Financial Engineering to Financial Inclusion
Ramesh Ramanathan Chairman, Janalakshmi Financial Services
Ramesh Ramanathan is a social
entrepreneur, and works on urban
issues in India. Along with his
wife, he is the Co-Founder and Co-
Chairperson of Jana Group, a clutch
of social enterprises focused on urban
transformation in India. Janalakshmi
Financial Services, one such
enterprise, is a financial institution
servicing the micro finance needs of
urban India, with a market-oriented
focus. Ramesh also works closely with
the government on urban issues in a
pro-bono capacity. Prior to his social
initiatives, Ramesh held leadership
positions with Citibank in New York
and London, in the bank's capital
markets business.
Q. What pushed you to
conceptualize Janalakshmi Financial
Services and how have you been
able to connect such a unique
business model with your people?
A. The journey for us began when
we were living overseas. We were like
any other NRI couple who had moved
abroad in search of a better life. In the
early years, when we got that success,
we attributed that success mostly to
ourselves. But the more we thought
about it, we realized that there was
a larger ecosystem from which we
were able to leap forward and achieve
the things that we wanted. The
possibility of vertical mobility and
the idea that one can take control of
their destiny is something unique to
great societies. It is that ecosystem
that enables families and individuals
to achieve this success. As we thought
about our lives in the US, we realized
that we were the beneficiaries of this
ecosystem. The societal framework
in developed societies is like the
springboard which allows you to put
in your own effort to be who you
want to be. It gives you that platform,
which doesn't exist in our country.
In fact, in India, it is like a fishing net
where more people than not, slip
through it.
For no harm of an individual, for
having just lost what Warren Buffet calls
the 'Ovarian Lottery', they are resigned
to a life where they can't be the best
they can be. The more we thought
about it, the more we felt that this was
unfair. It was wrong of us to go into
another society that generations of
people had built and reap the benefits.
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