Analyzing Business and Functional Areas of ‘Didi Ki Rasoi’: A JEEViKA Initiative

Didi Ki Rasoi, a JEEViKA initiative, is a prime example of grassroot empowerment. Enterprising women in self-help groups (SHGs) chart a path to prosperity. Think of a situation where resources are not sufficient. Vulnerability exists in terms of lack of education, cultural and religious discrimination, overpopulation, unemployment, and corruption, and you belong to the marginalized sections of society. Irrespective of circumstances, these women have the courage to do something new and their way of life is appreciable. JEEViKA aims to enhance the social and economic empowerment of the rural poor in Bihar. It has come up with different livelihood projects. Didi Ki Rasoi is one of them, and it focuses on the financial and economic inclusion and capitalization of poor women through collaborative frameworks.It is a collective enterprise where a village organization (VO) enters into contract with a group of women from SHGs. These women are owners of canteens for a contractual period. This chapter captures the business and functional areas of two different Didi Ki Rasoi: Vaishali and Buxar. It is interesting to note that the enterprise follows a decentralized model of intervention. In short, it follows ‘keep it simple and small’ (KISS). In the first phase of this pilot project, five government hospitals, namely, the Sadar Hospitals of Vaishali, Shivar, Buxar, Gaya, and a sub-divisional hospital, are selected for this project, where the role of Didi Ki Rasoi is to provide a regular healthy diet to admitted patients. Bhawish and Himmat are the names of the respective VOs in Vaishali and Buxar. They signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with hospitals. It is important to note that space, electricity, and water are provided by the State Health Society, Bihar. Didi Ki Rasoi is an open cafeteria, which means normal customers can also visit. It also supplies food to government institutions.Kudumbashree is JEEViKA’s consultant for this non-farm project and, as a resource person, provides guidelines for the identification of premises and selection. They also organize training for identified members and finalize members who will operate the canteen. The canteen or café industry is highly competitive, with private vendors already present in the market. In order to achieve customer segmentation, Didi Ki Rasoi is being positioned as a provider of homely food, which includes hygiene and quality as key components. There are a few managerial issues when it comes to finance and operations. Although these women are good enough to sustain this enterprise, it’s necessary to compete in the local market. JEEViKA has provided a consultant or canteen manager for a particular tenure to tackle managerial issues. These women aren’t professional cooks or chiefs. Their capacity is limited. Therefore, a head cook could be hired for the initial 3–6 months for smooth operations.The capital structure of this collective enterprise is as follows: 80% of profit will be kept as retention money for the different activities of the business; owners may be given up to 15% of profit; and 1% of profit may be given to respective VOs after one year. Each owner has a share of Rs. 20,000 in this enterprise. There is a provision of paying interest at up to 12% annually; however, in this case, it is 0% for a deposit of up to Rs. 20,000. As of now, VOs are not fully functional, but JEEViKA will soon completely handover this enterprise to VOs. This is a suitable example of ‘withdrawal from community-based intervention.’Safety becomes a critical issue as women work in the kitchen. It has been observed that minor as well as major accidents have occurred in the past few months. Health/Life insurance will be provided on time. Food safety and quality assurance are a must. Customer feedback is necessary because their customers also includes patients. For example, a diabetes patient is not supposed to eat rice because he has to take care of carbohydrate intake to manage his blood glucose levels, whereas the hospital dietary is common for all patients. Inventory management is also a crucial task, as demand is not easily estimated in most cases. Hence, to increase profit, preparing day-wise menus is an alternative solution for the optimal utilization of resources. It also helps in pre-cooking preparation, reducing serving time, and reducing food wastage. Working in public institutions, a few women also faced sexual harassment at the workplace. Usually, the canteens close at around 09:30 pm. Returning home late night becomes a challenge for them.Last but not least, although hospital patients definitely provide a permanent source of revenue to make business more sustainable, timely payment remains a key issue, which can be easily found at both locations.