is
bent on capitalizing on the growth opportunities to
fulfil the vision and mission of People‟s Action
for Transformation.
Thank you,
Secretary President
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Organizational Milestones:
1997 - Formation of the Trust
1998 - Towards women empowerment,
starts forming Self Help Groups
(SHGs)
2000 - Starts SHGs Bank-Linkage
Programme in association with
Tamilnadu Corporation for
Development of Women Limited.
2003 - Commences direct lending through
its Micro Finance Programme with
the help of fund received from
Ananya Finance for Inclusive
Growth Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad
2006 - Adds one more funding partner, M/s.
Maanaveeya Development and
Finance Pvt. Ltd, Hyderabad
2008 - Agreement with Birla Sunlife
Insurance Co. Limited for insurance
cover for SHG members
2009 - 1st Rating done by M-Cril with
“Beta” grading
2009 - Commercial banks like Indian
Overseas Bank and State Bank of
India start funding
2010 - Karur Vysya Bank extended their
term loan
2010 - Installed a software called
“mFinesse” supplied by Penta
Software House to handle the Loan
Processing and Loan Tracking
2010 - 2nd Rating was carried out by M-
Cril with “Beta Plus” grading
2010 - Second Loan from Indian Overseas
Bank
2012 - Indian Overseas Bank and State
Bank of India gives further loans.
2012 - As a sub-aggregator of ESAF Micro
Finance and Investments Pvt. Ltd,
Kerala started distributing NPS-
Swavalamban, the Government of
India, Old age social security
Scheme.
2012 - Partnering with Bajaj Allianz Life
Insurance Company Limited for
availing insuranceby its clients
2013 - Becomes Business Correspondent for
IDBI Bank Ltd.
2013 - 3rd Rating was carried out by Crisil
who awarded “mfR5” grade
2014 - Micrograam Social Development
Foundation, Bangalore based
Agency started lending to SHGs for
the purpose of consumer durables
2014 - NABKISAN Finance Limited
sanctioning a term loan to Activity
Based Groups
2014 - Partner with Mahindra Old Mutual
Life Insurance Limited for insurance
coverage.
2014 - Started its Clean Energy Initiatives
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The Leadership
Mr. K. Hirudayasami: He is the President of the Trust
who supervises the financial programs of PAT. He has training
in Strategic Business Planning and Governance in MFI.
Mr. R. Stephen Francis Xavier: He is the Secretary of the
Trust as well as the Chief Functionary for the Microfinance
operations. He has several years of experience working with
NGOs and has training in MFI governance, Financial
Management, Internal Audit and Controls, Microfinance
Literacy, Micro enterprises development, Accounting and
Auditing standards.
Dr. V. Iyappan Shankar: He is an Executive Board member of
PAT and has been overseeing the Child Development Project
of PAT. He has been specially instrumental in mobilizing funds
from the commercial banks.
Ms. A.X. Anne Jose Patricia: She manages the finances of the
Microfinance operations. She is a resource person for PAT and
has been trained through various Microfinance related
workshops.
Mr. R. John Rajasekaran: A Tax Consultant by profession,
Mr. John provides advice in matters related to internal audit
and controls of Micro Finance.
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1. Introduction
“Economic resources of the country should be
utilised for the well-being of the poor. The
change will commence from this point", noted
the Prime Minister of India while launching
the PMJDY in August 2014. PMJDY is the
ambitious financial inclusion program
designed to provide banking services to the
over two-thirds households in Independent
India that do not have access to banking
facilities.
It is a great satisfaction for all of us that
PAT‟s own vision for financial inclusion of
the underprivileged is in alignment with the
national vision. In 1997, certain contextually
relevant social issues had brought the
visionaries of PAT together to respond to
those issues. Since then, PAT, in line with its
vision and commitment to the community,
had undertaken welfare programs and
continues its empowerment of marginalized
women and families through development
initiatives and business models designed to be
sustainable and environment friendly. PAT
focuses on microfinance, women
empowerment, education, environmental
initiatives and health care as part of its
financial and social intermediations.
The various events and programs conducted
through the many branches and outreach
centres last year shows that PAT is in the
right direction in fulfilling this call. This
report has summarized the major happening at
PAT in the year 2014-15.
2. Development Financing, the key
to Women empowerment
The commercial banks had considered the
poorun-bankable, in the past, since their
resources were not considered stable enough
to ensure profitability and repayment.
Naturally, these were the poor and the
working class who neither had the financial
resources to maintain a bank account nor the
financial literacy about banking. The
consequence is that the poor are forced to
depend on the services of the informal sector
that are often predatory in nature.
For the poor the change has come with the
onset of microfinance, which refers to the
practice of providing financial services to the
poor with no collateral. The basic concept in
microfinance is that if you give a poor
woman a very small loan for use in a self-
employment venture, the borrower will not
only work to end their poverty and repay the
loans, but they will also improve the life of
their family and strengthen their community.
As women are more likely to reinvest their
earnings in the business and in their families,
they are the most favoured clients of micro
loans. Some of the outcomes of microfinance
are improvement of family health due to the
affordability to consume nutritious food,
better education of children, improved
shelters to live in, creation of more jobs for
the community, women empowerment
through literacy and capacity building and
recognition of women as valuable members of
their families and communities. NGOs have
been in the forefront of micro lending and
financial literacy and training of micro
entrepreneurs.
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2.1 Development financing in PAT
Acting upon the universal principles of
microfinance, PAT started its own
microfinance program in the year 2003. The
program has been highly successful and
continues to impact the lives of the
community where PAT is operational.
Basic to the success of the Microfinance
program is the SHG (Self Help Group)
movement, which takes the process of women
empowerment to rural region. Women‟s
capacity building, key to SHGs and women
empowerment, includes training in principles
of governance, participation in decision-
making, financial literacy, financial planning,
and management of productive resources.
PAT organizes socio-economically
homogenous rural or semi-urban
underprivileged women into SHGs, builds
their capacity for self-governance and
supports them with microfinance to enable
them to undertake various entrepreneurial
activities to combat their poverty. The loans
are also used for various other purposes viz.,
freeing themselves from the informal lenders
who charge exorbitant interest, paying for
children‟s education, house construction or
maintenance and for purchase of essential
durables or consumables for the homes.
In the year 2000 PAT started the SHG bank
linkage programme in association with
Tamilnadu Corporation for Development of
Women Ltd. In order to meet the increasing
credit needs of the SHG members PAT started
its own microfinance programme with a
loan fund from FWWB (Friends of World
Women‟s Banking, now the Ananiya Finance
for Inclusive growth Pvt. Ltd.) during 2003.
Though the microfinance clients are primarily
rural women in SHGs, PAT extended loans to
members in male groups on an experimental
basis from the year 2008 onwards, which is
roughly 2% of the total loan portfolio.
2.2 Credit rating of PAT
PAT, in the meanwhile, decided to identify its
strengths and weaknesses in social and credit
performance and to help the organization to
think through their social goals and values
and build appropriate systems through credit
rating. M-CRIL, in their rating awarded „β‟
and made several recommendations to
improve PAT‟s portfolio quality.In a
subsequent rating, because of its high
operating efficiency, improved staff
productivity and strengthened internal audit
mechanism, M-CRILplaced PAT-MFI in the
„β+‟ grade. The third rating conducted by
CRISIL to rate its ability to conduct the
operations in a scalable and sustainable
manner and its credit worthinessawarded PAT
with a“mfR5” grade.
2.3 2014-2015at a glance
`190 Crores cumulatively distributed
through 1.88 lakhs accounts over the
years – registering 25% growth over the
previous year
`32.6 Crores outstanding with the
borrowers shows 116 % growth over the
previous year.
99% of its borrowers are women and
95% are rural - across 5 districts of
Tamil Nadu.
53.34% increase in borrowers compared
to last fiscal.
43% of the total portfolio spread in
Ariyalur, one of the least developed six
districts in Tamil Nadu.
Bank Borrowing is `59 Crores and
outstanding is `15.5 Crores.
`20 Croresoutstanding to banks in BC
model.
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2.4 The Client Base and Portfolio
distribution
PAT has a client strength of 31702 members
in 2104 SHGs served through its 10
branches, catering to the members in
Ariyalur, Trichy, Tanjore, Nagapattinam and
Thiruvarur districts of Tamil Nadu. Forty one
field staff interact with the SHG members
spread over 258 Panchayats. Nagapattinam
and Thiruvarur are in the expansion stage.
Sector wise allocation
The sector wise allocation of the loans are,
Agriculture and allied services - 64.9%, Petty
trades - 14.9%, Service – 10.6% and
Manufacturing - 9.6%.
Agriculture and allied service loans go in for
cost of cultivation of cereals, grains or
horticulture. Many women use the loans for
running shops for grocery, fruit and
vegetable, idly and tea, fuel retail, jewel
polishing and dry fish as well as for street
vending of textiles and scrap collection. Some
women have put up service centres for
photocopying, bi-cycles, cell phone, tailoring,
computer typesetting, bag repairs and
telephone booths and beauty parlours. Yet
others have gone in for small manufacturing
units for soft drinks, incense sticks, weaving
and carving, to name a few.
2.5 Efficiency Analysis
The active borrowers of PAT are 23001,
which is roughly 73% of the total SHG
members.
The repayment rate is 99.66 %. Portfolio at
Risk (PAR) > 60 days on Gross Loan
Portfolio is 0.03%.
PAT strives at maintaining responsible
financial performance. Considering the fact
that tiny loans are more expensive to make
than large loans, PAT’s Operating Expense
Ratio (OER) of 7.53% is a remarkably
outstanding performance.’
65%
15%
10%
10%
Loan Allocation
Agri/Allied
Petty Trades
Service
Manufacture
District Branches
SHG Memb
ers
Borrowers
Loans (`Cr.)
% Portfolio
Ariyalur 2 11099 9053 14.09 43.14
Trichy 2 4964 3235 3.02 9.25
Tanjore 6 14649 10021 15.01 45.96
Nagapattinam
- 440 210 0.16 0.49
Thiruvarur - 550 482 0.38 1.16
Total 10 31702 23001 32.66 100
Efficiency Analysis
Average Loan Size per Borrower (`)
18,257
Number of Borrowers / Credit Officers
561
Portfolio Per Credit officer (`) 79,66,192
Borrower Per Branch ( Nos) 2,300
Portfolio Per Branch (`) 3,26,61,387
Total cost to Total income % 102.33
Total Income to average portfolio %
16.73
Operating expense (exclusive of financial expense) to average portfolio %
7.53
Total expense to average portfolio %
16.35
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2.6 Fund Mobilization
Lending Institution
Funding 2014-15
Fund Outstanding
Ananya Finance for Inclusive Growth Pvt. Ltd
- 16,66,664
Indian Overseas Bank
5,00,00,000 9,23,09,293
State Bank of India
4,00,00,000 4,53,99,257
MICROGRAAM 65,10,000 23,84,233
NKFL 130,00,000 1,30,00,000
Total 10,95,10,000 15,47,59,447
ICICI (BC) - 87,74,930
IDBI (BC) 20,26,95,000 19,28,32,378
Total 20,26,95,000 20,16,07,308
The needs of clients are supported both
through on lending of funds sourced from
financial institutions as well as through BC
lending.
Currently there is an outstanding of `15.5
Crores to the banks as Term Loan.
Additionally the BC exposure is `20.2
Crores
Banking Business Correspondent
PAT has successfully implemented the
Business Correspondent model for financing
the needs of the clients. In the current year,
IDBI has released a loan of ` 20.25 Crores to
borrowers and the cumulative IDBI
disbursement stands at ` 30.75 crores.
2.7 Clean energy lending
Global warming and the consequent erratic
environmental behaviour,is causing adverse
impacts on plant, animal and human life.
Globally and nationally, governments are
taking active steps to reverse the effects of
climactic change through reducing emissions
that produce global warming.
The decision to encourage the members to use
energy efficient consumer durables, viz. the
improved cook stove and the solar lamps
demonstrate the commitment of PAT to
reduce the carbon footprint that the
community leaves in the wake of a
„developed‟ lifestyle. Besides awareness
creation, PAT also provided loans to members
who desired to procure these durables from
distributors.
The use of improved cook stoves and solar
lamps facilitates lesser time spent on sourcing
biomass fuel, healthier working atmosphere,
freedom from power outages and low voltage,
better light to work extra hours at will and
better light for children to study.
Economically the use of these equipment
reduces the cost of purchase of Biomass fuel
and electricity and environmentally there is
less demand for biomass fuel and hence
releases pressure on the environment.
Microgramfacilitates clients with their loans
to procure clean energy equipment viz.,
improved cook stoves and solar lamps that
reduce dependence on fossil fuel.
Chithra Buys a Smart Stove
Chithra, 35, and her 2 children live in a
small house in Thiruneelakudi. Looking for
means to improve her living, she stumbled
upon PAT, which extended loan to members
of SHGs. Bestowed with a natural capacity
of organizing people, she got a group of 20
women from her place to form a group,
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which soon became eligible for taking loans
from PAT.
Once, when she was interacting with PAT
staff, came to know of the benefits of the
energy efficient improved bio-mass cook
stove. She, hooked by the benefits like its
portability, low intake of fuel, better heat
output and the low emission of smoke spared
no time in procuring one for her family.
A year has passed since Chitra purchased
the stove from a distributor. She has no
reason to regret, she knows that she has
made an excellent choice.
The versatile Solar - Philomena‟s story
Thirty five year old Philomena Mary, a
homemaker, is full praise for the solar
lantern that she purchased through a clean
energy loan from PAT. She is the mother of
two boys, both students of high and higher
secondary schools. She and her husband,
struggling to find enough resources for their
livelihood and to educate their children, had
purchased two milking cows using a loan
from PAT. They were living in a small
thatched hut that was not electrified. During
one of the meetings with PAT she came to
know about the usefulness of a solar lantern.
She says, “PAT staff informed me about low
cost solar lights, which, apart from the
initial cost of the equipment, does not incur
any recurring cost for its operation. I
immediately approached a distributor and
purchased one. I had not anticipated the
diverse ways in which the lamp can be used
when I purchased it. I use it in my kitchen,
my children use it for their studies in the
evenings and my husband used it to tend the
cows at night. My neighbours, having seen
our multipurpose use of the lamp, have
begun using the solar lantern. PAT has
taken a great step to introduce this useful
equipment to people.”
Vermicompost for organic farming
In pursuit of increased productivity and profit,
farmers have shifted to indiscriminate useof
chemical fertilizer and pesticides. However,
such aggressive farming has caused a risk to
animals, people and the environment.
Restoration of the health of the soil through
provision of organic manure and nutrients is
an urgent environmental need.
PAT has taken the positive step to introduce
organic farming to the farming sector. PAT
has set up demonstration and production
plants of vermicompost that ensures better
crop productivity, while lessening the adverse
effect of chemical fertilizers on the
environment.
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2.8 Old age Social Security and
insurance
Due to low birth rates coupled with long life
expectancy, the population of citizens 60
years or above is projected to rise to 12.4% of
population by 2026 and to 25% by 2050. Yet
only about 12% of the population have any
saving explicitly for retirement. To counter
this very serious problem, the government of
India has started the Swavalamban pension
scheme, implemented through PFRDA.
PAT has continued to be part of the
nationwide enrolment of citizens to this old
age social security scheme in partnership with
ESAF Microfinance. The total enrolment by
PAT in NPS is 12229.
Micro insurance coverage has a reasonable
acceptance by the community. Towards
providing insurance coverage as social
security, PAT has three partnerships; with
Bajaj Allianz and Kotak Mahindra for group
insurance and with Birla Sun Life for
individual insurance. Over23028 persons are
covered during the fiscal.
‘Her house leaks no more’
Story of how micro financing
helped Savithri
Savithri, a mother of a son
and a daughter, is a
middle-aged widow from
the Kotiyal hamlet in
Ariyalur district in Tamil
Nadu and the family had only a dilapidated
thatched hut to live in.
During a visit to a nearby village, she
stumbled upon an all women SHG meeting
conducted by PAT. She had never seen or
heard of a SHG, neither its function nor
purpose. After a discussion with the PAT
staff, she left for her village with
determined mind. She soon assembled like-
minded women in her village and sought
the help of PAT to formalize the group and
provide them with loans.
Her very first loan of `5000 supplemented
the deficit in her own funds that she had
saved for the purchase of a milch cow. The
proceeds from the sale of milk were enough
for her to take care of the basic needs of
the family and repayment of the loans.
The second loan of `7000 added another
cow to her herd. She was now not only able
to meet all her needs and repayment of
loans but also save money for planned
expenditure. She continued taking loans of
higher amounts to improve her business,
without ever defaulting on her loan
repayments.
She took on lease a small plot of land to do
her own farming activities. This has
further enhanced her earnings and savings.
She has now enough funds to provide a
comfortable life for the family and better
education for her children. A tiled house
has now replaced Savithri’s thatched hut
and she now moves about with confident
steps and dignified bearing – thanks to the
loans facilitated by PAT’s microfinance
programme”.
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2.9 The Financial Statements and
Auditor’s Report
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3. Development Programs
3.1 Children Development Program
Children born in poverty have tales of sorrow,
privation, suffering and rejection and slums
are not the best place for a child to grow!
Children who are born and brought up in an
underprivileged and marginalised atmosphere,
when provided with opportunities, a little
handholding and care, will capitalise on their
innate potential for growth and become
productive citizens of the nation.
PAT has cherished memories of its
involvement in the lives of many of these
little ones, who presently, as adults occupy
responsible positions in the society. Through
the CDP program PAT aims at the holistic
development of the child and hence the
activities take care of the physical,
intellectual, emotional and ethical
development of the child. Attention given to
building interpersonal relationships,
interdependence and creating civic sense
facilitates seamless integration of the child to
the adult world. Spiritual nurture strengthens
the trust in God, gratefulness to God and
other human beings and brings purpose for
existence and meaning for relationships in the
child.
Learning through activity:
The five centres, each running at its full
capacity of 25 children, are located in slums
of MGR Nagar, Ramamurthy Nagar, Kajapet,
Bells Ground and Kemps town around the
town of Trichy. Under a supervisor for all the
centres, each centre functions between 9.30
a.m. and 3.30 p.m. runs five days in a week.
Each centre has a teacher and an assistant
teacher who supports in the chores of the
centre.
The activities for each year follow an annual
syllabus, which takes care of helping the child
observe the various natural phenomena, the
sky, the plants, animals and birds, fruits and
vegetables, colours and shapes, human body,
family, festivals and social institutions.
The innovative spirit of the supervisor and
teachers has resulted in making teaching aids
by recycling throwaway things like seeds, lids
of carbonated bottles, PVC pipes, thermocol
and stones.
When children leave the centres to join
regular schools, an equal number of children
are added to the centres in order to maintain a
strength of 125 children. This year 75
children joined regular schools a similar
number have been taken in. The average
attendance of the children is 90 per cent.
Nutrition, hygiene and health:
The routine of the child centre includes
wholesome lunch followed by a time of sleep
until 3.30 when the children return to their
homes after having a nutritious drink. Each
child‟s health records are maintained at the
centre, the weight is measured every month
and the records are updated. The centres give
immediate attention to any medical
emergency.
Infusing national pride and
patriotism:
Celebrations of national special days create a
sense of national cohesiveness in the child.
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The hoisting of the national flag to the tune of
the National Anthem on the Republic day and
the Independence Day are memorable for the
child, for they get a pair of uniform and
breakfast on each of these days. Gandhiji‟s
birthday, the teachers‟ day and the children‟s
day are also celebrated at the centres in the
same manner.
Stories of Change:
The parents meetings conducted to evaluate
the progress of the child gives encouraging
reports. There have been many stories of the
positive sway that the centres have on the
children. Most of the influences are in the
area of personal habits and discipline at home
– a good sign that they would behave well in
the society.
“Devadarsini attends the MGR Nagar
Centre and her mother describes the
influence of the centre. “She was in the
habit of using vulgar street language picked
up from her surroundings. We had a great
difficulty to make her obey us and her
character was becoming bad. After attending
the centre, she is very polite in her behaviour
and obeys us. She is also well disciplined in
her habits and takes bath every day”.
“We had a great difficulty having her brush
her teeth before eating and quite often she
would not brush at all. The influence of the
centre on her is so great that she now
brushes her teeth twice a day without fail‟,
says the mother of Malathy who attends the
Ramamoorthy Nagar centre.
Another story reported by the teachers is
about Vinchiya, an outstanding student of
Bells ground centre. She used to throw
things about at home and tried to do the
same at the child centre when she came in
first. Once the habit of replacing things in
their appropriate places insisted by the
teacher in the school, she continued doing
that in her home as well.”
These stories encourage us to press on with
the activities of the centre despite the
financial struggles that accompany the
running of the centres. The little ones that we
serve are not „just a child‟ but people with a
future and uncountable possibilities. These
little ones drive the India of tomorrow.
3.2 Education Empowerment Centres
Higher education in India is currently very
competitive and only the fittest survive! In a
competitive world, the underprivileged, often,
find themselves the losers because few
opportunities come their way and when they
come, they are not fit for it.
For the past 16 years, PAT has been
providing special coaching in Tamil, English
and Maths to the needy students from PAT‟s
project area, to prepare them for a better start
in their career. Starting with just a couple of
centres, the program has seen an annual
increase in the centres to the current Twenty,
each having 30 students. The centres,
approved by the local Assistant Educational
Officers and run in co-operation with the
Heads of schools cater to the needs of
students of fourth and fifth standards.
Each working day, the students spend two
hours at the centre, from 4.00 p.m to 6.00
p.m. A qualified supervising teacher helps
them revise the lessons that they have learned
and administers periodic tests to assess their
knowledge. Skill development through
competing for a prize in public speaking,
writing, recitation, arts and fine arts are part
of the activities at the centre.
Coaching Centers (with 30 children each)
Adichanur, Suthamalli, Nayaganaipriyal,
Kodali, Porpathinthanallur, Cholamadevi,
Kodalikaruppur, T.K.P. Natham,
Edankanni, Chinthamani, Thathampettai,
Sripuranthan, Govindaputhur,
Vikramangalam, Kadambur,
Periathirukonam, Karaikurichi,
Venmankondan, Nagamangalam,
Sathambadi
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In addition, once a year Annual day is being
conducted assembling all the beneficiaries
and their parents in one place and encourage
them by distributing prizes to the winners in
the competitions conducted.
“When I was in my fourth standard, I
remember that I was just surviving in my
studies. English, Tamil and Math were my
most feared subjects; however much I tried,
I could never score more than 35% when the
result of each exam came out.
That was Seven years ago, when I was a
pupil in the elementary school in my village
Suthamalli, in Ariyalur district of Tamil
Nadu. It is here that my college-going
brother and I live with my farmer father and
my mother, who supports him in the farming
actives.
My class teacher who knew my struggles told
me one day, „Vijay, an organization called
PAT is running a tuition centre in your
village for two hours in the evening after
school hours. I will tell your parents to send
you there for your studies‟. I joined the
tuition centre and remained there until I
finished my primary school, two years later.
The teacher was quite friendly and
understood the struggle I am having with my
studies. Her very attitude to the students
created in me a desire to redouble my efforts.
She made all subjects easy to understand,
gave regular exercises, and conducted tests
in all the subjects.
The coaching at the entre eventually
improved my knowledge and skill, which is
proved by the 96% marks that I scored in the
final exam at the high school. I am now in
the 11th class and I am not ashamed to say
that my academic achievements are based on
the foundation laid at the Tuition centre. I
am grateful to PAT and hope that the tuition
centres would continue to offer its great
services to other students in need.” - Vijay,
Suthamalli.
3.3 Employability Skill Training Institute
TAILORING CENTRES
PAT initiated its developmental activities
eighteen years ago, through a Tailoring unit at
Vikramangalam village, as a first step towards
the welfare and uplift of women and children
in the downtrodden area of Ariyalur district.
PAT, then, was addressing a major issue of
adolescent school dropout girls and jobless
young women who had completed their
schooling whiling away their time at their
homes; the tailoring skill might be of use to
them in the after years and may even bring in
some needed funds to the family.
PAT issues a certificate to those who
successfully complete the six-month‟s course.
In due course of time, when the enrolment
dwindled in Vikramanagalam the centre was
shifted to Aduthurai besides opening another
centre at Thiruppandhal. A hundred and
eighty three girls have successfully completed
their training through these centres.
The runaway success:
It might be a matter of co-incidence, but the
boom of hosiery export from „Bunyan City‟
Tirupur was synchronous with the functioning
of the tailoring centres. A few of the girls got
jobs at these factories and when news about
these job opportunities spread, interested girls
took training and moved to Tirupur.
At home, in their own towns, many of the
girls successfully employed their tailoring
skills to augment the family income. The
project thus has become a model of financial
inclusion and empowerment of women in the
areas where PAT operates.
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“Sudha, a final year
postgraduate student of the
Government College,
Kumbakonam, is the eldest of
three siblings who live with
their daily-wage labourer
parents. The family had to
suffer great deprivation, as the meagre
wages earned by the parents were sufficient
to provide for the needs of the family. Sudha
decided to undergo the tailoring training to
try to ease the family burden, and enrolled
herself in the PAT run Tiruppandhal
trainingcentre.
She remembers, “It was six months course. I
regularly attended the class and sincerely
learnt the trade. The instructress was very
kind to me as she taught me and cleared my
doubts. Within three months, I could cut the
cloth, stitch and make garments. Now, I
stitch my own blouses, churidars and skirts
besides those of my family members. I am
also able to make a reasonable income by
making dresses for my neighbours. I am
happy to be able to ease the financial burden
of my parents and am able to support my
brother and sister in their studies. I am
grateful ...”
COMPUTER TRAINING
While launching the PMJDY program, our
Prime Minister has indicated the coming of
„Digital India‟ that would define how
financial inclusion and financial transactions
would happen in the future India. The young
generation is already a part of the digital
world where communication, transportation,
medicine and entertainment has gone digital.
PAT‟s own vision of „digital inclusion‟
started seven years back, through the
computer-training centre for rural students,
started at Thirupandhal village in Thanjavur
district. Following the success and the utility
of this centre, another centre was started at T.
Palur. The aim of starting the centres was to
facilitate job availability for rural youth. The
training, given at concessional rates, is
available for boys and girls willing to employ
their spare time profitably. In the current year,
five hundred and twenty three students took
training at the PAT computer training centres.
I am Abinaya....
“I work as computer
instructor of students under
training in a social service
organization. I have a good
salary and I am very happy
that I am able to support my
family in its financial needs.
For this achievement, I owe my gratitude to
PAT which ran the computer training at
Thirupandal” says Abinaya.
Courses
offered
Course
Duration Trainees
JCP 1 1/2 Months 18
DMO 1 & 1/2 Months 23
DCA 3 Months 253
DTP 3 Months 49
HTML 2 Months 2
DCCP 3 Months 6
PGDCA 1 Year 30
TALLY 3 Months 36
INTERNET 1 & 1/2 Months 98
C 1 & 1/2 Months 1
ENGLISH
TYPE 1 Month 6
TAMIL
TYPE 1 Month 1
Total Students 523
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Abinaya, a B.Com. student from
Kannarakudy, had successfully completed
her six month computer training in DCA,
Internet and Tally from the PAT training
centre. With the certificate that she received,
she applied for the job that she is currently
holding.
4. Awareness Programs
PAT uses all avenues to give awareness on
opportunities and use of appropriate
technologies for livelihood, environment,
climate change and ecology to rural
communities. Awareness on financial
inclusion, social security, risk, energy and
food security are part of PAT‟s intervention.
Training on vegetable cultivation:
A training session on vegetable cultivation,
conducted with the support of Mr.Palanisami
and Mrs.Jothi from state agricultural
department, provided training and information
to over hundred group members from
Naduvalur and Kasankottai villages.
The educative sessions included preparation
of seeds and seedlings, manuring, weeding,
irrigation, pest and disease control,
harvesting, processing and marketing.
Milk production
Animal husbandry plays an important role in
ensuring the welfare of rural population, on
which, a majority of farmers depend for their
livelihood. For many small and marginal
farmers animal husbandry provides
supplementary employment and a sustainable
source of income.
Nearly 100 group members from
Govindhaputhur and Sathambadi participated
in a training session directed to group
members involved in animal husbandry. Ms.
Jayanthi and Ms. Vasugi, both veterinary
doctors trained the participants on providing
proper attention to their cattle. Subjects
included fodder, both green and dry,
vaccination, quality improvement of milk and
diseases and treatment for cattle.
Mr. Srinivasan and Mrs. Rajam provided
instruction on the need, process, cost and
claim processing of animal insurance.
4.1 Health Care Programs
A large number of marginalized elderly men
and women suffer from visual impairments.
The underprivileged groups living in urban
slums and rural villages have poor access to
health services and hence many of them live
with unoperated cataract and other visual
problems that can be treated to restore normal
vision to the elderly.
In its health care interventions, PAT has given
special attention to the visual needs of the
elderly who have no one to support them. As
in the previous years, PAT conducted three
eye camps this year, in Ariyalur and Tanjavur
districts in partnership with the Lions
Club,theAravind Eye Hospital, Madurai and
the District Blindness Eradication Society.
PAT staff mobilized the beneficiaries through
displays, flyers and public announcements
through audio, besides word of mouth
advertising.
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The doctors and medical staff conducted
investigations, tests and made the diagnosis,
whereupon medicines or glasses as needed
were supplied to the patients. Arrangements
for referrals were made where needed.
Transportation, food and accommodation
were free for those who opted for surgeries,
which was done at Madurai.
Eight Hundred and Seventy Eight men and
women attended the camp, of which 449 had
their vision corrected surgically by having
their cataract removed.
PAT plans for a wider intervention in the
health care of the elderly in the days to come
and plans to attend to the common health
problems of the elderly poor.
5. Looking ahead …
2014 -15 has been a promising year despite
the difficulties faced in sourcing funds. We
wish to thank all the stakeholders of PAT for
the support that they have rendered in the
year. The SHG members and their families,
the staff and their families, the financing
institutions, the leadership of PAT and the
government departments deserve a word of
thanks.
As we present, this report we know that there
is no place for complacency except gratitude
and indebtedness to the community that has
gratefully received, used and valued the
services of PAT. This acceptance by the
people, in turn, brightens the prospects for
continued involvement in the lives and needs
of people. God eternal has graciously
permitted the organization to be useful to His
created world and hence we bow before Him
with respect and gratitude.
Hope and confidence, about the future of the
people whom we serve, the future of the
nation we belong to and future of the Trust
and its activities – these are the drivers that
motivate us, as we strive and commit
ourselves to the programs and activities for
the coming year.