Sahulat - The Bridge of Hopes
"In a world where a dollar is needed to catch a dollar, everyone deserves a helping hand to lift themselves up"
Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize Winner 2006
Al-Khair Multi State Cooperative Credit Society – Jamshedpur, Jharkhand
Mr. Shiva is a member and account holder in Jamshedpur branch of Al- Khair . He sells snacks on a small food cart. His business was severally impacted during the COVID-19 lockdown he was barely able to manage his household expenses. Al-Khair was a great help for him, Al-Khair provided withdrawals at his door step. Shiva told that " I had taken loan of 50,000/- before lockdown for scaling up my business. Then, during the lockdown I was terrified for repayment. But Al-Khair did not pressurize me for repayment neither asked for additional cost. Things are normal again I am able to earn approximately 25,000/- per month. I have cleared the previous loan and taken another loan for business."
Rahat - Nanded, Maharashtra
Ms. Meher Banu, is a member of Rahat for the past 4 years. She is a hardworking business woman who runs a small shop. Mr. and Mrs. Hussain borrowed money from local money lenders and Mahila Gat (self-help group). They were in enormous debt and the interest which kept on rising led their lives into turmoil. She, a member of Rahat, availed three different loans from there for her business. Her First loan was of Rs. 20,000/- after repaying the first loan, she availed another loan of Rs. 25,000/- for expanding her business. Right then she has to face the Lockdown. Rahat provided her an extension for the repayment without any increase in the cost. She says that, " I have no words to explain how the loans helped me build my own small business. My husband, a mason became unemployed like the majority of the daily wagers during the lockdown. At that time my shop was the only source of income and the savings in Rahat were the additional means to sustain my family. I can't thank enough Rahat for fulfilling my financial needs."
AL-KHAIR CREDIT COOPERATIVE SOCIETY, Patna
A 55 year old woman, Ms. Dhanmati Devi has been a regular beneficiary of Interest - free loan Al- Khair. Initially running a bangle store, eventually expanded her business to various other products. This was due to her association with Al-Khair from where she took several loans and earned a big profit in her business.
Suvidha CCS, Jabalpur
Mr. Shabbir Ansari is a small-businessman in Jabalpur. He came into association with Suvidha and since then he has taken a couple of loans as per his need. He said that “After the lockdown had struck the nation, I had no one to rely on and receive support from. But Suvidha has been of great help since its opening. The withdrawals come in handy at the time of need. No one else would have helped me out during those times.” Mr. Shabbir expresses his thanks to Suvidha by saying that the co-operative has helped us more than the name suggests.
Samadhan - Nagpur, Maharashtra
Ms. Aasha, is a member of Samadhan since 2018. She owns a roadside food cart selling various kinds of snacks like Tea, Coffee, Samosa, Pakoda etc. earning a profit of around Rs. 700/- per day. She has taken multiple loans from the society for initiating her business and renovating her house. Before becoming a member of Samadhan, she had taken loans from local money lenders. She says that “Interest not only disturbs our financial lives, but it also takes away the moments of joy and peace from our lives. I’m thankful to Samadhan for fulfilling my financial needs on humane grounds and helping me lives happily.”
Rahat - Osmanabad
Mr. Malik Mehtab Bagban migrated to Osmanabad from a small village Khedegaon in search of employment. Now he lives in Khwaja Nagar in Osmanabad with his wife and four kids. Mr. Malik took 4 loans from the local money lenders before becoming a member and account holder in Rahat. He says that the loan of money lenders was too exploitative, for each non- repayment he has to pay 100 Rs./- penalty. He started in Rahat with a daily deposit account where he saves 50 rupees on daily basis. He got his first loan from Rahat of Rs. 10,000/- for his business and now he has taken 8 loans from Rahat, all for his business. According to him there are two important things to be noted, 1) the service charge on Rahat loan is nominal and 2) with these loans he was able to purchase the stock in bulk and on cheaper price. This helped him in earning extra income, it helped Mr. Malik to grow his business and improve his living condition as well.
Sahulat CCS, Bhopal
Mr. Irshad Ali is a resident of Bhopal who is running a perfume shop near Jumeraati Gate in Bhopal. He is a member of Sahulat and has a daily deposit account. He has taken three different loans so far from the society to scale-up his business. He said that “With the help provided by Sahulat, my business has progressed a lot. The time period for repayment was decided by mutual discussion and the repayment was so easy that I did not feel the burden of a loan. I think if this kind of societies are promoted and established throughout the nation, it may be an extraordinary tool to reduce poverty and empower the lower-middle class.
June 2020
Sahulat Micro-finance Society has been awarded by Delhi Minority Commission with its prestigious award for Community Service.
November 2019
Sahulat Microfinance Society participated in the 4 th Islamic Finance Forum of South Asia (IFFSA) in which Sahulat has been awarded with the 'Best Microfinance Project of the Year - 2019'
organized by Islamic Finance Forum for South Asia (IFFSA) in Maldives on 28th November 2019.
December 2018
Sahulat Microfinance Society participated in the 8th Global Islamic Microfinance Conference on 25th and 26th November 2018. Mr. Arshad Ajmal – COO, Sahulat Microfinance Society is receiving the award of Sahulat for ‘The Contribution For Islamic/Interest Free Microfinance’.
November 2018
Sahulat Microfinance society has been presented with The Gold Award in the Category of 'Islamic Microfinance Entity of the year 2018’. The award is received by Mr. Usama Khan – DCEO Sahulat Microfinance Society at an event organized by the Islamic Finance Forum for South Asia at Colombo.
November 2017
Sahulat Microfinance Society has been awarded with the 'Best Islamic Microfinance Society Award' during 'Global Islamic Microfinance Conference and International Islamic Microfinance Awards 2017' organized in Istanbul, Turkey. The Award was received by Mr. Mohd Jafar, Vice- President of Sahulat.
October 2019
Sahulat Microfinance Society has been awarded with the 'Silver Award' in the category of 'Microfinance Company/Project of the Year 2017' by the Islamic Finance Forum of South Asia (IFFSA) in a ceremony organized at Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Sahulat emphasizes on establishing new cooperative to promote interest free microfinance.
As of 31st March 2022, the outreach of the cooperative affiliated to Sahulat is as follows:
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