Janalakshmi

I recently finished a two and a half month internship with a company called Janalakshmi Financial Services here in Bangalore. Janalakshmi is a microfinance institution whose primary goal is to provide banking services to the Indian sub-prime sector. This sector is composed of the country’s “urban poor” as well a large income segment that is technically not below the “poverty line”. Janalakshmi’s target market is primarily individuals who are unable to obtain financial assistance from the existing formal banking/financial services sector. Because of their low income and small asset base, borrowers in this sector are forced to resort to informal credit (from moneylenders, pawn-brokers, etc.), paying interest rates that are sometimes as high as 10% per day. The organization’s name exemplifies it’s vision well: Jana, meaning people, and Lakshmi, meaning wealth.

Janalakshmi, or People’s Wealth, conducts its operations through what it refers to as “doorstep banking”. Unlike traditional lending entities, many microfinance institutions employ field workers who bring the companies’ services directly to the customer. Field workers carry handheld electronic devices called POS units. POS stands for Point of Sale, although the acronym has been expanded to encompass other definitions, depending on whether or not the device is working properly. Along with “Smart Cards”, they were integrated into the company’s loan collection system to improve efficiency—and they do improve efficiency; they’re awesome. Smart Cards are about the size of a credit card and they store all a borrower’s personal information, including his/her current outstanding payments. Upon payment collection, the customer inserts his/her card into the POS and verifies his/her identity using a fingerprint scanner on the POS unit. After the loan payment is processed, the Field Executive can then use the POS to print a receipt for the customer—all on the customer’s “doorstep”.

I learned a lot of cool things during my internship. Sitting in on the interview process was particularly interesting. After each interview, the HR executive, Somya, would sit and discuss with me what she had seen as strengths in the applicant, or in some cases, what she identified as a red flag.

Interview Excerpt 1:
Somya: Well, unfortunately, we just filled that marketing position, so it’s no longer available. Do you think you might be interested in any of the other openings we have right now?

Applicant: Uh, yeah. I’ll take anything. <-- Red Flag

Somya: Ok...

Interview Excerpt 2:
Somya: So, tell me about your interest in Janalakshmi. What made you want to apply?

[applicant shrugs] <-- Red Flag

Somya: Well, what do you know about what our company does?

[applicant shrugs] <-- Red Flag

Somya: OK.

[Somya proceds to explain what the company does]

It was also fascinating to see how cultural differences affected the recruitment process. For example, I’m under the impression that to a greater extent in India, who your family is indicates to others strongly who you are. Applicants were always asked to describe their family background and to explain what their parents do for a living. I was also surprised to find on the application forms a box labeled “caste” next to “gender” and “date of birth”. I've had a few jobs, but I don't recall having seen this before. Armed with the moral fodder of my Western upbringing, my initial inclination was to jump to my feet, slam my fists on the table, and unleash a torrent of wailings about the presumptive discriminations and injustices of the system. I decided instead to draw a small leprechaun in my notebook.

I certainly don’t believe Somya, Janalakshmi, or Indians in general to be any more judgmental than Americans or anyone else. Ultimately, I think I just don’t understand the intricacies of Indian culture well enough to make judgments regarding this particular issue. Good day.