CSR Success Stories

Harichandra Reddy (Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh)

Harichandra Reddy: An illustrative case of hard-work and perseverance

Harichandra Reddy’s family wasn’t able to make much of the acre-and-a-half of land the Andhra Pradesh Government had allotted him. This fallow land in Nawabpet village of Kadapa district had no source of irrigation and therefore couldn’t be a productive resource.

While Harichandra was struggling to make two ends meet, he came across Dalmia Bharat Foundation’s (DBF) team at one of the village meetings in 2012-13. DBF, at that time, was organizing a Village Development Committee (VDC) in Nawabpet to shoulder its livelihood-through-micro-finance project. Harichandra later was one of the project beneficiaries who obtained a soft loan of Rs. 20,000/- from the VDC’s revolving fund to purchase a buffalo. Soon the family started to sell milk. In just over seven months, the family not just repaid the loan, but was also able to clear and prepare their bare land for cultivation of Bengal Gram and Sorghum (Jowar). With multiplied income from the new sources, Harichandra dug a bore-well for irrigating his land and transformed his kutcha house in to a pucca structure in a span of over 3-4 years. He currently owns 5 buffaloes and has purchased a car that his family operates as a taxi.

The money has given Harichandra tremendous status in the society, which he feels was unthinkable a few years ago. He is a Director of the local Farmers’ Producers’ Company (FPC) and his wife, Pramella, is the Chairperson of an all-women FPC of Milk Producers. Both these FPCs have been promoted by DBF in association with NABARD. With his and his family’s hard work and with a little handholding by DBF, Harichandra has been able to provide a far improved quality of life to his family. His daughter has now been married and his son has completed his Master’s degree in Technology. People like Harichandra are definitely the heroes who inspire communities around them with their determination!