Context

Over the past two decades, Indian economy has advanced to become the sixth largest economy in the world, the fastest rising major economy. However, the majority of this growth cater to middle and upper classes of the country. The inequitable distribution of wealth in West Bengal – the hub of our activities is reflected in the fact that about 30 % of the urban population in West Bengal lies below the Poverty line.

Status quo

Kolkata, the metropolitan capital of Bengal with a population of more than 15 million, is a prime example of the discriminative wealth distribution. Poor hygiene and lack of access to basic amenities like medication, ration, education and employment opportunities bug the financially challenged throughout their entire life. So, there is urgent need to pull these vulnerable sections of the society up towards the growth of India.

We, the believers

Sampurna believes in providing them with access to opportunities for comprehensive financial and business development as well as social services. Access to finance and business opportunities can help such disadvantaged households to tackle the lag because of low or no income. Support to heal their root cause of poor living standards by helping them realize their interests is also imperative. We have witnessed that with a small impetus to awaken their entrepreneurial intent and skills and with a little push, they gain the ability to jump over the traditional ‘poverty trap’.

Reality check

Sampurna is very aware of this socio-economic context in Bengal’s various regions, and therefore continuously strives to provide not only financial assistance but also adequate guidance to such marginalized families so that they become self-sufficient and can carve new chapters in their lives.

Our Origin

Sampurna is a social microfinance organization which was incorporated as not-for-profit company in September 2010 registered under section 25 of The Company Act 1956.

Sampurna originally started its activities in 2007 under the name of Navnirman Community Resource Centre (NCRC). NCRC was a social microfinance organization based in Mumbai. NCRC extend its support to start the microfinance project in West Bengal in 2007. A dedicated separate entity in West Bengal was then registered and the new organization started to acquire various activities in west Bengal.

In January 2011, Sampurna formally started its wide range of socio-economic services to uplift the socio-economic conditions of vulnerable people of Kolkata and Howrah. In January 2014, Sampurna took over the microfinance program of NCRC along with the management staffs and field officers and has been functioning ever since with efficiency.

Target People

The people that Sampurna wants to serve and provide its services are those that are vulnerable - not only financially, but also socially. We specifically believe that it is critical that the women folk of disadvantaged household are given the opportunity to prove themselves. We call them our partners. We offer such individuals a wide range of services to not only help them to finance their ideas about also offer suggestions and guidance to them for the best use of finances.