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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 : pat_trichy@yahoo.com

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.

29

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.