an analysis on proshika

Introduction

Proshika is listed the fourth biggest Bangladeshi NGO-MFI at the Mix Market, with a bit over 17million active borrowers and an outstanding loan portfolio of US$ 58 million .It was founded 1975 and received formal registration one year later . Like Grameen, and BRAC, Proshika is active in various fields, such as Peoples Organization Building, Education, Training, Health, Legal and Aid Services, Environmental Protection and Microfinance with the objective of human development and empowerment of the poor. By those programs Proshika contribute to the socio-economic development of the Bangladesh. We have conducted analysis on Proshika and found that they have created a total of 57.77 million of them female employment is 0.87 million and set up a primary school of 23502, 93.80 million tress planted and many more development. Proshika suffered banned from their operation in 2003 due to 55 legal charges of embezzlement and in 2007 due to internal conflicts. If Proshika resolved those problems they could gain their market and contribute again to the development of the poor people of Bangladesh.

Background

The development process of PROSHIKA, one of the largest NGOs of Bangladesh, started in a few villages of Dhaka and Comilla districts in 1975, although the organization formally took its first step in 1976. Much has changed since. From a very modest beginning, over the years, PROSHIKA has created 12.33 million employment/self-employment opportunities for the poor and brought over one million households out of poverty while making over one million people literate and planting nearly one billion trees towards the greening of our country. The name ‘PROSHIKA’ is an acronym of three Bangla words, which stand for training, education, and work.

A constant analysis of the magnitude of poverty and its trends, the strategies effective for its reduction and eventual elimination, and their meticulous implementation has brought PROSHIKA where it is today. The central ethos has, however, all the while remained the same human development and empowerment of the poor who gradually stand tall to achieve freedom from poverty by themselves. Empowerment means that the poor are united and organized, become aware of the real causes of their impoverishment, develop leadership among themselves, mobilize their material resources, increase income and employment, develop capacities to cope with natural disasters, become functionally literate, take better care of their health, become engaged in environmental protection and regeneration, get elected in local government bodies and community institutions, and have better access to public and common property resources.

Vision

PROSHIKA envisions a society, which is economically productive and equitable, socially just, environmentally sound, and genuinely democratic.

Mission

PROSHIKA’s mission is to conduct an extensive, intensive, and participatory process of sustainable development through the empowerment of the poor.

Objectives

PROSHIKA’s objectives are:

(i) structural poverty alleviation;

(ii) environmental protection and regeneration;

(iii) improvement in women’s status;

(iv) increasing people’s participation in public institutions; and

(v) Enhancing g people’s capacity to gain and exercise democratic and human rights.

What PROSHIKA Does

These objectives are achieved through a broad range of programs in organization building, education and training leading to income and employment generation, health education, health infrastructure building, as well as environmental protection and regeneration. The programs are supported by policy advocacy and research activities linking the poorest of the poor.

Who PROSHIKA Works with

Spread in 21,272 villages and 2,380 urban slums in 55 districts, PROSHIKA now works with nearly 1.36 million men and women members drawn from rural and urban poor households. They have been organized into 104,295 primary groups. As there are on an average 1.3 members from each household having 5.5 family members, this translates into over 5.77 million program beneficiaries of PROSHIKA.

Contributions in the Socio-Economic Development of Proshika in BangladeshProshika contributes to the socio economic development of Bangladesh by providing their a range of programs. Major operational development programs include :

1) People’s Organization Building 2) Microcredit Program 3) PROSHIKA Savings Scheme4) Economic Social Security Program 5) Universal Education Program (UEP)6) Practical Skill Development Training Program (PSDTP)7) Environmental Protection and Regeneration8) Health Program9) Housing Program10) People's Cultural Program (PCP) 11) Development Support Communication Program (DSCP)

P eople’s Organization Building

Organization building is at the core of all PROSHIKA programs. All the achievements and activities of PROSHIKA emanate from the concepts and methods of organization building pioneered by it. The poor people living in rural and urban areas are encouraged to organize themselves into primary groups popularly known as samitis, and form group federations at village, union and upazila levels building a broad organizational network. The process constitutes the basis of participatory development and spurs on the acquisition and strengthening of the human, socio-economic, and cultural resource bases of the poor.

Current status of the Program

Currently, PROSHIKA works with 1,364,042 men and women members drawn from 1,049,263 rural and urban household.

18,775 group federations formed at village, union, and upazila levels building a broad organizational network.

104,295 groups formed organizing the poor people living in rural and urban areas.

Microcredit P rogram

PROSHIKA’s approach to credit is ‘credit plus plus’—a system under which not only credit is given but proper training, technical assistance, marketing facilities as well as social and other development supports are also provided.


Tk. 45,039 million (4,504 crore) loans disbursed to 6.50 million (65.02 lakh) group members.

1.42 million (14.20 lakh) projects implemented by the group members. 12.33 million (1.23 crore) employments self-employments created. 1.24 million (12.36 lakh) households made poverty-free.

PROSHIKA Savings Scheme

The PSS has been introduced on the basis of certain principles like security of group savings, life insurance, risk coverage for damages caused by natural disasters, sudden death, etc. The life and property risk coverage aspects of the PSS are unique in Bangladesh. The total compensation paid from the PSS so far on account of death and damage is Tk. 72.40 million to 8,604 and 9,411 members respectively.


Tk. 54.71 million paid from the compensation fund of the PSS to the family members of 8,604 deceased group members.

Tk. 17,69 million distributed to 9,411 group members badly affected by various natural disasters.

Economic Social S ecurity Program (ESSP)

Established in July 1999, the ESSP has gained much popularity among the PROSHIKA group members for its uniqueness. The program is meant to provide them with medical facilities, stipend to their children, loans at low rates of interest for constructing houses and purchasing land, and legal support, if needed. An amount of Tk. 1.67 million has so far been paid to 327 students as stipend and an amount of Tk. 958,976 as medical bill.


Tk. 1.67 million paid to 327 meritorious students from the group members’ families. Tk. 0.96 million paid to the poor group members for their treatment.

Universal Education Program (UEP)

More than one million people have received functional literacy skill and half a million children have attended non-formal primary schools through PROSHIKA’s Universal Education Program since its inception. PROSHIKA considers education as the most essential ingredient in its development effort and hence introduced this comprehensive education program for its group members and their children.

The UEP has the following five components:

a) Adult literacy for non-literate group members;

b) Post-literacy centers for the neo-literates to reinforce, regenerate, and sustain their literacy and numeracy skills;

c) Non-formal Primary Education (NFPE) for the dropped-out and un-enrolled children of the 8-11 age group;

d) Enrolment of children of the poor households in formal schools to enhance further growth of literacy; and

e) Primary education for the non-poor.


53,839 Adult Literacy Centers set up so far. 1.14 million (11.43 lakh) poor people graduated with functional literacy skill. 23,502 Non-Formal Primary Schools established. 0.72 million (7.17 lakh) children from the poor households enrolled in non-formal

primary schools.

Practical Skill Development Training Program (PSDTP)

The PSDT program largely contributes to the effective implementation of employment and income-generating activities through providing relevant information about the management of the projects implemented through environmentally sound technology. The following are the main objectives of PSDT:

a) to enhance the group members' understanding of different employment and income-generating (EIG) projects;

b) to sharpen their technical knowledge and management skills to help them undertake and effectively implement those projects;

c) to help them learn how to identify and use underutilized local resources like denuded public forest land, open water-bodies, khas land, etc; and

d) to help them make a better and effective use of the resources they already have.


20.58 million (2.06 crore) women and men received human development training from PROSHIKA.

1.16 million (11.55 lakh) women and men received skill development training from PROSHIKA.

Environmental Protection and Regeneration

The environmental Protection and Regeneration is a systematic intervention to enhance the afforestation in the country and prove that the poor are the best managers/protectors of forests if they are granted usufruct rights on these resources.

Through the SFP activities, PROSHIKA has been working to ensure the access of the poor to forest resources through a participatory approach. This program has enabled many poor people to achieve usufruct rights to the public as well as private land through lease agreements with different land-owning agencies and individuals. PROSHIKA also provides the group members, who participate in this program, with necessary motivation, credit and technical supports.

The SFP is operated through the following components :

Nursery development

Homestead plantation

Strip and block plantation

Mother tree gardens and nurseries

Natural (Sal) forest protection

Institutional plantation


93.80 million (9.38 core) trees planted under the social forestry program in denuded forest areas and roadsides.

0.25 million (2.47 lakh) acres of land brought under the organic agriculture program. 0.80 million (8.04 lakh) farmers practicing organic agriculture using organic fertilizer and

pesticide.

Health Program

This program is a combination of preventive, curative and rehabilitative services provided to the grassroots people. The HP has the following components:

a) Clinical Health: Providing health services, integrating the physically challenged in development process, upgrading the knowledge and skills of traditional birth attendants, and organizing health training courses are some of the regular activities of this program. Networking with health professionals, hospitals and clinics is also an important activity of this component.

b) Health Camp: A total of 2,931 camps have been organized and around 167,858 patients have received health services. Specialized health camps like eye camps, cleft palate or lip operation camps, etc. are also organized. Besides, a network has been established with different hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers and a good number of senior and specialist physicians have come under this network providing services to the poor either free of cost or at a very minimum cost.

c) Differently Able People Development Program: The identification of the physically challenged, the education of physically challenged children, their medical treatment and therapy, employment creation, professional training, credit support and providing assistive devices are all part of this activity. Besides, an awareness-building campaign is conducted in the community for reducing disability.

d) Water and Sanitation: Under this component 825,647 sanitary latrines have been installed so far. The problem of chronic arsenic poisoning from contaminated tube-well water and the constant need of pure drinking water are also taken care of through arsenic mitigation, installation of surface water treatment plants and production of low-cost water purifiers.

Housing Program:

Manufacturing RCC pillars, MCR tiles and constructing low-cost houses are some of the main activities of this program. Besides, the training imparted to poor people in the construction of such RCC-based structures has created new employment opportunities for them.


31,757 houses constructed for homeless families. 1,251 low-cost houses built in resettlement villages.

People's Cultural Program (PCP)

This is a unique PROSHIKA program that uses our cultural resources as a means of conscientization and empowerment. PROSHIKA learned over the years that the actual experience of the poor expressed through songs, ballads and dramas devised, improvised, performed and watched by the poor themselves create an unprecedented level of awareness. The PCP organizes cultural troupes at the village and slum levels and the troupe members have staged more than 95,137 cultural events so far.

Besides, the program personnel write popular songs and dramas, and offers people’s cultural program to different organizations.


95,000 cultural events held on democracy, human rights, gender equality, good governance, awareness about environmental protection.

962 cultural troupes formed with group members

Development Support Communication Program (DSCP)

This program, with its different components, contributes to the social empowerment of the poor by providing communication support to other social development program of PROSHIKA. It produces different development communication materials like video, audio, slides and still photographs for the purpose of dissemination. Participatory video was a unique component of this program providing the poor with an access to video technology aimed at their empowerment. It enables the grassroots people to produce video documentaries on their own problems and issues. The DSCP also generates income for PROSHIKA, providing technical support to other organizations in shooting, editing, cassette transferring, etc. towards the production of audio-visual materials.


282 documentaries/videos/TV spots made. 819 participatory video produced on democracy, human rights, gender equality, good

governance, and awareness about environmental protection.

Program on the Liberation War (PLW)

PROSHIKA launched its Program on the Liberation War in order to motivate all citizens, particularly the younger generation, with the values and spirit of the Liberation War and to properly recognize, honour and rehabilitate the freedom fighters. A total of sixty-five women freedom fighters have already been accorded reception for their heroic role. PROSHIKA has also conferred on them 'PROSHIKA Muktijoddha Award-2003', which was named after 11 renowned women of the country. A life-long pension amounting to Tk. 1,000 per month was awarded to 21 women freedom fighters in 2004. Besides, in 2010, 16 family members of Liberation War Martyrs have been awarded the same amount of pension for the next two years.


2,390 members of the freedom fighters’ families brought under PROSHIKA’s development activities.

65 women freedom fighters conferred with the PROSHIKA Muktijoddha Award-2003. 25 women freedom fighters awarded a life-long pension amounting to Tk. 1,00 per

month. Tk. 6,000 and Tk. 3,000 donated to 15 and 3 freedom fighters respectively for one time

Overall Contributions of Proshika in Socio-economic Development of Bangladesh

Total contributions made by the operation of Proshika up to 2011 are given below:

Area Coverage

Villages Slums Unions (Rural)

Wards (Urban)

Upazilas Districts Thanas Area Development Centers

Numbers of Area

21,272 2,380 1,743 375 234 34 55 185

Primary Group Members

Women :

Men Total Households

Poverty-free Households

Beneficiaries

Numbers of people

0.87 Million

0.49 Million

1.36 Million

1.05 Million

1.24 Million

5.77 Million

AreaCoverage

VillageUnionsUpajalaDistrictThanasDevelopement centreSlumsWaeds

The overall contributions of the Proshika in socio-economic development in Bangladesh from 2003 to 2011 are given table below:

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010

2011

Total Employment generated(in million)

15.33 15.45 16.18 17.15 17.62 17.16

1.72 1.95 57.77

Female 1001589 987978 1053322 1123144 7753669 - - - 0.87million

Percentage of female borrowers

65.32% 63.94% 65.12% 63.31% 65.38% N/A N/A N/A 65.98%

Number of depositors

7946178 1994057 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2569872

Borrowers per staff member

234.2219

227.3019

254.9661

276.1276

312.18811

N/A N/A N/A 325.12865

Employment in Proshika ( Personnel_)

6547 6982 6344 6210 5643 5345 5213

5100

6582

Total employment generated in 2003 to2011

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 201102468

101214161820

Total Employment generated(in mil-lion)

Total Employment gen-erated(in million)ries 1

In the above graph it is observed that from 2003 to 2007 every year employment has increased .But in 2009 to 2011 the employment are decreased.

Female worker :

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

1000000

2000000

3000000

4000000

5000000

6000000

7000000

8000000

9000000

Female

Female

In 2003 Prosika has 1001589 female workers which decreased in 2004 and it again increased from 2005 to 2007.

Percentage of female borrowers:

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 201161.50%

62.00%

62.50%

63.00%

63.50%

64.00%

64.50%

65.00%

65.50%

66.00%

66.50%



Percentage of female borrowers 65.32% in 2003, 2004 percentage was decrease in 63.64%. it again increase in 2006 and 2007 in 63.31% to 65.38% and 2011 the percentage was 65.98%.


20032004

20052006

20072008

20102011

0100000020000003000000400000050000006000000700000080000009000000



The year of 2003 number of depositor was 7946178 but it decrease 2004 i 1994057 and it agane increase 2011 in 2569872.


2003200420052006200720082009201020110

50

100

150

200

250

300

350



2003 the Borrowers per staff member was 234.2219 and it increase every year 2004 to 2011.

Figure 3Number of Proshika pre-primary schools by year

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011740 459 952 837 965 980 N/A N/A N/A 2046 3080 5230 10600 158700 23,502

Table 1. Some basic information on the coverage of Proshika pre-primary program, June 2007Number of area offices 49Number of branch offices 452Number of pre-primary schools completed 23502Number of children graduated from pre-primary 2.3 millionNumber of on-going pre-primary schools 20,140Number of students in the pre-primary schools 0.56 millionSource: Proshika Education Program, School Operation. Website:

Why Operations of Proshika faces Impediment in Recent years

Although Proshika is the 4th largest NGO in Bangladesh, it could not serve properly to the socio-

economic development of Bangladesh compare to other NGOs. The reason behind that their

normal operation is hampering due to some difficulty of their own. Proshika had banned from

operation 2 time frames. One in 2003 and other is in 2007.

The major causes behind this ban from operation due to 2 problems of proshika one is

embezzlement of fund and corruption by chairman and internal conflicts.

In 2003 Proshika’s operation was banned by the government for about 55 legal charges of

embezzlement of fund. The allegation of serious irregularities and misuse of funds against

Proshika was brought to the light when the London-based The Economist Intelligence Unit

(EIU) published a report in this connection in its July 2003 issue. PROSHIKA hit the headlines

in 2004, when its then chairman, Qazi Faruque Ahmed, joined politics. The NGO has, ever since,

been plagued with problems. At least 6,000 employees of the organisation and 20-lakh

beneficiaries were in deep trouble, as the ousted chairman is allegedly trying to stage a comeback

by promoting internal chaos.

PROSHIKA Centre for Human Development started its journey in 1976. Following allegations

of irregularities, NGOAB conducted an investigation and found 55 financial irregularities, which

were published on October 30, 2003.

The irregularities include –

Around Tk 3,200,000 paid to Oikyabaddha Nagorik Andolan and Association of

Development Agencies in Bangladesh (ADAB);

Spending of Tk 1,500,960 in the name of voter education, which was mainly used for

political purposes;

Spending of Tk 1,766,358 to print posters in favor of a certain political party;

Spending of Tk 210,000 to celebrate Faruque’s birthday,

Payments totaling Tk199,423 to Kamal Kar, an Indian national, without showing any

reason.

Payments including Tk750,000 to the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul

Committee (committee for elimination of the killers and collaborators

of 1971) and Tk 230million to Muktijuddher Smrity Sangrakkhan Kendra

(a centre for the preservation of memories of the Liberation War) which was to maintain

strong relation with the main opposition party of that time and many more.

At least 16 employees of the organization were sacked or handed out punishment transfers, as

they protested executive director Elgin Saha’s alleged mismanagement and corrupt practices.

The NGO is run by Saha’s close relatives, who have been accused of mistreating employees.

Kazi Rafiqul Alam, president of Dhaka Ahsania Mission, said, “Instability in the

development sector is destroying the overall image of NGOs in the country.”“If politics

seeps into any NGO, it is harmful,” he said, adding that internal conflicts and corruption

are chiefly responsible for destroying organizations like PROSHIKA.

Prof. Salahuddin M Aminuzzaman of the public administration department of Dhaka

University told The Independent that the first generation NGOs, in the 1970s, were mainly

established centred around influential individuals, which, in turn, led to internal leadership

chaos that engulfed organizations like PROSHIKA, Gono Sahajjo Sangstha (GSS),

SAMATA, HEED Bangladesh, and others.

Then a case was filed against Proshika for the corruption.

In November 12 2007, NBR asked the commercial banks to freeze all the accounts of Proshika

Chairperson Quazi Faroque Ahmed and his family members. May 25, 2009 due to the charges

On Proshika governing body of Proshika ousted the existing chairman Qazi Faruque and CEO

Syed Giasuddin Ahmed in 2009 .After that Proshika started their operation.

Again it faces the 2nd time of discontinuation of their operation due to their internal conflicts as

ousted chairman of Proshika has tried to create chaos in the organization. After the governing

body removed founding chairman Qazi Faruque Ahmed in May 2009, Faruque appealed to a

lower court seeking both instant and permanent injunctions on the governing body’s decision.

In January 11 2010 a gang of around 25 hired thugs of Proshika's ousted chairman Qazi Faruque

Ahmed broke in the head office on midnight and took control though the HC, in an order in

August 2006 said that Faruque could enter Proshika Bhaban alone without any procession and

rally. In which, Md Alauddin, senior accounts coordinator of Proshika, said the organisation

incurred a loss of Tk 1.5 crore in micro credit program alone during the 11 days standoff. Again

it face the 2nd time of discontinuation of their operation due to their internal conflicts as ousted

chairman tried to create chaos in the Proshika.

In Sunday, May 20, 2012 Qazi Faruque Ahmed, the ousted chairman of Proshika, came back

after a long hibernation and forcibly took control of the organization’s head office which create

again chaos in the Proshika. A former director of Proshika who is loyal to Qazi Faruque, Nargis

Jahan Banu, however told The Daily Star that they have returned as a section of Proshika staff

negotiated with them bringing allegation of irregularities against the incumbent management.

“We return with the consents and full support of the government and the administration,”

she said.

On the other hand, Chief Executive Officer of Proshika Mahbubul Karim said Qazi Faruque has

illegally taken control of Proshika with the help of a section of employees and a number of

outsiders.

Losses suffered by the Proshika due to Discontinuation of Operations and Financial embezzlement charges

After receiving a number of allegations and irregularities, NGOAB has blocked donor funds worth Tk 300 crore, for PROSHIKA, alleging fund embezzlements in certain projects, since 2002, said the NGOAB deputy director.

In recent years, Proshika had to scale-down its microcredit operations due to continued blockage of donor funds by the government, after the government accused Proshika of alleged political alignment with the opposition party (Bangladesh Microfinance Country Profile, 2006).

In 2007 it received a little more than US$ 2 million in donations and was running its microfinance activities with a deficit of over US$ 4 million (Mix Market, 2009f).

Recommendation the basis of analysis

Prof. Salahuddin M Aminuzzaman said, “When an NGO turns into a larger institution, if it is led by a single individual, then problems might arise, ultimately leading to the collapse of the organization, which happens for most NGOs.”

He added, “If Proshika could not overcome from their internal conflicts sooner or later it may come to the end.’’

On the basis of our analysis we could recommend that Proshika should

The 1st duty of Proshika is they should resolve their management control problem ,internal conflicts regarding position of CEO and chairman

Resolve the problem on the legal issues and with Qazi Faruque Try to regenerate and ear n the respect that they losses due to their issues and financial charges.

Conclusion

Proshika is listed the fourth biggest Bangladeshi NGO-MFI at the Mix Market, with a bit over 1.7 million active borrowers and an outstanding loan portfolio of US$ 58 million . It was founded 1975 and received formal registration one year later. Like Grameen, and BRAC, Proshika is active in various fields, such as Peoples Organization Building, Education, Training, Health, Legal and Aid Services, Environmental Protection and Microfinance with the objective of human development and empowerment of the poor. The major programs of Proshika are People’s Organization Building, Microcredit Program ,PROSHIKA Savings Scheme, Economic Social Security Program ,Universal Education Program (UEP),Practical Skill Development Training Program (PSDTP),Environmental Protection and Regeneration, Health Program, Housing Program,People's Cultural Program (PCP)and Development Support Communication Program (DSCP).By those program Proshika contribute to the socio-economic development of the Bangladesh. They have created a total of 57.77 million of them female employment is 0.87 million and set up a primary school of 23502, 93.80 million tress planted and many more development. Proshika suffered discontinuation of their operation in 2003 due to 55 legal charges of embezzlement and in 2007 due to internal conflicts. If Proshika resolved those problems they could gain their previous position.

an analysis on proshika

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