By Mohd. Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net,
Hyderabad: A young man dressed in bureau formals with a laptop bag on his shoulders is chasing a young lamb for a customer. Mohammed Mahboob Ali a business management graduate with 15 years of expertise with MNCs like Nestle and Heinz India has now found a new solace in sheep trading. For him it’s not just any job it’s a virtual Muslim social revolution.
Millions of Muslims in India who slaughter animals during Eid-ul-Azha or Bakreid doesn’t give a second thought that this multimillion dollar event could hold more avenues to please Allah than by just shedding animal blood.
Bunch of young professionals in Hyderabad has realized the hidden potential of this mass economic religious festival and now want to turn it into an empowerment tool for those downtrodden sections of society who should have been the real beneficiary of Bakreid according to Islamic tenets.
On this realization, they didn’t start any social movement but what they did was to plan with entrepreneur skill a social enterprise, Tamkeen solutions.
Tamkeen in an Arabic word which stands for ‘Empowered’, this empowerment Solution like thousands of other traders supply sheep, lambs and goats for Bakreid sacrifice to Muslims. But what differentiates Tamkeen Solutions from other suppliers is that animals are grown by families from among the marginalized communities, especially Muslims, but also including other disempowered communities such as Dalits and Adivasis in India.
Those downtrodden families entrusted with the responsibility of growing these lambs become an important stake holders and partners of Tamkeen Solutions.
Tamkeen provides 500 goats and sheep to per circle consisting of ten families in a village for a year of fostering. Those economically weak family circles as partners for Tamkeen earn 40% share of profit from the Bakreid sells. Moreover other 20% of the profit will be earmarked for investments in free education for those village families, other leftover 40% will be shared by Investors, shareholders and marketing partners.
In this way Tamkeen has created self-help groups family circles of downtrodden villagers, they believe with this Qurbani solution they could empower the marginalized families to create lives of dignity for themselves and for their communities.
Abdul Mujeeb Khan is the Managing Director of Tamkeen, who works with international consulting firm Mckinsey Consultancy, but in this Bakreid season Mujeeb is busy to confer in other social trade.
Sheep of Tamkeen Solutions are now shifted from villages to an open ground in midst of residential complexes at Towlichowki, where Mujeeb is running around hauling sheep’s to weighting machine as TCN reached the spot. In the midst of handling his livestock, Mujeeb discussed with us initiative of transforming Bakreid in an empowerment apparatus.
Tamkeen Solutions Managing Director Abdul Mujeeb Khan:
Tamkeen MD said that since Sachar committee report came out, “We have been talking about Indian Muslims being the most downtrodden community, and debating on how to turn that situation around.” While Indian Muslims have been urging and begging Government for special programs for minorities but “they are not taking into consideration and utilizing the glaring opportunities we have as an Ummah.”
He believes that even God will not change the condition of a community until they themselves stand up for a change. He quoted from Quram Sura Ra’d 13:11 to support his argument “Verily, Allah will not change the condition of a people as long as they do not change their state themselves.” This became Tamkeen’s guiding line.
“We thought about how to help Muslims in villages living a poorest life. Thing struck us that year after year those who are well to do in our community slaughter lambs for Bakreid across India. Approximately Indian Muslims spend 5,000 crore overnight in this festival. Can’t this money be put to better use for our community than just getting a goat; can we do something more with that money was the question we was with?”
Handful of young men then came up with a radical yet simple plan, instead of purchasing lambs two days before the Bakreid they purchased two days after, for the next year Bakreid. Those hundreds of lambs were then given to poor families of three villages Narelapally, Shantinagar, and Naraynpet in Mahboobnagar district.
Those goats and sheep were assigned to them as a responsibility; two conditions were put on them. First they have to work as a team of 10 families, second was a learning system comprising of five pillars, 1) develop values as you are taking care of someone else property, 2) to understand how can one self be an instrument of change in once family, 3) work with different families in village and evolve social cooperation, 4) what can we do to develop our own community, 5) how to take care of sheep’s of our customers well. In this unique methodology those poor lay villagers were taught about value base entrepreneurship with self-empowerment to tackle their acute poverty.
All the requisites for the project like goat’s vaccination, high protein diet and even insurance over animals were provided by Tamkeem to the families, in return those family circles have to provide only two things, a roof for these goats, and time for their grazing.
For their efforts those families will be given 40% of the profit from the total sell, another 20% will be given for construction of schools for the same community children which will provide blended education, even vocational employment training, without charging a single penny of fee. Other 40% profit will be taken by Tamkeen Solutions shareholders to expand it as a thriving social enterprise.
Mujeeb said when they approached villagers with this social transformation idea, first they thought why would someone want to help them out, “They thought we are getting something out of it, but after being with us in this 7 months they are convinced that they are really good people in this world and they can be too one of those good people and now they have started working towards that.”
People are visiting Tamkeen’s business layout enthusiastically, even though it is surrounded by many other goat and sheep trading competitors, Tamkeen is getting edge over all others.
Mohammed Maqsood, after reading the brochure and inspecting the herd of lambs for quiet time was now busy calling up relatives insisting them to buy their Qurbani animals from this place. “It will give you double satisfaction, one that your religious tenets are completed and other that you are investing the same money for something really better,” Mr. Maqsood said who purchased three goats from Tamkeen’s stock.
Even the sale is structured in organized manner, where one just has to select his choice from a herd, it will be put on weighing machine which is valued for Rs. 275 per K.G. Amount will be fixed, and then enterprise will also provide sale receipt which is a rarity in this trade.
Tamkeen’s initiative will not be restricted just to Bakreid as they plan it to be multi-dimensional, available all around the year for supply during Aqueeqa, marriages or any other party.
Although the business is now restricted to Hyderabad, in next ten years they are planning to expand it across India.
According to Tamkeen Solutions, they are offering service to create partnership between wealthy Muslims and poor of their community, “Instead of purchasing goats two days before Bakreid, those well to do Muslims can purchase it with us two days after Bakreid, it will create a direct partnership between them and those deprive families who will look after their cattle, in this way together we can change the fortunes of Muslims in India,” he says.
“With this kind of efforts communities can be uplifted,” according to Tamkeen’s MD initiative of this kind is relevant not only in India but in whole subcontinent and other countries where Muslims celebrate Bakreid religiously, “This could become bedrock in transforming communities,” he believes.
Web-link of Tamkeen Solutions: http://tamkeensolutions.com/