Clean drinking water may not be easy to find, but it’s definitely being made affordable by Basic Water Needs. We spoke to Klaas Van der Van who tells us about the inexpensive Tulip siphon water filter that is changing the lives of millions. » Read more

Samvab is providing emergency, doorstep and referral-based health care services in Berhampur, Orissa. They have reached 500 people in the first year and half of operations and plan to reach 4 million people in 4,000 villages. » Read more

Begun in July last year, the Altitude Store, has a team of nine people in nine months! Ayesha Grewal, founder, tells us about her plans of making India healthy; not only by targeting organic food but by creating a robust rural economy. » Read more

If you thought farm produce could not fetch loans, think again. Staragri’s warehousing facility allows rural farmers to use their harvest as collateral to avail loan finance. Amit Agarwaal, Founder and CEO tells us how this works! » Read more

Can you earn your living without speaking to anyone? Mirakle Couriers’ team of 55 delivery boys do not speak, much as they cannot hear. But they are perfectly empowered to work. Dhruv Lakra, Founder and CEO, tells us about sustainable income for deaf adults and his dream. » Read more

The Center for Rural Development’s (CRDEV) Rickshaw bank provides vehicles to rickshaw pullers as a means of self-employment to earn a living. Already 2000 rickshaw pullers own their rickshaws across 12 cities in India. In a conversation with Naveen Krishna, former CEO, who has implemented the program for the past four years. » Read more

Organized by the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Vienna, Austria and the social enterprise “emersense”, the Social Impact Award supports aspiring student entrepreneurs in Austria with their first steps towards social entrepreneurship. We’re sharing here excerpts from an email interview with Peter Vandor, founder of the Award and researcher at the Institute. » Read more

In our endeavor to create value for the entire ecosystem supporting disruptive innovations, we bring the perspective of Villgro. It is one of the leading organizations transforming rural lives by identifying, grooming and marketing innovations that have rural benefits. Since 2001, Villgro has activated close to 1500 innovations and impacted more than 3.5 lakh rural lives. We spoke to Ms. Sucharita Kamath, who heads the Innovation Ecosystem. » Read more

Over the past few weeks we have received fantastic feedback on our efforts of showcasing the real heroes across India and abroad, who are redefining opportunities for rural India. In keeping with that spirit, we are glad to introduce Prashant Lingam, Co-founder, Bamboo House India, which aims to provide 5 million jobs to bamboo artisans in North-East India. Q. How did the idea of Bamboo House develop? » Read more

As part of our mission towards sustainable change at the Base of the Economic Pyramid in India, we present an exclusive Interview with Harish Hande, Managing Director, SELCO, India. Q. Congratulations on the awards and recognitions for Selco. What inspired you to start Selco; what problem and opportunity did you see? » Read more