FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT LIJJAT

PREPARED AND PUBLISHED BY FRIENDS OF LIJJAT SEPTEMBER 2004

PLEDGE OF DEVOTION TO BE TAKEN BY EMPLOYEES, SISTER-MEMBERS AND SANCHALIKA

WE ALL WORKING IN....................................................BRANCH/DIVISION OF LIJJAT AS DRIVER, HELPER, ACCOUNTANT, STORE KEEPER, SISTER PAYING AND RECORDING ROLLING CHARGES AS WELL AS SISTER-MEMBERS AND SANCHALIKA SOLEMNLY DECLARE THAT WE WILL MAKE ALL-AROUND EFFORTS TO ENSURE THAT ALL OWNER SISTERS WOULD GET REAL FRUIT OF THEIR LABOR AND WE WILL NOT ALLOW TO HAPPEN ANY TYPE OF ECONOMIC LOSS TO THE INSTITUTION KNOWINGLY, UNKNOWINGLY, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY. WE ARE AWARE THAT IT IS ONE OF THE VERY IMPORTANT TRADITIONS OF OUR INSTITUTION THAT NEITHER SISTER-MEMBERS NOR EMPLOYEES TAKE AWAY WRONGFULLY ANY MONEY OR MATERIAL FROM THE INSTITUTION. THOSE WHO TAKE AWAY MONEY OR MATERIALS WRONGFULLY FROM THE INSTITUTION ARE EITHER BEGGARS RECEIVING ALMS FROM THE SISTERS OR THUGS AND ROBBERS EXTRICATING BREAD FROM SISTERS MOUTH.

This booklet has been prepared by a few well wishers and friends of Lijjat and it is based on their own perceptions about Lijjat. SHRI MAHILA GRIHA UDYOG LIJJAT PAPAD is neither responsible nor answerable for any content of this booklet. This booklet does not claim to represent official views of or authentic information about Lijjat organization. It is meant only for internal reference purpose by people working in Lijjat especially those who have newly joined Lijjat and who may not be much familiar with its ideology, traditions, working system or history. This booklet may also prove useful to those who may be interested in making a serious study of its working system for academic purpose. An attempt has been made in this booklet to explain the working of Lijjat in easily digestible way in form of typical questions and answers.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT LIJJAT

We are keen to have some information about your institution. Can you explain in a few words broad outlines of Lijjat, especially its aims and objectives? The full name of our institution is SHRI MAHILA GRIHA UDYOG LIJJAT PAPAD. We fondly call it Lijjat. Lijjat is an institution of women, by women, for women. Men are welcome to offer suggestion or tender advice. Men can also work as paid or unpaid employees but they can not become member of the institution nor they can have any right over the institution. All the rights over the institution belong to women working in it. There are three main aim and objectives of the institution. (1) (2) (3) to earn money by hard work without accepting any grant, gift, charity or donation of any sort. to live like members of a family in Lijjat to carry out all the work in Lijjat with a sense of devotion and dedication as Lijjat is not merely a place to earn ones livelihood. It is something more than that. Lijjat is a pious place like church, temple, gurudwara or mosque for those who work in Lijjat.

All the activities in Lijjat are carried out with a view to implement the above three objectives. What are the main activities of your institution? The main activity of Lijjat is to produce and market Lijjat papad. Lijjat has also entered into a number of other food products such as Lijjat masala (ground spices and ready mix condiments), Lijjat gehu atta (wheat flour), Lijjat chapati (ready to eat pancake), Lijjat vadi (pulse flakes), Lijjat khakhra (dried pancake) and Lijjat bakery products. All the food products made by Lijjat are sold under the Lijjat brand name. Lijjat has also diversified into the field of soaps and detergent under the brand name of Sasa with a number of products sold in form of powder, liquid, cake, paste etc.

MARKETING & SALES

How Lijjat products are marketed? Lijjat products are mass produced and mass consumed household consumer items. They are made available in small consumer packs. Lijjat has evolved a nationwide sales network for this purpose.

(A)

A number of sales depots have been established at various places. Lijjat products move from specific production centres to specified sales depots. Salesmen would carry goods from sales depots to retailers such as shops, provision stores, super bazaars, departmental stores etc. so that consumers can easily buy Lijjat products from various retailers located near to them. Distributors are appointed in some area where more intensive marketing efforts are required. They are always allotted a small, compact and well defined sales area. Distributors act as intermediary between concerned production centre/sales depot and retailers. A number of production centres, where production level is not high, employ their own salesmen. Such salesmen would carry goods directly to retailers.

(B)

(C)

What about exports? Lijjat products are freely available all over the world. Lijjat never exports its products directly to any country. We have established a separate Export Division to help merchant exporters who would like to export Lijjat products. No subsidy, discount or rebate is given in export transactions however big the export order may be. Lijjat always tries its maximum to help and meet all the needs of exporters without lowering the prices directly or indirectly or relaxing its strict cash against delivery rule. What are usual term and conditions of a sale? Lijjat products are always sold on Cash against delivery basis. Credit sales are never allowed. Cheques are accepted against delivery only in rare, exceptional cases. The local and export market is happy with our strict Cash against delivery rule because all Lijjat products carry implicit warranty that in case of consumers dissatisfaction for any reason, the concerned Lijjat product will be replaced without asking any question. What do you do when a consumer has a complaint about your product? We tender our sincere and unconditional apology and replace the product which consumer has purchased with a fresh product without asking any question or entering into any argument. What is the main feature of your marketing policy? The main feature of our marketing policy is never to saturate or flood the market with Lijjat products. We always allow the market to starve partially. For example if there is an effective demand of a Lijjat product worth Rs. 1 crore per week in a particular area, we will not allow the supply to exceed Rs. 60 lakhs a week in that particular area. We will never attempt to dump our products in the market or maximize our sales within a short span of time. Why? Can Lijjat afford such a luxury? What is the rationale behind such a strange policy? This is a strange but highly rewarding marketing concept which has been successfully implemented by our institution since the very beginning of our institution. At any given point of time Lijjat products are always in a short supply in the market. The idea behind this policy is very simple. Lijjat products are food products. They get stale if they occupy shelf space of retailers for long. Stale food products can never enhance consumers satisfaction. We have made Lijjat products epitome of consumers satisfaction by consistent high quality of the product as well as by reducing the time gap between its preparation and ultimate consumption to the bare minimum by cutting down the shelf occupancy time.

What about competition? Will they not take advantage of short supply of Lijjat products and push their sales? Do Lijjat face any competition in the market place? What is Lijjats attitude towards competition? Lijjat has been living in highly competitive environment since it was established in 1959. Making papad or other food articles has remained a household industry in India since ages. There are hundreds of such units in organized and unorganized sectors making both branded and non-branded varieties. Lijjat is just one of them. Even Lijjat is only a home industry. The only difference between Lijjat and other household units is that instead of one or a few women running their own individual business separately, herein Lijjat a large number of women combine their individual efforts and conduct their household business collectively. Lijjat is owned by the women working in it. Lijjat has neither desire nor capacity to dominate the market or become a monopoly producer. On the contrary Lijjat is happy to see that a number of competitive products are available in the market as actually that helps the women working in Lijjat to remain alert and conscious about maintaining high quality standards of Lijjat. Your products are made with hands. How do you view potential threat from machine made papad and other products which may be introduced by organized sector with deep pockets. Dont you think that Lijjat can easily be wiped out of the market by flood of huge supply of mechanized product at substantial lower prices ? Well, the threat from cheap, mechanized products is just not potential but very much real and is being faced by us from time to time. However, Lijjat has been able to survive only because of unique taste of its products and its ethical pricing policy. Consumers are intelligent and discerning persons. We will loose their support only if we would fare badly on the quality front or indulge into any unethical marketing practices. What is so unique about Lijjat taste? It can be easily replicated. A small number of people can go out of your institution and start manufacturing papad which may be exactly like the Lijjat papad by using the same formula which you are using? If anybody is able to produce papad which are as good as Lijjat, it will be welcome addition in the market place. Actually, Lijjat is an open and transparent institution. Its entire manufacturing process is open for inspection by anybody. There is no secret formula for preparation of Lijjat papad and other products. Only fixed norms of mixing various ingredients are there which are made available to anybody who ask for the same. Merely following physical norms has not helped anybody so far who have tried to duplicate the real Lijjat taste. In appearance the product may look the same and yet it will not have the same unique Lijjat taste. There are two nonphysical reasons for this phenomenon. 1. Let us take example of mother and child. When a mother prepares meal for her child, she always add a touch of love in it. The child will never find the same taste in the meal prepared by others though the formula and ingredients may be identical. Similarly the entire manufacturing process is carried out in Lijjat by its members with tender and loving care of a mother. When they prepare Lijjat papad or any other product they treat consumers interest as supreme and would give their own interest a last priority. How to make consumer happy is always central focus of their thinking. That is why Lijjat products have a unique taste. Another reason is the healthy and happy atmosphere of sharing and caring, mutual concern and love in Lijjat due to collective ownership of institution by women working in it. When your mind is full of inner joy, the food articles prepared by you also acquires a distinctly different and pleasant taste naturally.

2.

Oh no! That is just a sentimentality without any rational base! Yes, we are women and we believe in sentiments. Lijjat is a living example of the fact that feelings and sentiments can perform miracles. It is a question of faith. There are so many

things in the world which brain can not explain rationally but heart can easily feel and recognize. We are pretty sure that the real, unique Lijjat taste can not be duplicated unless you add Lijjats way of thinking in the entire manufacturing process. What is your marketing setup? How many marketing persons have been employed by you? We do not have any separate marketing wing or setup and no marketing persons have been employed by us so far. We have a few sales organizers at the sales depot level and salesmen at sales depot as well as production centre level. They are not employees of the institution but persons working on self-employment basis and getting a small commission for their work. How effective are your marketing efforts in absence of any formally trained and educated marketing personnel? Have you found it difficult to sell your products at any time? Yes. Lijjat has faced difficult period from time to time. Particularly the initial five years from 1959 to 1964-65 were the most challenging years from the marketing point of view. We had to make a strong struggle with a resolute mind to get a foothold in the market place and win the confidence of consumers. What helped most was the unique taste of Lijjat papad which found universal approval from all the quarters. The consistent high quality of Lijjat papad coupled with ethical standards of our marketing practices and sensible pricing policy was the winning combination. The market has also been highly receptive of other Lijjat products which have been introduced from time to time. Occasionally we have to keep our production under control so that our distribution and transportation network can keep pace with the work load. We describe our smooth sailing on the sales front overcoming all the difficulties as just grace of God. We have no other explanation to offer. Do you claim that Lijjat has always been successful? It never met with failures? Not at all. Lijjat has not been successful in number of other products such as edible oil, safety match box, agarbatti, leather goods etc. in spite of our best efforts and their production had to be discontinued. Why those products failed? Although most of these products evoked positive response from consumers and they were well received in the market, we failed mainly on the organizational front. We either could not ensure continuous and sufficient production and achieve economy of scale or we were not been able to keep production costs under control. Quality of the product and its marketing never posed a problem to us. What is your pricing policy? How frequently do you change your selling prices? Lijjat products are priced on cost plus basis. We can not afford to sell bellow our costs because Lijjat does not receive any financial help from anybody and if we do not recover our costs, we will be wiped out within no time. Lijjat is neither a profit making nor a loss making body as it always insist to fully recover the costs and have a just nominal markup on the costs so that it can maintain its liquidity. Such nominal markup is later on returned back to consumers in form of reduction in prices or occasionally spent on socially useful purpose. Why should you reduce prices of your products? If consumers are ready and willing to buy your product to say at Rs. 100 a kilo, then why should you sell the same product at Rs. 60 a kilo? We are not motivated by profit. Maximization of profit is not our goal. We believe that consumers have a basic right of not to be charged at more than the optimum price.

You must be spending a fortune on advertizing and publicity? Normally consumer goods units spend 4 to 6 per cent of their gross turnover on advertizing and publicity. Lijjat does not allow it go beyond 1 to 1.5 per cent of its net sales income. Why should you waste your money on advertizing? Dont you think that millions of rupees saved in this way can be better spent for some more deserving cause? Advertizing and publicity are a small but very vital and unavoidable part of activity of every consumer goods unit. It can be compared to vitamins in our diet. We may be taking any amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fat etc. in our well balanced diet but if we are not taking any vitamins, we will soon become crippled and loose our ability to live a normal life. Similarly no consumer goods unit can remain healthy without advertizing and publicity. If we stop spending on advertizing and publicity, it will be a sure invitation for sickness and that sickness will be several time more expensive than the cost of advertizing and publicity.

FINANCE
How do you manage your finance? How much is your total investment? How much capital you have raised and deployed? We do not have any share capital as Lijjat is neither a corporate body registered under the Companies Act nor a cooperative society registered under the cooperative Societies Act. It has no capital. Nobody has invested any money in Lijjat. SHRI MAHILA GRIHA UDYOG LIJJAT PAPAD is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act and it was established without any corpus, without anybody donating any amount. Lijjat is functioning with borrowed fund from the day one. Even today we carry out all our activity on the basis of secured and unsecured loans only. Can you give us some more details? Lijjat started its activities as an informal organization on the 15th March, 1959 with a borrowed sum of Rs. 80 with a condition that members will have to earn money and pay back a total sum of Rs. 200 to the lender within stipulated time. Lijjat successfully repaid Rs. 200 well within stipulated time out of its earnings. It continued to borrow money and repay the same from time to time. In 1966, Lijjats activities were formalized. A society was formed with formal articles of association but without any corpus. Khadi and Village Industries Commission, a statutory body established by the Government of India gave recognition to Lijjat and helped it with loans at reduced rate of interest as per their official rules and regulations from time to time. Lijjat has since repaid all the loans taken from the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. At present all the credit needs of the Lijjat is met by a consortium of commercial banks under the interest subsidy scheme of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. As per provisions of the scheme, the banks extend loans and facilities to Lijjat on their normal commercial terms and conditions and a part of the interest costs is borne by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. All these loans and credits are fully secured against the assets of Lijjat. A few of Lijjats up-country centres occasionally take a recourse to unsecured loans. These loans are mainly sarafi loans for short duration but that practice is now being discouraged. What is the current level of your borrowing? Within very much safe level. Our outstanding loans and borrowing are less than 4 per cent of our turnover.

What would happen if institution has to wound up its activities? What will be the position of lenders, creditors and suppliers? Their position is fully safe as Lijjat has more than sufficient level of assets, both moveable and immoveable, to take care of all its lenders, creditors and suppliers. In fact there may be a huge surplus of assets after institution is wound up. In that case surplus will be distributed among the members? No sir. There is a specific provision in our articles of association that in case of surplus if any that remains after winding up the institution, it will not be distributed among the members but will be handed over to any one or more institutions having similar aim and objectives as Lijjat is having at present. How much reserve fund you have built up so far? We do not have any reserve fund. All we earn is always spent. Is that your policy? What is your economic philosophy? Yes sir. Not to have any reserve fund is our policy. We have our own distinct economic policy. It consists of following four guiding principles : 1. 2. All we earn must be spent. We should not save, accumulate money or create any reserve fund for any contingency. What we spend must be earned back. We can spend more than we earn on a temporary basis but we can not take any financial help, grant, gift or donation to fill the gap between our spending and earning. Eventually we have to earn what we had spent. We can take a recourse to borrowing on a temporary basis but we have to maintain a strict vigil over our borrowing and repay the debt at the earliest opportunity. We can not extend any loan, credit or guarantee to any outside party or individual.

3. 4.

How your financial decisions are taken? We have a system of preparing monthly balance sheet and monthly income and expenditure account to know exactly our financial position. All our financial decisions are taken on the basis of situation emerging out of these monthly reports. These monthly reports are of prime importance to us while statutory audited annual balance sheet and reports are just a ritual exercise for us. What is the time lag involved in preparation of monthly balance-sheet? All the centres/divisions have to prepare their own monthly income and expenditure account as well as balance sheet on the last day of the same month. For example, monthly balance sheet for the month of January must be ready by the evening of 31st January. If for any reason the report can not be prepared, the concerned centre/division will remain closed till the report is ready. This rule is being followed without any exception since the Lijjat was established. How your internal finances are managed? Decentralization is the key word for Lijjat. All the production centres in Lijjat are fully autonomous and self supporting entities. Profit or loss made by each one is borne by the concerned entity only and not passed on to or shared by any other entity. For example, whatever profit or loss is made by the Lucknow branch will be borne by sisters who are

members of the Lucknow branch and it would not effect in any way profit or loss of Hyderabad branch. However, in case of a metropolitan area or a large city, all the branches/divisions functioning there are treated as a part of one single financial entity. For example, in Mumbai-Thane region there are 16 branches and profit and loss of all these 16 branches is clubbed together and shared jointly by members of all the 16 branches. Same is the case of four branches in Kolkata where members of these four branches club together their profit and loss and share it jointly. All the financial entities manage their own finance and take their own financial decisions. As a matter of policy, they cooperate with each other but do not depend on each other or muddle into financial affairs of each other. They can create their own debts/liabilities for which they alone will remain individually liable. The president of the institution and the central office constantly monitor the financial health of each of the entities and never allow the situation go out of hands. The directives of the president are considered as the last word and have to be abided by all the concerned. What is meant by Rolling Charges and Additional Rolling Charges? What do they signify? The phrase Rolling Charges and Additional Rolling Charges has a peculiar meaning in Lijjat. Most of the sisters working in Lijjat perform the work of rolling out the papad and they would like to term the compensation received by them as the Rolling Charges. As the word became popular, it started to be used for compensation received by sisters even for performing non-rolling type of work. Today compensation received by sisters working in detergent or masala division is also called the Rolling Charges while the nature of work there has nothing to do with rolling. Even the President and Sanchalika sisters receive the Rolling Charges for work done by them which is more in nature of managing, organizing or administering rather than in nature of manufacturing. The Rolling Charges are taken daily by the members in cash depending upon the quantum of work done by them. Additional Rolling Charges are nothing but additional compensation over and above the normal Rolling Charges. Whereas Rolling Charges are taken on day to day basis, Additional Rolling Charges are taken only once in a while in a lump sum. It can not be termed as profit sharing as it is always paid in advance and there may or may not be any excess of income over expenditure at the end of a financial year. Additional Rolling Charges can be taken by an account payee cheque or in form of gold/silver articles. Sometime the Additional Rolling Charges are taken by all the sisters at once simultaneously. Sometime they prefer to take it one by one depending upon the availability of surplus fund and one round of distribution may go beyond a period of a year. How Rolling Charges are fixed? Rolling Charges are an important component of the total production cost. Usually raw material costs constitute 50-55 per cent and Rolling Charges constitute 20-25 per cent of the total production cost. The rest of 20-30 per cent is accounted for by expenses on transport, staff, rent, electricity etc. While other production cost are beyond the control of sisters, they can exercise some control over their own Rolling Charges. Whenever there is a bearable rise in cost of production, they try to salvage the situation by reducing their Rolling Charges and whenever there is a noticeable drop in the costs of production they try to balance the situation by increasing their Rolling Charges.

However, such reduction or increase in Rolling Charges are only short term steps taken with a view to keep the final selling prices stable in the market and not to disturb the consumer with frequent minor price revisions. In case of a major rise or fall in the cost of production, they are passed on to the consumer by a corresponding increase or reduction in the selling prices. The President and Sanchalika sisters always keep a sharp watch over the movement of raw material prices as well as over all other expenses and check the situation emerging out of monthly balance sheet. Then a decision to increase or reduce the Rolling Charges is taken with consensus of all. The authority to increase or to reduce the Rolling Charges rest solely with member sisters only. The Rolling Charges are not uniform all over the institution but differ from branch to branch depending the local cost factors of the concerned branch. Why Rolling Charges can not be increased by increasing the selling price of products? Consumer is the king and entitled to receive best quality product at most reasonable price. Fleecing the consumer for a personal benefit is totally unacceptable proposition and the sisters of Lijjat can not exploit the consumer by taking any undue advantage of the market situation. Maximizing own personal gain is not the goal of sisters. What is the real significance of the Additional Rolling Charges? Is there any ideological reason for creating the system of Additional Rolling Charges? Yes. Lijjat has adopted the system of Additional Rolling Charges after much thinking and deliberation. It is a significant improvement over the system of Rolling Charges. Normal Rolling Charges are based on the quantum of work put in by each sister. Those who work more get more and those who work less get less. If for any reason a sister is not able to attend the work of institution, she would not have any income. That is why the system of Additional Rolling Charges was adopted where all the sisters receive an equal amount irrespective of the quantum of work put in by each of them. However sisters sometime lay down certain conditions of eligibility to prevent misuse if any of the system of additional rolling charges. Actually sisters of Lijjat, when they join the institution, take a vow that they will adopt a broader meaning of the collective ownership and would not think in terms of Let me get more than others but she would strive to see that No one gets less than me. Additional Rolling Charges received equally by all is an indicative step towards fulfillment of this noble vow. Additional Rolling Charges differ from branch to branch and division to division. Sisters working in a branch are the sole deciding authority to fix the quantum of or eligibility criteria for or manner in which the distribution of Additional Rolling Charges will take place among themselves who are member of that particular branch or division.

PRODUCTION
Can you explain how Lijjat papad are prepared daily? How day to day production work is carried out? The production work is a continuous process in Lijjat. As far as Lijjat Papad are concerned, the daily chores start in early morning around 4.30 am or even earlier depending upon the work load. The work always start with a collective recital of all religion prayer, a favorite of Acharya Vinoba Bhave, OM TATSAT SHREE NARAYAN TU by all the sisters. In the first stage the flour is kneaded into the dough and the dough is pounded in big chunks. The chunks of pounded dough are sent for distribution among the papad rolling sisters.

In the second stage the papad rolling sisters arrive from their home to production centre to take the pounded dough. They can take as much dough as may be desired by them. They go back to their home and roll out the papad. The rolled papad are dried in the clean, airy, open space, mainly in the bright sunlight. The dried papad are usually delivered back to the production centre next day when the sisters come to take fresh dough. The sisters receive their rolling charges as soon as they deliver back the papad. In the third stage papad received from sisters are checked for their quality and packed. The papad packets are then sent for marketing. The entire process is very simple and carried out manually without using any complicated machine. Whether the production process is standardized? What are the norms of production? The sisters have standardized the entire production process as per their own experience. For the first stage properly cleaned empty cans or tins are kept ready and in each tin 11 kilogram flour is poured. Fixed quantity of masala i.e. herbs and powdered spices are then added in the flour. Large tubs of water containing necessary proportion of salt and soda-bi-carb are also prepared and kept ready. In order to save time and expedite the work, this part of process is usually carried out on the previous day so that the flour kneading work can immediately start in the early morning. When the desired quantity of water and masala are added in each batch of 11 kg dry flour and the flour is kneaded into dough, the weight of dough should go up to 17 kg. It is very easy to find out whether the dough is properly kneaded and pounded or not by visual inspection. It does not require much skill. As per experience of the sisters one kilogram of pounded dough should yield 820 grammes of dried papad as nearly 180 grammes of water can get evaporated during process of rolling and drying of papad. However they have fixed a lower norm of 810 grammes as standard yield and in addition to that a further loss of 10 grammes is considered as acceptable loss. That is how papad rolling sisters who take 1 kg of dough must have to deliver back at least 800 gms of dried papad. Is there any standards about size and thickness of papad? There are two standard sizes. The large size papad have diameter of around 18 centimeter and small size papad have diameter of around 13 centimeter. Thickness is kept uniform by fixing a number of papad per kg of dough. There should be yield of around 80 pieces of papad per 1 kg of dough in case of large size papad and yield of around 140 pieces of papad per 1 kg of dough in case of small size papad. What is the typical size of a production unit and how many sisters will be there in each section? A typical Lijjat branch will have a total membership of around 350 sisters. There may be one or two sisters discharging duties of Sanchalika, around 12 sisters in flour kneading section, around 15 sisters in dough pounding section, 3 sisters engaged in work of weighing and distribution of dough among papad rolling sisters. Around 300 sisters will take pounded dough to their home, roll out papad and deliver back same to the branch. There may be around 8 sisters in packing section who will accept the delivery of papad, check the quality and prepare packets and two sisters may be there engaged in work of calculating rolling charges receivable by each sister and giving the same to sisters in cash. However, this number may very from branch to branch and from time to time. What are the accounting procedures at the production stage? When the raw material arrive at the branch, all its details are immediately noted down in the Stock Register. When the raw material get consumed i.e. the flour is kneaded into dough, a

note is kept of how many tins of dough is prepared on daily basis. When the pounded dough is distributed among the papad rolling sisters, the weight of dough taken by each sister is noted down against their name in a register. When rolled and dried papad are delivered back to the branch, they are weighed, checked and the quantum is reconciled against weight of dough taken by each sister. Based on these details, the rolling charges receivable by each sister are calculated and noted down and accordingly cash payment of rolling charges is made on day to day basis. Occasionally at random but invariably at the end of the month the physical verification of the stock position of the raw material as well as the finished product is conducted. All the branches reconcile their consumption of raw material with production of finished product by a simple method of calculating Per bag packet production. The norm is that per one bag (of 100 kg) of flour consumed the average daily yield should be around 317 packets of papad (of 400 gms each) with a minimum floor of 309 packets. If, in a monthly report, average yield fall below the level of 300 packets, it clearly indicates that there is an unacceptable level of wastage/pilferage in the production process and the sisters of the concerned branch have to take a corrective step by reducing their own rolling charges as otherwise the branch will go bust within no time. The production figures of 200 gms, 250 gms, 500 gms, 1 kg and 2.5 kg packets are converted into 400 gms packet figure by the following formula : (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 200 gms packet production figure is divided by 2. 250 gms packet production figure is multiplied by 25 and then divided by 40. 500 gms packet production figure is multiplied by 5 and then divided by 4. 1 kg packet production figure is multiplied by 5 and then divided by 2. 2.5 kg packet production figure is multiplied by 25 and then divided by 4.

How much average work is put in by papad rolling sisters everyday? Lijjat is an unique type of institution where sisters join voluntarily and work voluntarily as may be desired by them since they are their own masters. The papad rolling sisters attend to their work as per their convenience and spare time available to them. Usually they take 3 kg to 10 kg of dough to their home every day. In a few exceptional cases, they take even 15 to 20 kg of dough every day. Generally a sister with an average skill can roll out 1 kg of papad within 45 minutes. If she has a grown up daughter or any other member of family to help her in papad rolling work, both of them can easily roll out 10 kg of papad every day by allotting around 4 hours of their spare time. For a large family, it is not difficult to roll out even 15 to 20 kg of papad daily. However, every thing depends upon their skill, speed and spare time available to them from their other daily responsibilities. What about raw materials? How they are procured? Why Lijjat does not invite tenders for supply of raw materials? As far as procurement of raw material is concerned Lijjat has laid down a definite and sound policy from the very beginning which is based upon solid experience it had gained from various quarters in this respect. The essential features of this policy are as follows : (1) Only the best quality raw materials should be purchased. No compromise is to be made as far as quality is concerned. Inferior quality raw material is never to be procured, howsoever beneficial it may be.

(2)

All the purchases should be made from open market at market related price. Efforts should be made to negotiate the prices so as to make them more reasonable but never a pressure is to be brought upon dealer/seller/supplier to make him quote an uneconomic price which he can not afford as such situation can force him to cut corners and take recourse to unethical practices. Procurement must be a continuous process to be conducted through out the year so as not to alter the market equilibrium or influence the normal price trends. In the purchase process, best market practices including seeking help of broker/commission agent/indenting agent etc. should be adopted whenever necessary but never a perpetual dependency on a single source should be created. Only highly skilled, experienced, dependable and clean persons from inside the institution i.e. member-sister or staff member should be involved in the purchase process. Tender system has no place in Lijjat. The bureaucratic approach, lengthy procedural formalities, unbearable slow process, delay, confusion, secrecy, inefficiency, inevitable resentment, susceptibility to unethical practices and number of such negative factors have made tender system totally outdated concept in contemporary, competitive business world. It is no more a normal commercial practice in efficient entities. In Lijjat, the person taking decision about purchase has to be fully responsible and accountable for his/her decision and he/she no chance of avoiding responsibility by taking shelter behind alibi of technicalities of the tender system.

(3) (4)

(5)

(6)

What about quality control? How do you ensure uniform quality of Lijjat papad at all the branches? At present Lijjat papad are produced manually without any help from machines on fully decentralized basis at numerous production centres spread all over India. Yet the quality of Lijjat papad remains uniform with same taste, same size, same thickness and same appearance. This uniform quality is achieved by a two way strategy : (A) The procurement of raw materials is centralized and all the production centres use the same raw materials. Appropriate periodic checks ensure the uniform quality of the raw materials. At every stage of production, a strict vigilance over quality is maintained by sisters and they are so alert and conscious about maintaining the high quality standards that it is impossible for any nonstandard piece of papad to go undetected.

(B)

EXPANSION
How much do you have spread so far? Lijjat has presence in how many states? There are 29 states in India. Lijjat has been able to cover 17 states so far. Lijjat has still no presence in 12 states. These 12 states include the 7 states of Northeast i.e. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The remaining 5 uncovered states are Chhatisgadh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttaranchal. Lijjat has established its presence in 17 states. These include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Lijjat started its activities from Mumbai. Naturally it has a strong presence in Mumbai-Thane region with 16 branches functioning there besides a number of other divisions and internal servicing units. There are a total of 27 branches in Maharashtra including 16 Mumbai-Thane based branches. Another state where Lijjat has a strong presence is Gujarat with 11 branches functioning there. Which are the main markets for the Lijjat products? Export sales and the local sales in the Mumbai-Thane region is single biggest market for Lijjat products absorbing nearly 40 per cent of total net sales turn over of Lijjat. Rest of Maharashtra and Gujarat is also another important market. Why Lijjat is more concentrated in Mumbai-Thane region? Is there not much demand for Lijjat products in the other states? Lijjat products are in great demand all over India besides abroad. If our sales are more concentrated in the western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat it is only because our production is concentrated there. All we produce is immediately get sold locally in nearby areas. If we can increase our production elsewhere the sales there also will make a quantum jump. If our sales is not much significant in the north, south or eastern states it simply reflects our inadequate production level there and nothing else. It is not a fact that lack of demand is hampering our progress and expansion. How often do you open new branches in Lijjat? Expansion is the way of life in Lijjat. We always remain eager to open more and more branches. We still vividly remember and cherish the day on which our Mulund Panch Rasta (Mumbai) branch was opened in 1969. As it happened, on one fine evening a meeting was held in Mulund and decision was taken to open a branch there. Over night the premises was selected, acquired and cleaned, raw materials brought, furniture and equipments installed and the next morning routine production started ! From 1968 onwards when Lijjat started expanding its activities, there had been only a few exceptional year when no new branch has been opened. How do you select the places? There has to be a nice and clean premises with sufficient built up and open space to run our routine production activity and good storage place to keep our raw materials as well as finished products. There must be availability of sufficient number of sisters who would like to enrol themselves as member of the branch and work in Lijjat. Nothing further is required as rest can be easily managed by the institution. Occasionally we accept the challenges and work in trying circumstances. For example, our branches in Ludhiana, Latur and Jammu where opened during most difficult circumstances there.

ORGANIZATIONAL SETUP AND ADMINISTRATION

What is the organizational setup of Lijjat? Lijjat started as a small experiment on the 15th March, 1959. It functioned purely as an informal organization without any written constitution or rules and regulations for initial seven year period from 1959 to 1966 with its pledge form as its sole basis. On the 10th July, 1966, Shri U.N. Dhebar, the then Chairman of Khadi and Village Industries Commission paid a visit to the institution. He liked the activities of the institution and advised the sisters to formalized their activities. He even lent services of one his officer to frame the written constitution for Lijjat. As advised by him it was decided that the Lijjat will be a Society

as well as a Public Trust. A General Body Meeting of all the sisters was held on the 25th July, 1966 and a small written constitution or articles of association was adopted. SHRI MAHILA GRIHA UDYOG LIJJAT PAPAD was then registered as a Society under the provisions of The Societies Registration Act, 1860 on the 12th August, 1966 with its registration number as BOM/82/66/GBBSD. Immediately it was given recognition by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission on 17th September, 1966. Later Lijjat has also been registered as a Public Trust under the provisions of The Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 on the 19th December, 1966 and its registration number is F-1460-BOM. The original articles of association of Lijjat have been expanded and amended from time to time. As per provisions of the articles of association, all the activities of Lijjat is conducted by a 21 member Managing Committee comprising of one President, one Vice President, two honorary secretaries, two treasures and 15 other members. The Managing Committee is the supreme body and the sole authority to take all the decisions. Lijjat has no separate board of trustees and all the members of the Managing Committee, by virtue of their post, also become trustees of Lijjat till they hold the post of membership of the Managing Committee. The General Body elects the members of the Managing Committee and the members of the Managing Committee nominate office-bearers i.e. President, Vice President etc. for a period of one year from themselves. The Managing Committee is a permanent body with one third of its members retiring every year by rotation and new members in their place being elected in the Annual General Meeting. This set up is akin to the organizational set up adopted by most of the respected public institutions in India. However, Lijjat is more bound by and more guided by its Basic Philosophy and Practices rather than by its articles of association and other legal formalities. Lijjat can not discard its pledge form or ignore its basic philosophy and practices in any circumstances or else it will not remain Lijjat. How elections are held every year? Is there keen contest to be a member of the Managing Committee or to become an Office-bearer? The ritual of election is a non event for Lijjat. We have adopted the method of consensus rather than voting or polling as the system of election. There are always mutual consultation and discussions held well before the nominations for the vacant post of the members of the Managing Committee are called for. With only consensus candidates filing their nomination, they get elected unanimously. Why ? Lijjat does not believe in democracy and fair elections? Democracy and fair elections are the most welcome and the best method of Governance. There is no doubt about that. But for an organization like Lijjat which is guided by sarvodaya philosophy the consensus method is even better than the best, provided it works. By the grace of the God, the consensus method has worked so far in Lijjat. It has tremendously helped us to preserve our unity and facilitated us to prevent the division of mind. How day to day work is carried out at institutional level? The Managing Committee is the most powerful and apex decision making body. All the decisions are taken by the Managing Committee. The President works in a dual capacity. She acts as a chairperson of the Managing Committee, participates in its deliberations and plays important role in the decision making process. She also acts as the Chief Executive and through appropriate administrative steps implements the decisions taken by the Managing Committee. Actually the work of the President is very demanding one. She works on 24X7 basis. There is no leave, no holiday or no rest period for her. Each and every responsibility ultimately rests on her shoulders. The President is actively assisted in her day to day work by the Vice President, other officebearers and Managing Committee members. The Central Office and the administrative staff have to follow the instructions given to them by the President and other office-bearers. All the

sisters including all the Sanchalikas always respect the wishes of the President and do their best to carry out directions given to them by the President. As the Lijjat functions fully on decentralized basis, each and every branch and division handles its own affairs and works almost as an autonomous unit. The Central Office acts as the coordinating authority, monitoring activity of all the units and providing the necessary help, guidance and information to them. What are the branches? How they carry out their functions? Why all the Mumbai branches are considered as one? In Lijjat, the words Branch and Division have a peculiar meaning. Actually they are not branch or division but autonomous centres of Lijjat. However, this nomenclature of branch and division has come into existence more as a result of accident rather than by design. To understand better the concept behind the word Branch, we will have to take a close look at the early history of Lijjat. Lijjat was just a single unit organization functioning from its Girgaum establishment for initial seven year period from 1959 till 1967. It had no other unit or establishment anywhere else. In 1968, a decision was taken that Lijjat should try to replicate the Girgaum success story at other places by opening branches. The inspiration to select the word branch for spread of Lijjat ideals had come from the banyan tree. In the banyan tree expansion takes place through a branch of the tree which in turn sprouts its own roots and then send them to soil where they get transformed into trunk which ultimately becomes an another banyan tree. Similarly all Lijjat branches were supposed to be exact replica of original Lijjat Girgaum entity, functioning autonomously and yet remaining connected with each other and go on expanding. In any case other Lijjat units had to be self reliant financially as well as administratively because the Girgaum unit was hardly in a position to monitor or manage activity of any other unit or to extend any financial support to them. In the first year of 1968, three branches were opened, one each at Valod (Gujarat), Wadala (Mumbai) and Pune (Maharashtra). As there were two units Girgaum and Wadala now in Mumbai, there was possibility of conflict of interest between them as far as sales were concerned because both were located near to each other with customer base being same for them. In order to avoid such conflict of interest, it was decided that both the Mumbai units as well as any other unit that may be opened in Mumbai in future should form a single financial entity with their income and expenditure pooled together and sisters of all these Mumbai units should draw their rolling charges as well as additional rolling charges from the same pool. However, Valod and Pune became separate independent financial entities. In 1969 Mulund-Panch Rasta branch and in 1970 Kandivali-West branch were opened and both became a part of Mumbai entity. Today there are as much as 16 branches in MumbaiThane region and they form a single financial entity. They are collectively called Head Office and all the outstation units are described as branch. Later the concept of one financial entity for one city was extended to outstation branches and today the four Kolkata branches, two Ludhiana branches etc. form one financial entity each. As far as the administration of newly opened branches was concerned, it was decided in 1968 that while the President of Lijjat who was looking after day to day activity of the Girgaum unit should continue to do her normal work at Girgaum but in addition she should also hold overall charge of all the units whether located in Mumbai or elsewhere. However, as far as day to day work of newly opened units was concerned, it was decided that one or two local sister of the each unit should assume total responsibility for functioning of their unit and such sister should be called Sanchalika of the unit. That is how the word Sanchalika came into existence first time in Lijjat vocabulary in 1968. There were no Sanchalika in Lijjat prior to that. As far as status of branches located out of Mumbai were concerned it was decided to adopt a particular approach which was akin to Fully owned subsidiary method of corporate world. All the outstation branches were to be a part of Lijjat for legal formality as well as for ideological reasons but for all practical purpose they were to be an independent entity with its own local

Managing Committee as well as their own office-bearers to conduct their affairs. They were empowered to take their own financial decisions and even allowed to raise their own debts from the local market for which they alone would be responsible. Thus all the outstation branches of Lijjat are in actuality strong, self-reliant, self-sufficient, autonomous and separate entities which are fully owned by Lijjat. In Lijjat status of an outstation branch is akin to an adult member of a joint family. Views of branches are fully respected and always taken into account in taking any final decision. However, in case they stray away from the chosen path, act in wayward manner or attempt to do something which may bring disrepute to entire Lijjat family, then they are not being allowed to do so. This system of functioning in a fully decentralized manner has helped Lijjat a lot and facilitated a very rapid expansion of its activities. Only regrettable part of the story is that over a period of time local Managing Committee have become non active/ non functional in a number of outstation branches with local one or more Sanchalika handling all the functions of the branch. This situation calls for immediate remedial steps. What are the Divisions? The word Division was introduced in Lijjat in 1974 in slightly different context. On the 13th June, 1974 sisters of Narayanwadi branch (since closed) in Mumbai started production of khakhra. It was the first time that any product other than Lijjat papad was manufactured by the institution. It was believed at that time that Lijjat khakhra will prove at least equally popular, if not more popular than Lijjat papad. It was decided there should be a separate independent unit for khakhra and it should be given different identity by calling it as Khakhra Division so that it can stand apart from other Lijjat papad branches and thus can make rapid strides on its own strength. Soon another development took place. On 28th April, 1975 the muhurt ceremony of Flour Mill at Cottongreen was performed which was just a servicing unit catering to daily needs of flour for various papad branches and not an independent income generating unit. The Division tag was not appropriate for the Flour Mill but inadvertently it was started being identified as Cottongreen Flour Mill Division. As the word Division became synonymous of any activity other than papad, later on all subsequent internal servicing unit such as polypropylene bag plant, dal mill, printing press etc. were also labeled as Division. This is how two types of Division are there in Lijjat. Type-I Division are those units which are self supporting and independent income generating entities and engaged in manufacturing products other than Lijjat papad such as Detergent Division, Masala Division, Bakery Division etc. Type-II Division are those internal servicing establishment which are catering to different needs of institution such as Nashik Dal Mill Division, Cottongreen Raw Materials Division, Advertising Division etc. What is the Central Office? What role is played by the Central Office in the organization? The Central Office is at present playing a pivotal role in the smooth functioning of the institution. The central office was opened at the Kamal Apartments, Bandra on the 10th July, 1975. Originally it was supposed to be a merely Communication Centre to handle correspondence work which was being neglected till then by Lijjat papad branches and other product divisions. Only two part time employees used to handle all the work of Central Office in the initial period. Its importance increased after the venue of meeting of the Managing Committee shifted from Girgaum to Central Office and it became the store house of all the important records of the institution. Gradually the President started to attend the Central Office for a few hours to begin with and for full time later on. The main responsibilities being handled by the Central Office at present are as follows : (A) to act as the secretariat of the President and the Managing Committee.

(B)

to act as a single point of communication with outside world. At present all the interaction with the Government, regulatory and taxation authorities, judiciary and legal advisers, Khadi and Village Industries Commission, banks, statutory and internal auditors, print and audiovisual media and others is handled by the Central Office. All the outside inquiry, whether commercial or noncommercial and their replies, are routed through Central Office. to act as monitoring, coordinating and guiding agency over all the branches and divisions. Monetary health of each of the Lijjat units and quality aspect of the various products always remain under close and constant surveillance of the Central Office. It also solves the inter unit disputes or difference of opinion among them, if any. to act as a store house and dispenser of all the information and statistics regarding working of institution. The publication of various informative and educative booklets, pamphlets and a very useful monthly magazine LIJJAT PATRIKA is also handled by the Central Office. An informative website lijjat.com is also maintained by the Central Office.

(C)

(D)

The Central Office has over a period of time continued to adapt itself skilfully to ever changing requirement scenario in the institution by remolding its functions and by taking more and more responsibilities. What is the organizational setup at branch and division level? How day to day work is carried out there? All the branches and divisions conduct their day to day activity in a typical Lijjat fashion. All of them have one or more Sanchalika, a small staff consisting of both male and female employees and a bulk of sister members doing papad rolling or some such other productive work. Only exception are the type-II divisions which are actually internal servicing units. Such units such as Nashik Dal Mill Division or Cottongreen Printing Division etc. could consists of only male employees with or without any Sanchalika looking after its day to day activities. However functioning of such units is always subject to close supervision and guidance by the President, other Office-bearers, Managing Committee members and Sanchalika sisters of other branches. Barring such servicing entities all the branches/divisions are fully autonomous, selfsupporting, self-reliant, self-managed and self governing entities with all the decision taking power being exercised by local sister members. In case of more than one branch functioning in a single city or a small compact area they form one single financial and administrative unit. For example all the 16 branches functioning in Mumbai-Thane region function as one single financial and administrative entity. Similarly all the 4 branches in Kolkata function as one entity, two branches in each of Pune and Ludhiana are one single entity in each city. They club together their income and expenditure, handle their sales/production/administration jointly and take their own integrated financial decisions. The most important thing about Lijjat organization is that all the branches, divisions and internal servicing units may be located separately, may be far away from each other but all of them have to imbibe same Lijjat philosophy, function in a same Lijjat style and adhere to Lijjats basic philosophy and practices. That is how all of them have same look and feel and function in a cohesive and complementary manner in spite of total decentralization of their functioning. It appears that Sanchalika plays a key role in functioning of the institution. How one can become a Sanchalika? Whether she is appointed, elected or selected? Actually Sanchalikas are the corner stone or the foundation on which the entire edifice of Lijjat is built. Sanchalikas are neither officers nor employees. They are not supervisors. Sanchalikas are just an ordinary member of the concerned branch. They are never appointed, elected or selected. Actually Sanchalikas are those member sisters who have taken up an

initiative, who have come forward to offer their services and who have voluntarily taken up, with the consent from their fellow member sisters of the branch, responsibility of performing various important task . Frankly speaking, the job of Sanchalika is not an easy one or rosy one. Its a highly demanding and tough task. Most of the present Sanchalikas had to be persuaded and goaded by their fellow member sisters to take up the responsibilities of a Sanchalika. Same is the position about the post of the President who has to function as the Sanchalika of Sanchalikas besides discharging her other normal duties of a President. Neither Sanchalika nor President has any special right, power or privilege or any other such benefit which ordinary member sister does not have. In Lijjat all the sisters have same status, same rights and same privileges and no sister can become boss or superior of any other sister. Only privilege enjoyed by the President or Sanchalika of a branch is a natural privilege inherently flowing from nature of her work. Those who work more and take up more responsibilities naturally get respect of others who get benefit of their hard work, toil and labor. That is how wishes of a Sanchalika are always respected and carried out by other member sisters and wishes of the President are always respected and carried out by all the Sanchalikas and other sisters In short Sanchalikas are those ordinary member sister of a branch/division who have voluntarily taken up, with the consent of their fellow member sisters, responsibility of performing various tough and demanding task of the branch. Whether any qualification or a prior experience is required to be a Sanchalika? The only precondition to be a Sanchalika is that she should be dedicated to the values and principles in which Lijjat institution believes and which are laid down in brief in the Pledgeform as well as in the booklet titled Basic Philosophy and Practices of our Organization. The rest can follow. The Sanchalika has to make a study of the Lijjat philosophy, grasp the true meaning of the Pledge-form and she must be ready to spend all her time and energy that she can spare for the work of Lijjat. One lady in my relation is highly knowledgeable, well educated and hard working. She needs a job. Can she become a Sanchalika? No job-seeker, no social worker or no outsider ( i.e. who is not working as a member of the institution) can ever hope to be a Sanchalika or a member of the Managing Committee or an Office-bearer in Lijjat. To become a member, one has to roll out a minimum of 3 kg of papad every day or to do some such other work that may be allotted to her. In a few and rare cases, when a branch is opened in a remote area, a local sister can become its Sanchalika even if she has never rolled papad previously provided she agrees to roll out a minimum quantity of papad every day for a minimum period of time that may be prescribed by her fellow sister members of the branch. What are routine tasks of a Sanchalika? The day to day or routine tasks of a Sanchalika are (1) (2) (3) to manage the raw materials stock and to ensure its timely replenishment to look after all the aspects of the production work including quality control, packaging and dispatching of the finished product to organize and manage the sales network

(4) (5)

to manage finance and overall administration of the branch/division to act as communication channel as normally all the intra-institutional as well as external communication is routed through Sanchalika only.

However, any task besides above which is not handled by any other person is supposed to be handled by the Sanchalika. Not only that but even for a work which is handled by any other person, the responsibility to ensure that work is properly done is that of Sanchalika. Often her position is described as akin to that of a mother in a single parent family with a number of daughters. What are the powers of a Sanchalika? In Lijjat, powers get automatically vested in those who work hard for the organization. As President and the Sanchalikas work more than anybody else they naturally receive due respect from everybody else. They are most influential. Their word is considered as the last word. Their instructions and directives are always implemented. There is nobody more powerful than a Sanchalika who is working with devotion in Lijjat. However, there is one harsh reality of life which everybody must appreciate. If somebody becomes inactive or does not work, one becomes irrelevant and get sidetracked in Lijjat as it may happen so anywhere else.

BASIC IDEOLOGY
What is the basic ideology of Lijjat ? Lijjat is not just an another routine institution. It started as a small experiment but it has developed over a period of time on its own inherent strength. It is regrettable that Lijjat receives, time and again, superfluous praise as well as ill-informed criticism largely based upon misunderstanding about its role, functions and basic ideology. Actually, Lijjat is an unique institution. It is based on following three precepts: (1) Consumers are entitled to receive high quality goods and services at most reasonable price. The overall consumer satisfaction should be the main yardstick to measure success or failure of any productive activity. The largest, if not the sole, beneficiary of any productive enterprise should be those who put their direct physical labor in it with share of people providing their organizational skill or other services as well as share of those who are providing monetary resources should be kept at the bare minimum level. No one should ever lose communion with nobler tract of her/his own mind. The lure of temporary and often illusory gains should not be allowed to weaken our normal feeling of love and compassion for our fellow human beings.

(2)

(3)

As a natural corollary to above three precepts, Lijjat institution has developed its own peculiar way of thinking. Whatever is done in Lijjat is looked at from Lijjat point of view and the entire decision making process is influenced by Lijjat way of thinking. Is Lijjat a business enterprise or a social service institution? Lijjat is neither a business enterprise nor a social service institution in the normal sense of terms. Lijjat is in a totally different category, a class of its own. Lijjat is in fact a harmonious synthesis of three different concepts and if you remove just any one of these three constituent concepts, it will not remain Lijjat. The three concepts synthesized in Lijjat are

(1) (2) (3)

Lijjat is a business, a business of a special type Lijjat is a family, a family of a special type Lijjat is a temple, a temple of a special type

Yes, Lijjat is a business, but not a business as it is normally understood. It is not a business for profit. In a normal business, especially in a manufacturing activity, capital investment is a must. One can not start or run the business without capital investment. In Lijjat, nobody has ever invested even a single rupee. What is invested in Lijjat is not the money but collective labor and skill of sisters. Lijjat has thousands of members who toil day and night for their own betterment by investing their labor. Members of Lijjat keep a sharp watch over their income and expenditure and always try to strike a equilibrium between two as Lijjat is neither a profit making body like a private enterprise nor a loss making entity like a government. While the aim of Lijjat is not to make any profit, at the same time Lijjat can not afford to make any loss as it has taken a vow from the day one that it will not accept any grant, subsidy, charity, donation or monetary help from any source to run its activities and if it starts making losses it will be wiped out of existence within no time as it has no spare money or reserve fund on which it can depend. Lijjat always aim at avoiding any excess of income over expenditure and any excess of expenditure over income. Lijjat can not be categorized as a normal business because Lijjat is much more than a business. Lijjat is a sort of family. The feeling of bonhomie and kinship can be found everywhere in Lijjat. The lack of rigidity in functioning and freedom to do anything one likes to do is there in Lijjat as it may be there in any family. Mutual care and concern as well as confidence and trust in each other are as prevalent in Lijjat as in any normal family. And one of the most important vow that a sister take when she joins the institution is Instead of thinking in terms of let me get more than others, I shall aspire that no one should get less than me. Well, such commitments have turned Lijjat into a family of a special type ! Lijjat still goes one step further. For those working in the institution, Lijjat is nothing but an equivalent of temple, mosque, church or gurudwara. It is a place where work is worship. It a is place where the social welfare is the goal of all the activities. It is a place where attention is focussed not on me but on Him who is there in every human beings. Wrong behavior such as indulging into profiteering, malpractices, consumer duping etc. are unthinkable in Lijjat. Sisters of Lijjat treat rolling charges and additional rolling charges received by them as PRASADAM received at a temple. All the above three concepts have become inseparable elements of a synthesis called Lijjat. Whether Lijjat puts more emphasis on ethics than on business ? For Lijjat business and ethics are just two sides of the same coin inseparable from each other. Lijjat is a judicious mix of the both. Lijjat would never like to abandon ethics and devote solely to business. Similarly Lijjat would not like to devote solely to ethics and abandon the business. Lijjat believes in the concept of business with ethics. What is taken into consideration while conducting business in Lijjat ? In Lijjat thousands of sisters have come together to invest their labor and skill and conduct their business collectively. Their aim is to earn money by putting hard, physical labor and live with self respect. A number of basic principles of running business on sound and pragmatic footing are always observed in Lijjat. (1) There may be hundreds of pending other work in Lijjat but sales and marketing always receive top priority and foremost attention is paid to them as they will bring in hard cash and necessary liquidity without which business can not be run.

(2)

Sales have to grow continuously. No business enterprise can survive in this competitive world if it becomes complacent with stagnant sales turnover. All the necessary steps to achieve growth in sales have to be taken in time. There can not be any marketing or sales if production is not there. In order to achieve growth in sales, production has to be increased correspondingly. There has to be continuous growth in production. Production can increase only if more and more sisters join the organization. This could be achieved in two way. By attracting new members by extending an open invitation to them through advertisements and secondly by opening more and more new branches/divisions at more and more places. Constant vigilance over the quality front has to be there right from the purchase of raw material stage. A definite set of standards, norms, check and balances at every stage, till the product goes in the home of the consumer, have been evolved over a period of time in Lijjat and the same have to be implemented continuously. The quality of Lijjat products should be maintained at any cost without any exception. The business can grow and prosper only if it is run wisely. One can not take a narrow or short term view nor one should adopt greedy and mean attitude. While one should not incur unnecessary, unproductive and excessive expenditure, one can not afford to lose an opportunity. Timely decisions have to be taken and they have to be implemented without any delay. No efforts should be spared to achieve speedy growth of the organization, to increase the productivity and efficiency, to cut delay and lethargy, to reduce the paper work, to eliminate the sense of despondency and to remove the tendency to avoid responsibility. Similarly all the efforts have to be made to encourage creative and innovative thinking and to open up environment for introduction of new and bold ideas. Rigid attitude, close and non-transparent environment, intrigue, gossiping etc. has no place in Lijjat. Open and healthy discussions, free and fearless movement of people, sound of jumping feet and hearty laughter are the sine qua non of Lijjat.

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

These and a number of such other factors of conducting business wisely are kept in mind by sisters of Lijjat.

MANAGEMENT
What is the management philosophy of Lijjat ? Lijjat has adopted participative and non-hierarchial model of management. Lijjat is fully flat organization. There is no hierarchy and no command and control structure. There may be superficial manifestation of verticality here and there, there may be occasional signs of some people trying to assert their authority or superiority over others but when one really goes deep into the organization, one will find that the working system is totally horizontal. Actually nonhierarchial system is at the core of sarvodaya philosophy and Lijjat is sincerely trying to follow and implement the same. Is such a model workable ? Would not absence of a formal command and control structure result into total chaos, confusion, disorder and non-governance ? Especially when working of thousands of persons on day to day basis is involved ? Well, such concern are not totally out place and certainly not without any foundation. We do admit that we have our own fair share of chaos, confusion, misunderstanding, disorder etc. which may be found anywhere else in such flat organizations. And yet we can confidently say that the advantages and positive effects of such a system far outweighs its disadvantage and

shortcomings. That is our experience so far. Lijjat is functioning as efficiently as any other vertical or horizontal organization. It is continuously growing and expanding, attracting more and more members. The flat or horizontal system do throw many challenges but such challenges can be converted into opportunity by evolving new work ethics, new norms, new incentive and reward system, new motivational factors and newer mechanism to discourage disorderly and irresponsible behavior. Ultimately it depends on how much you are committed to the cause of a participative and non-hierarchial management system. In Lijjat, each and every opportunity is availed off to make every body realize that the absence of a formal command and control structure actually cast more responsibility on them rather than the other way round. Self discipline can be easily brought in through a large dose of awareness education by dedicated teachers who may adopt non conventional method. Can you explain in simple words the work model of the Lijjat ? Smt. Jyoti J. Naik, President of Lijjat, has explained in brief and in very simple word the work model of Lijjat in a talk given by her at Ahmedabad on Saturday, the 5th April, 2003, in a convention held under the auspices of the Ahmedabad Management Association. She said that in Lijjat we do not have any manager or supervisor. We all are workers with equal status. And also we are the owners. There is only single segment in Lijjat. We workers handle all our managerial or administrative work ourselves. Yes, there is a small number of paid employees there but their role is limited to assist the owner-workers of Lijjat by performing a few ancillary and complementary task. They have not to manage any body or to run the administration. She further said that any woman can become a member of Lijjat. All the members have to roll out a minimum of 3 kg of papad every day or to do some such other work on daily basis. When a member becomes non active her membership gets automatically revoked. Departing members do not have any right or claim over the institution. We, all the members, have joined Lijjat voluntarily and work in Lijjat as per our wish. There is no compulsion on any of us to do a particular type of work. Actually, we decide after mutual discussion and consultation who should do which work. As a matter of policy, no nonmembers opinion or advise is ever sought in this respect. All the sisters work with equal status with no body has right to give order and none have to obey any order. All the decisions are taken by the sisters who may be present there with mutual consultation and mutual understanding. We always remain in touch of each other and take important and vital decisions on the basis of consensus among us. This is how Lijjat works. Are there no disputes, quarrels or serious difference of opinion among the members of Lijjat ? How they are resolved ? Yes, disputes and difference of opinion are as common in Lijjat as they may there in any large family. Members have full freedom to argue with each other, even shout at each other and explain their point of view in public. However there are certain self imposed rules and regulations and problem seldom goes out of the hands. Only matter pertaining Lijjat can be discussed in Lijjat. No private/personal/family matter or issue can ever be raised. The exchange of opinion or arguments have to come to an end by the end of the day because no dispute can be kept alive till next day. If dispute is of a serious nature and can not be resolved by mutual discussion, both the sisters have to abide by a decision of a third member sister who may intervene in the dispute. No paid employee/staff or any outsider is allowed to intervene or help the sisters in resolving their disputes.

What about communication gap ? Isnt it a serious problem for Lijjat ? Yes, communication gap is one of the most serious problem faced by the institution. It happens quite often in Lijjat that what needs to be done is not done or the work does not get done in time or there is a duplication of work with more than one person doing the same work and wasting their time and energy. It is quite but natural that in a horizontal organization, the communication can not travel from person to person as effectively as it can move in a vertical organization. Such communication gap can cause heart burn and lead to arguments and accusation. Such situation is often seen in Lijjat. Let us view this problem from a different angle. In a vertical organization with command and control structure in place no body bothers if right hand does not know what the left hand is doing while in a horizontal organization with open and transparent working system, the expectation always is that every body should know every thing keeping in touch with all the development all the time and act accordingly. Such expectations are legitimate but too high to achieve and until they are achieved, we have to keep our cool and work without losing our hope. That is why a tradition has been developed in Lijjat that whenever something goes wrong, never an attempt is made to find out who was at fault or to pin a blame on somebody. Attention is always focussed on how to retrieve the situation and how to put the things right at our earliest, instead of going on fault finding mission. Which is the single biggest danger for Lijjat from the point of view of management ? The biggest problem Lijjat can face is the ignorance. Ignorance on the part of sisters about their status, their responsibility, their obligations and their duties. Each and every sister member of Lijjat have to become aware that she is the owner, not a sole but a collective owner and a responsible owner and she is a member of a large family called Lijjat. She has to understand what Lijjat and sarvodaya philosophy stand for. Negligence or failure on the part of the Managing Committee and Sanchalikas to educate all the sisters working in each and every branch and division about their rights and responsibilities can cost the organization dear. A sister working in Lijjat but not knowing the true nature of the organization where she works is a very dangerous proposition because such ignorance can generate irrelevant expectations and may ultimately result into disappointment and frustration. Education for sisters is a must and there is no alternative of education. How such education can be imparted ? Through lectures, seminars, workshops, interactive management games, newsletters, power point presentations, educative documentaries, drama and entertainment programs, or contests and competitions ? Which one is the best method ? Lijjat is a simple organization. It has evolved at the outset and implemented from time to time a very simple but quite effective tool of self education called the Area Meeting. It is a totally non aggressive education system devoid of any fanfare.

AREA MEETING
What is Area Meeting ? What does it mean ? When about 10 to 15 sisters of Lijjat who may living near to each other in any particular area assemble together and have free and frank discussion and one to one exchange of views about Lijjat, it is called Area Meeting. Why such meeting should be held ? What are its benefits ? In Lijjat all those sisters who work there are the owners of the institution. It is their basic right as well as fundamental duty to know what is happening in the institution. They should have a say in day to day conduct of the business. They have a right to express their opinion and views on all the matters. They should have an opportunity to discuss their own difficulties and problems and find a solution. The best place to do all is the Area Meeting. If there are no such meetings how a sister can exercise her normal rights as an owner ?

Only precaution sisters should take while convening Area Meeting is to ensure that the number of sisters attending such a meeting may not exceed 10 to 15. The reason is that in a large gathering, meaningful discussion becomes impossible. Larger gatherings encourage one set of people to give lengthy lectures and reduce the rest of people into just passive, uninterested listeners. It encourages people to indulge into showmanship and exhibit their smartness to impress others. There can not be any free and frank exchange of views because not all the people will get a chance to speak and in case all the people are given a chance to speak and explain their view point, meeting will go on and on till people would get fed up by listening to divergent views and start walking away ! Larger the gathering, lesser is the chance to have a meaningful dialogue or useful discussion which may lead towards a solution of any problem or help to arrive at any conclusion. Who should take an initiative to convene convene such meeting ? Area Meeting ? Who is authorized to

Any member sister can come forward, take an initiative and convene the meeting in area where she resides. In case papad rolling sisters do not take such initiative, it becomes imperative for Sanchalika and those engaged in packing, accounting etc. work to convene such meeting from time to time in different areas. Where such meeting should be held ? Who should remain present ? Area Meeting should be held as far as possible at the home of one of the sister residing in that area. If there is no sufficient space inside the home, sisters can meet even in verandah, compound or open space by covering the ground with dhurries. All the sisters residing in the same area must attend the meeting without fail. If one can not remain present for any reason, she should at least remain in touch with the developments by making subsequent enquiries with those sisters who did attend the meeting. Not only sisters of Lijjat but their male relatives also can remain present in the meeting, if they so desire, to acquaint themselves of the activities of Lijjat and to offer their advise and opinion. Lijjat always welcome advise and opinion from all the quarters. However, when question of taking any decision arises, it will have to be taken by sisters only. It is desirable that Sanchalika should remain present in the meeting but her presence is not that much necessary that without her no meeting can be held. Any other sister can convene the meeting and conduct its proceedings. But one point should always be kept in mind. At least one sister each from flour kneading, dough pounding and packing section should remain present without fail as their presence and frank discussion with them will help to remove a number of small and day to day misunderstanding. How the proceedings of the Area Meeting should be conducted ? All the programs and meetings of Lijjat start with all religion prayer and then the pledge form is read loudly so that everybody present there can listen it. Area Meeting must commence with the same procedure. Next step should be to read aloud a few paragraphs from the booklet Basic Philosophy and Practices. This small booklet is freely available in English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu, Bengali, Oria, Tamil, Telugu, Kannad, and Malaylam languages from the central office as well as all the branches/divisions. Then everybody should be free to discuss any matter pertaining Lijjat or raise any issue with a view to finding its appropriate solution. Which matters and issues can be raised in the meeting and which can not be mentioned ? Any matter about Lijjat institution can be freely discussed. Finance, accounts, administration, production, purchase, sales, transport, rolling charges, rules, regulations, behavior, attitude, practices etc. anything can be discussed. There is no bar. However, it is desirable to give priority to the issues of maintaining utmost cleanliness while rolling out papad. Issues

pertaining quality of Lijjat papad also must be discussed thoroughly because if quality of Lijjat papad goes down, Lijjat institution will not be able to survive. The other important matter about which all the sisters should be aware is the financial position of the concerned branch/division where she is working because she is a owner also. Every branch/division prepares their monthly accounts with a full balance sheet which are published within a few days of the end of each month. These monthly accounts are not published for ritual purpose nor they are meant only for study by accountants/cashiers. All the sisters must go through monthly report of her branch/division and should take corrective action if they feel that things are not moving in the right direction. However, never any matter pertaining to private/ personal/family life or financial condition of any sister and her other family members is ever mentioned or discussed even by mistake in Area Meeting. Discussions about politics, political parties, election, voting, communal and religious conflicts and such other external issues have no place in Lijjat. In fact, in Lijjat nothing except Lijjat is discussed. Who should explain to whom in the meeting ? The nature of Lijjat institution is unique. There are a number of sisters who have a much better idea of how things are moving in Lijjat, how institution is functioning, what can be done and what can not be done etc. On the other hand, there are a number of sisters who have not come into deeper touch of the institution even after working for several years and they may not be knowing much about Lijjat. There also may be several new sisters who may have joined Lijjat recently and may not be aware of a number of things about Lijjat. That is why in Area Meeting or any where else those sisters who know more about Lijjat always have a responsibility to explain correct position to other sisters who may be knowing less about Lijjat. It has been found on a number of occasion that at a time papad rolling sisters would be knowing much more about Lijjat than sisters working in the office ! It is a practice in Lijjat that if Sanchalika or any sister working in office know less than the papad rolling sister, she never hesitate to acknowledge the same. Area Meeting is the best place to acquire more knowledge, to explain things to others, to exchange the opinion and views, to make others aware of problems and difficulties, to resolve difference of opinion, to evolve solutions, to come near to each other and develop a sense of kinship. How frequent should be the Area Meeting ? How many Area Meeting can be held in a month ? Sisters of each area should arrange minimum one meeting in a month. However, they can meet as more often as they please and even can convene an urgent Area Meeting instantly, if any pressing issue arises. It is a common experience that in a meeting a number of matter get thoroughly discussed. Consensus emerges on a number of issues. Often a resolve is made to take a particular action. But, alas, as soon as meeting is over, everything just slips out of mind. Everybody go back to their own routine work. No body bothers and the issue remains pending as ever. What is the remedy for such situation ? Lijjat has found very simple solution to avoid such situation. Whenever any decision is taken and if those who are party to the decision would really like to make it sure that decision has to be implemented, they should take some simple vow that none of them will eat salt or sugar or any other such small item of daily use as they may prefer till the said decision is implemented. Such simple and small vow will remind each of them every now and then of the pending work and motivate them to expedite the implementation. Sincerity is not very difficult virtue to acquire, just a few automatic periodical reminders will work wonder.

The concept of Area Meeting looks good on paper but will it not throw more problems than solution ? In Lijjat, every concept, every rule and regulation, every practice and custom, every work procedure, every business process has been created and established on the basis of solid experience. In Lijjat, work is always done first and only after doing a work, rules of how to do a work are laid down. Same is the case of Area Meeting. They were started within a few months of the establishment of Lijjat in 1959. They have been conducted by not only Mumbai based sisters but also by sisters of several other branches like Valod, Pune, Ramania, Amaravati etc. from time to time. Only after holding Area Meeting for several years, above rules were laid down and published in LIJJAT PATRIKA. Area Meetings have helped Lijjat a lot in past by instilling the sense of cooperation, unity and integrity among the members. They have facilitated removal of misunderstanding and misgivings for each other and have brought in much needed awareness about the true nature of the organization including its aim and objectives. The realization that Lijjat is something more than a place to earn our livelihood; in Lijjat we have to live like a family and we have to treat Lijjat as temple of God can only be fortified with continuous holding of Area Meeting by all the branches and all the divisions. Is there any other potential danger being faced by the Lijjat of which sisters should be aware ? Lijjat has been a successful organization. Success brings with itself a sense of satisfaction which in turn always breeds a feeling of complacency and over confidence. Once the complacency and resultant inactiveness set in, the disaster will not be far away and it can strike at any time. Constant expansion, constant growth and constant pursuit of Lijjats ideological goals are the only possible protection against the inevitable disaster which complacency is sure to bring in. Whether any other institution can get benefit of Lijjats experience ? Can any body borrow the ideas or working system of Lijjat ? Yes, off course. Lijjat do not propose to have any Intellectual Property Rights over its ideology or working system. Any body can make a study of its ideology and working system and adopt the same if they wish. Lijjat products should not be duplicated but Lijjats ideology and philosophy may be freely borrowed or copied. Although, Lijjat may look like a big and complex organization involving thousands of members to any outsider, but in actuality it is a very simple and compact organization, as all its branches and divisions spread all over India are nothing but just a clone of its original Girgaum entity replicated and reinvented at various places. However, one must remember that success can come only through vision, faith, hard work, commitment, dedication and not by just borrowing ideas.

THE FIRST DECADE OF LIJJAT

There are portrait of Acharya Vinoba Bhave and two other gentlemen Shri Chhaganbapa and Shri P.D. Dattani in all the branches/divisions of Lijjat. Why ? What they have done for Lijjat ? Lijjat can never forget Acharya Vinoba Bhave or Shri Chhaganbapa and Shri P.D. Dattani because the institution owes its existence to them. In order to understand their stellar role and contribution, we will have to go back to the year 1952 and have a look at the background behind the establishment of Lijjat.

Acharya Vinoba Bhave came into limelight in 1952 with his novel Bhoodan Movement launched in the Telangana area of Andhra Pradesh. This movement made a deep impact on Indian political and social scene. All the sections of people were highly impressed by this revolutionary idea. These included Shri P.D. Dattani, a resident of south Mumbai who was working as a journalist in a Gujarati newspaper. He got attracted to and later on addicted to the concept of sarvodaya as propounded by Acharya Vinoba Bhave. Later in the same year an all India Conference of Lohana community (of which Shri Dattani was a member) was held in Mumbai. Shri Dattani, who lent his services as a volunteer in the Conference, came into close contact of Shri Chhaganbapa who was the Chief Organizer of the event. Shri Chhaganbapa was a pious and religious person, a selfless social worker, a successful organizer and a person of highest integrity. The acquaintance of Shri Chhaganbapa provided a spark in the inner conscience of Shri Dattani and completely changed his life. From 1953 to 1958, Shri P.D. Dattani made a study of views expressed by Acharya Vinoba Bhave on sarvodaya and views expressed by Shri Chhaganbapa on social work and tried to adopt and emulate some of them by making a few experiments. On 15th March, 1959, Shri P.D. Dattani and some of his colleagues launched yet one more small experiment based on sarvodaya philosophy under the guidance of Shri Chhaganbapa. This experiment was a papad manufacturing unit for women which was to be owned and run by them. Seven women joined the unit as its members on the first day. The work started on a borrowed sum of Rs. 80. It was a totally novel concept and nobody has even the faintest idea at that point of time that it will prove so successful in future. Acharya Vinoba Bhaves thoughts became the beacon light, source of inspiration and indicator of the direction in which to move. Shri Chhaganbapa kindly consented to be the godfather of the project and taught unforgettable lessons of organized social work which helped project not only to overcome all the teething trouble but also to lay a solid foundation for future growth. The project was later named as SHRI MAHILA GRIHA UDYOG LIJJAT PAPAD. Shri P.D. Dattani worked for Lijjat with total dedication till his last breath in September 2002, helping it in each and every way. Lijjat is the result of all these three persons inspiration, guidance and efforts. That is why their portraits have been kept in every branch and division of Lijjat. Did Acharya Vinoba Bhave took any interest in the Lijjat project ? Did he offer any suggestions or guidance ? There is a story of Acharya Drona and Eklavya in Mahabharat. Like Eklavya, Lijjat learned whatever it could learn from a distance, from the thoughts of Acharya Vinoba Bhave as expressed by him from time to time through his talks, lectures and writings but never actually came into direct personal contact with him. What did Shri Chhaganbapa taught ? Shri Chhaganbapa was a member of The Servants of India Society established by Shri Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Honesty, integrity, efficiency, resourcefulness, sincerity and dedication marked his success story when he was a businessman in Kolkata and later when he gave up business to adopt selfless social service as his full time occupation. He was successful both in business as well as in social service with a number of institutions inspired and nurtured by him are still running well from Assam to Kutchh. He taught Lijjat how to do business with ethics, efficiency and social responsibility. It is doubtful whether Lijjat would have been able to firmly establish its roots, had it not received the benefit of practical wisdom of Shri Chhaganbapa, who departed for his heavenly abode in December 1968. What was the first vow taken by the sisters of Lijjat when institution started ? The first firm resolve made by the sisters when the work started in 1959 was neither to seek nor to accept any grant, charity, donation or financial help to run the institution from anybody which was otherwise a normal tendency in all such activity at that point of time. Sisters had no money and yet they wanted to start and run the activity on their own strength only.

Why such a resolve was made ? Did it helped or did it make life difficult for Lijjat ? If Lijjat was to be engaged in the field of running a school, college, hospital or such other noble cause which usually require high level of funding as well as need for subsidized pricing of product/services in the larger interest of the society, sisters probably would not have taken such a decision. For preparing and selling a small and non essential consumer item like papad it was not that much unavoidable. Also sisters of Lijjat were quite keen to chart their independent course of action free from any unnecessary interference from anybody which was inevitable had they accepted financial help from any source. The decision was difficult one but it helped the institution tremendously. As sisters were not dependent on any financial help from anybody they acquired the necessary skill and self confidence to run their own business sooner than expected. They immediately realized that if they have to run the institution they have to sell the papad in the open and competitive market and papad can be sold only if they are of consistently high quality with reasonable prices. It was imperative for them to establish their name in the market and to earn the trust of market intermediaries as well as consumers. These and many such other lessons were learned by the sisters from experience, taken positively, well absorbed and put into practices. The ever growing sales chart from the day one is the proof of the correct approach of the sisters. Whether Lijjat had all its the rules and regulations well in place before the activity started ? Except the desire to come together and to do something novel and worthwhile, there was nothing. No capital, no money, no design or outline of the proposed work to be undertaken, no paper work and certainly no rules and regulations. It was just an experiment without any expectation. There were only a few vague ideas and determination to implement those ideas. Lijjat started on 15th March, 1959 without any written constitution or articles of association and functioned as such for seven years till 1966. Every thing gradually fell in place over a period of time. Every thing was experimented first and then adopted by trial and error method. Even the initial name selected was SHRI MAHILA GRIHA UDYOG only with the words LIJJAT PAPAD later on added to it. What happened during the first month of existence of institution i.e. in March 1959 ? On the very first day 7 sisters living in Lohana Niwas where the work started joined the organization as the pioneer members, assembled together and rolled out 4 packets of the papad. The experiment went ahead and by the end of March 1959, there were 28 member sisters while total production was 720 packets during the first month i.e. March 1959. As advised by Shri Chhaganbapa each and every income and expenditure detail was noted down on daily basis and on 31st March, 1959, the monthly balance sheet for March 1959 was prepared and its copies were distributed next day not only among the sisters but to all the well wishers and friends of Lijjat. On the sales front, the experience was not rosy as there were a variety of papad readily available in the market at cheaper rate and consumers had a wide choice before them. It was not easy to get a foothold in the market. No retailer was ready to pay cash upfront. All were asking for credit for long term which Lijjat was not in position to offer because activity had started on borrowed money which was to be repaid as soon as possible. Thanks to good quality of institutions papad, hard marketing efforts put in by Shri P.D. Dattani and sheer good luck of sisters that papad could be sold on cash basis and work went on. Thus during the first month itself three rules got established. To prepare papad of really good quality, to write accounts on day to day basis with preparation of balance sheet on monthly basis and to sell product on cash basis only.

How the Lijjat name was selected ? There were several type of papad in the market, branded and non branded. It was essential to give some identity to the papad of institution so that customers can identify them and repeatedly ask for the same. In order to select an appropriate name for papad, a contest was organized and entries were invited. Around 50 different names were suggested by contestants. Shri Harilal Rugnath Rachh, a well wisher of the institution and a prominent leader of Lohana community acted as the sole judge. He selected the name LIJJAT which was suggested by Smt. Dhirajben Ruparel as the most appropriate name and she was awarded a prize of Rs. 5. That is how papad made by the institution became Lijjat papad. Later on it was found that there was also one more social institution having the same name SHRI MAHILA GRIHA UDYOG. In order to avoid confusion, it was decided to add words LIJJAT PAPAD in the name of the institution. That is how the name of the institution became SHRI MAHILA GRIHA UDYOG LIJJAT PAPAD. Sisters so much liked the name Lijjat that they started to call their institution as Lijjat. How sales progressed during the initial seven years of Lijjat ? the informal existence of

Hard work and right policy mix helped Lijjat to make steady progress even when it was in experimental stage. The system of additional rolling charges, besides normal rolling charges was introduced. The norms for weight, size, shape, color, appearance and taste of Lijjat papad were gradually evolved over a period of time by various experiments and standardized one by one. The pledge form was prepared and adopted. The all religion prayer, a favorite of Acharya Vinoba Bhave, was made a part of daily activity of Lijjat. It was decided that Lijjat can not keep its activities confined to Lohana community and it should keep its door open for everybody. The membership started to increase as a result of this open door policy, production started to increase steadily and sales started to jump from year to year. As per tradition of that time the accounting year was samvat year starting from 1st day of Kartik Shukla Paksha and ending on Diwali. During the first year of samvat year of 2015 (i.e. from 15-03-1959 to 15-11-1959) sales amounted to Rs. 6,196 and sisters earning by way of rolling charges amounted to Rs. 2,309. In the next year of samvat 2016 (1959-60) sales amounted to Rs. 21,273 while sisters earnings in form of rolling charges and additional rolling charges were Rs. 8,746. The third year of samvat 2017 (1960-61) witnessed the sales of Rs. 59,767 and sisters earnings went up to Rs. 20,434. In the fourth year of samvat 2018 (196162), sales spurted to Rs. 1,15,720 and sisters earnings amounted to Rs. 30,669. The fifth year of samvat 2019 (1962-63) sales went up to Rs. 1,81,594 while sisters earnings were Rs. 54,995. In the sixth year of samvat 2020 (1963-64), the sales jumped to the level of Rs. 3,36,172 and for the first time sisters earnings entered into 5 figure zone and amounted to Rs. 1,17,746. In the seventh and last year of Lijjats informal existence, i.e. in samvat 2021 (1964-65), the sales amounted to Rs. 4,66,041, while sisters earnings were Rs. 1,69,856, which was a remarkable progress for a self propelled institution starting from a scratch. It must be remembered that during this seven year initial period, work used to be conducted just with mutual cooperation and unlimited trust in each other as there was no written constitution, there were no Sanchalikas, no President, no Managing Committee or any other formal decision making body and yet accounts were written on the same day, balance sheet was always inevitably ready on the last day of the every month and all the sisters and well wishers used to receive a copy of the monthly progress report regularly on the 5th day of every month. Entire working system including manufacturing process and account books were open for inspection from any body. Suggestions for further improvements in working were most welcome.

Why Lijjat decided to formalize its activities in 1966 ? How it was done ? Shri Chhaganbapa came to a conclusion in 1966 that the activities of the institution has now been reasonably stabilized and it has a bright future in store. He advised sisters to formalize their activity so that progress can be accelerated. Sisters decided to accept his advise. Shri Chhaganbapa wrote a recommendation letter to Shri U.N. Dhebar, the then Chairman of Khadi and Village Industries Commission, to visit Lijjat and help it in formalizing its activities. Accordingly Shri U.N. Dhebar paid a visit to Lijjat on the 10th July, 1966. After having a close look at the activities of the institution Shri U.N. Dhebar concurred with the opinion of Shri Chhaganbapa. He deputed one of his officer to help Lijjat to prepare the constitution. A simple, compact and concise draft was immediately prepared by Shri Suresh A. Vyas, a part time employee of Lijjat. The first General Body Meeting of the member sisters was held on the 25th July, 1966 and sisters adopted the articles of association, signifying formalization of their seven year old activity. When the activities were formalized, Lijjat was functioning from a single place called Lohana Niwas located at Girgaum in Mumbai and there were around 250 sisters working in Lijjat, with a majority of them being resident of the same building i.e. Lohana Niwas. Lijjat became a society. It was registered as a society under the provisions of The Societies Registration Act, 1860 on the 12th August, 1966. Khadi and Village Industries Commission gave it recognition on the 17th September, 1966. Lijjat also got registered as a public trust under the provisions of The Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 on the 9th December, 1966. A 15member Managing Committee was constituted and Smt. Premkuvarben Jamnadas Davda became the first President of the institution. During the first year of formal activity i.e. in samvat year 2022 (1965-66), the sales further increased to the level of Rs. 7,44,738 while sisters earnings amounted to RS. 2,55,582. During 1966, for the first time Lijjat tried to explore possibility of spreading its activity to Sangli in Maharashtra but as there was not encouraging response from sisters there the idea was dropped. Who were the other prominent persons besides Shri Chhaganbapa who visited Lijjat and blessed its activity at the initial stage ? Sisters of Lijjat were fortunate to receive blessing from a number of respectable persons who not only paid a personal visit to Lijjat and had a close look at its activities but also encouraged it with their observations, comments and suggestions during the first decade of its existence. These included Rev. Shri Pandurang Vaijnath Athawle of Geeta Pathshala (November 1959), Rev. Shri Girdharrambapa of Virpur (September 1963), Shri S.V. Page (April 1965) Smt. Lalitadevi Shashtri, wife of late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shashtri (August 1966), Rev. Shri Dongre Maharaj (December 1967), Shri Ravishankar Maharaj, at whose hands the State of Gujarat was inaugurated (May 1968) and Smt. Yamunatai Kirloskar, wife of Shri Shantanurao Kirloskar (December 1968). Which were the other important events which took place in the year 1967 and 1968, the remaining years of the first decade of Lijjat ? In the samvat year 2023 i.e. 1966-67, the annual sales for the first time crossed the level of Rupees One Million, a significant landmark at that point of time and amounted to 10,08,443 and sisters earnings amounted to Rs. 3,28,603. There was only one unit at Girgaum and no branches were there. By the end of 1967, the membership went up to 375 sisters which was nearly a saturation point making the Lohana Niwas a very crowded place. Lijjat received its first loan of Rs. 17,400 from Khadi and Village Industries Commission in 1967 to purchase flour making equipments and to install electric meters of higher voltage. The Government of Maharashtra decided to exempt the Lijjat from paying any sales tax with retrospective effect from 01-01-1960 wide its notification dated the 8th December, 1967.

The year 1968 was the year of epoch making changes for Lijjat. As Girgaum has reached the saturation level, a decision to expand activity to other places was taken. As a first step towards the proposed expansion, a small booklet Sanstha Parichay i.e. An Introduction to Lijjat was prepared and published for the first time in January 1968 so that it can become easier for others to understand the concept of Lijjat and its day to day working system. Later three branches in quick succession were opened in a single year. The first branch to be opened was at Valod in Gujarat which started on the 11th May, 1968, The second branch to be opened was a local one located at Wadala in Mumbai which started on the 10th June, 1968 and the third branch to be launched was at Pune in Maharashtra which became functional on the 9th December, 1968. There were a total of 4 branches including Girgaum by the end of the year 1968. The decision to open branches was a conscious one taken after due consideration of the implications and possible consequences of such expansion. All the three branches were to be exact replica of Girgaum with same style of working system from start to end. It was decided that the President should continue to discharge her normal duties at Girgaum and in addition she should also assume overall responsibility for work of all the branches. At the branch level, there must be a local branch committee and local office bearers consisting of local sisters to look after day to day work of the branch. Accordingly, the original articles of association were amended on the 11th August, 1968 by convening an extra ordinary General Body Meeting of the member sisters to make provisions for the same. As a result, both Valod and Pune formed their own local branch committee to manage their day to day affairs. As far as Wadala branch was concerned, it was felt that it can not function independently because it was a branch located in the same city and there was likelihood of conflict of interest between the Wadala and the original Girgaum unit. To prove the worst fears true, a war of words erupted soon between salesmen of Wadala and Girgaum about who should cover the lucrative Masjid Bunder area. In order to solve the problem and to avoid such possibility in future, it was decided that not only Wadala and Girgaum but all the future branches which may open in Mumbai will form a part of a single Mumbai entity with their income, expenditure, administration, resources, staff etc. to be consolidated and treated as one. Later on, the same principle was extended to other cities like Kolkata, Ludhiana etc. and other compact area where more than one branch were opened making them a single financial and administrative entity each. Was the decision to expand activity in 1968 was an easy decision taken without any hitch ? It was not an easy decision. There was a strong reservation in the minds of a section of Girgaum sisters as well as salesmen in 1968. Their question was a very simple one, what is the need, why should we do it ? With fear lurking in their mind, whether would it not adversely effect their own income ? The decision to open branches was taken only after due consideration of all its aspects. Had the wishes of a few sisters and salesmen prevailed at that time, Lijjat would have remained confined to Lohana Niwas only even today ! Often similar feelings have been expressed by a section of sisters and salesmen in Lijjat almost every time whenever any new branch or new sales depot is opened any where in India over a period of last four decades. New sisters and salesmen enter in Lijjat, get adjusted over a period of time in the institution, feel happy, but the same set of sisters/salesmen would not like the idea of newer sisters/salesmen entering the institution. This is a natural phenomenon. If you travel in a crowded public transport like train or bus you will also feel the same. If you are not already in the coach you will try your best to get in. Once you are in, you will resent any other passenger entering the same coach. Such sentiments do not help any body and have to be ignored only.

How many time the original articles of association were amended during the first decade ? Two time. The articles of Association were amended for the first time on the 12th February, 1967 when a provision was added for the appointment of trustees as required by provisions of the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950. The second time they were amended on the 11th August, 1968 when a provision was made for the formation of branch committee in every branch to manage the activity of the concerned branch and to take day to day decisions. Why the first decade of Lijjat (1959-1968) is often referred as the Golden Period of Lijjat ? During the first decade, the institution was a small and compact entity. Sisters used to personally know each other, care utmost for welfare of each other and fully trust each other. The environment was transparent. There was nothing confidential in Lijjat, not even formula for making Lijjat papad. Account books were always kept open for inspection and scrutiny from any body. There was total freedom and no fear. The spirit was at its highest. The faces of sisters used to be brighten up with inner happiness while doing any work of Lijjat. The institution was full of energy and bubbling with enthusiasm. There was earnestness to acquire knowledge, to gain new skill, to achieve higher level of competence and to venture into unchartered waters. Sisters used to compose and sing songs to praise Lijjats ideology. The first decade was a unforgettable golden period for Lijjat in every respect. However at the end of this golden decade Lijjat lost its godfather as Shri Chhaganbapa left for his heavenly abode at Kolkata on the 14th December, 1968. Sisters of Lijjat paid their tearful respect to the departed soul and decided that a photograph of Shri Chhaganbapa should be printed in the every annual report of the institution. That is how all the annual reports of Lijjat from samvat year 2024 onward have always carried a photograph of Shri Chhaganbapa.

THE SECOND DECADE OF LIJJAT

How the second decade of Lijjat (1969-1978) can be described ? The second decade of Lijjat (1969 to 1978) can be described as a period of qualitative expansion. During this second decade the institution was able to make a rapid progress, expand its activity, open new branches in quick succession, venture into production of items other than Lijjat papad and increase the membership of sisters substantially and all these was done without diluting the original fervor of the institution. The zeal to keep intact the basic values of Lijjat was as evident as it was in the first decade. What were the level of sales and membership at the commencement of the second decade ? In the samvat year 2024 which was last year of the first decade (i.e. in 1967-68) the total sales were Rs. 13,95,586. They increased by almost 100 % in the first year of the second decade to Rs. 24,28,277 in 1968-69 (samvat year 2025). Sisters earnings also similarly jumped in one year from the level of Rs. 4,97,194 to Rs. 8,08,959 in 1968-69. As a number of sisters who were working at Girgaum and living around Wadala opted to shift their enrollment from Girgaum to Wadala, the membership at Girgaum went down to 268 while the membership at Wadala reached the level of 311. Around 150 new sisters joined each of newly opened Valod and Pune branches. By the end of 1967-68, the total membership of the institution was around 900 which went up to 1109 by the end of 1968-69. There were a total of 5 branches at the end of 1969 including Mulund Panch Rasta branch. How the completion of the one decade of existence of Lijjat was celebrated ? As a first step towards the celebration, an illustrated 30-page booklet on Lijjat written by Shri Motilal Kanojia was brought out on the 15th March, 1969.

For the first time a press conference was called by the institution at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai on the 23rd April, 1969 to brief journalists about the progress made by Lijjat in one decade of its existence. Lijjat sisters remained present in large number in the conference which was handled by Dr. Mohanlal B. Popat and Shri Kalyanji Mulji Ghelani, who were well wishers of the institution. On the 26th April, 1969, a celebration function was arranged at Birla Matushri Sabhagar, Mumbai which was attended not only by sisters but also by a large number of distinguished guests, social leaders and numerous well wishers of the institution. Till the samvat year 2023 (1966-67), all the annual accounts were published in Gujarati language. For the first time a change was made, and the practice of publishing the annual accounts in English, Marathi as well as Gujarati language was started from the annual accounts of samvat year 2024 (1967-68) which were adopted in the 4th annual general meeting held on the same day i.e. 26th April, 1969. Which was the most remarkable event of the year 1969 ? The opening of the Mulund Panch Rasta branch was one such remarkable event which is still being remembered fondly by every one in Lijjat. The branch, the 5th one to be opened by the institution, started functioning at 5.00 am one fine morning as a result of a decision which was taken in a meeting which was held only on previous evening with premises being acquired instantly and all the preparation done overnight i.e. in less than 12 hour time ! Later, the branch was formally inaugurated by a well known film personality and social activist Smt. Leela Chitnis on the 14th September, 1969. The mantra at that time in Lijjat was that if you want to do something, do it today only and never postpone it on next day. Which were the notable events of the year 1970 ? In the samvat year 2026 i.e. 1969-70, the total sales were Rs. 32,90,316 showing a growth of more than 33 % over previous year and sisters earnings were Rs. 9,93,378 also showing a similar uptrend. Shri U.N. Dhebar, Chairman, KVIC, inaugurated the Kandivali (West) branch of Lijjat on the 4th January, 1970 which was 6th branch on all India basis and the 4th branch in Mumbai. KVIC provided its second loan of Rs. 2,00,000 to Lijjat in January 1970. In the 5th annual general meeting held on 26th April, 1970, the articles of association were amended for the third time and the membership strength of the Managing Committee was increased from 15 to 21. It was also resolved in the meeting to extend Pujya Chhaganbapa Scholarship to the daughters of the members for higher education. On the 15th April, 1970, the 7th branch of Lijjat was opened at Bhadai in Kutchh, Gujarat. However, the branch was not able survive for long and it was closed down next year. At the end of samvat year 2026, i.e. in October 1970 the total membership spurted to 1838 in a total of 7 branches. How the year 1971 was for the institution ? In samvat year 2027 i.e. 1970-71 the total sales were Rs. 43,82,215 and sisters earnings amounted to Rs. 12,87,456 crossing Rs. one million mark for the first time. At the end of year i.e. in October 1971, the membership for the first time registered a decline and went down to 1562. The Bhadai branch was closed down and there were only 6 branches by the end of year. The year also witnessed a war between India and Pakistan and proclamation of independence by Bangladesh. A second revised edition of the booklet on Lijjat written by Shri Motilal Kanojia was brought out in April 1971. A second press conference at the Taj Mahal Hotel was held by the

institution where achievement of Lijjat papad on the export front were highlighted by Shri K.N. Dalal, a leading exporter of food products from India. On the 8th October, 1971, The Government of Maharashtra issued a circular asking all the municipal authorities in the state to grant the exemption from the levy of octroy duty to the Lijjat papad. Which were the important events of the year 1972? In the samvat year 2028 i.e. 1971-72, the total sales amounted to Rs. 58,95,978 and sisters earnings amounted to Rs. 13,62,137. The membership moderately increased to 1618 at the end of the year in November 1972 in a total of 7 branches. On the 27th January, 1972, the Ramania branch of the institution was inaugurated by Shri Tulsidas Sheth. The Ramania branch was the 7th branch on all India basis and the 3rd branch out of Mumbai after Valod and Pune. In the May 1972, the 3rd revised edition of the booklet on Lijjat written by Shri Motilal Kanojia was brought out in Gujarati as well as Hindi language. As a matter of social service, Lijjat decided to encourage cooperative house building activity in Mumbai and promoted Lijjat Ganga Cooperative Housing Society Ltd. and Lijjat Jamuna Cooperative Housing Society Ltd. in Mulund (East) as well as Lijjat Godavari Cooperative Housing Society Ltd. in Kandivali. However, Lijjat was not able to make any headway beyond the proposal stage and later, the members of these proposed housing societies had to do all the work themselves and had to build the buildings at their own initiative. The most important event in the year was launching the publication of LIJJAT PATRIKA, a monthly magazine of the institution on the 7th December, 1972 in Marathi and Gujarati language. The aim of the magazine was to provide news about activities of the institution, to become a medium of education and information for all the sisters and especially those who may be newly joining the institution from time to time by making them aware of the basic philosophy, ideology, traditions and practices which were followed by the institution and to become a link of communication among the large number of sisters, staff, stake holders and well wishers of the institution. The magazine played very important role in creating awareness about the basic ideology of the institution. How the year 1973 went on ? The samvat year of 2029 i.e. 1972-73 was a year of hectic activity for Lijjat. The local sales as well as export sales started to jump. The export sales for the first time crossed the Rs. one million mark and amounted to Rs. 13,41,619. The total sales including the export sales amounted to Rs. 74,62,137. The sisters earnings also went up to Rs. 21,54,830. The total membership was 1701 in October 1973 in a total of 9 branches including two recent branches which were opened during 1973. In January 1973, the present property of Pune branch, i.e. Rajlaxmi bungalow was purchased on outright basis from its original owner. On the 14th January, 1973, the 8th branch on all India basis and the 4th branch out of Mumbai was inaugurated at Amaravati in Maharashtra at the hands of Smt. Pratibha Patil, the then Social Welfare Minister of Maharashtra. On 26th January, 1973, Shri U.N. Dhebar, was conferred the title of PADMA VIBHUSHAN by the Government of India and the event was enthusiastically celebrated in Lijjat. On the 15th April, 1973, an extraordinary General Body Meeting of members was held and the articles of association were amended for the fourth time to remove certain legal difficulties. Sisters also resolved in the meeting to start displaying a photograph of Shri

Chhaganbapa in all the establishment of Lijjat where only photograph of Acharya Vinoba Bhave used to be displayed till then. As requested by Shri Madhav Apte of Shri Laxmi Vishnu Mills, a group of Mumbai based sisters went to Solapur in Maharashtra on the 11th June, 1973 to train, guide and help local workers there in their attempt to start their own papad manufacturing unit. On 23rd October, 1973, the 9th branch on all India basis and the 5th branch in Mumbai was inaugurated at Bandra (Sahakar Bazar) at the hands of Shri P.G. Kher. After a few weeks, on the 14th December, 1973, one more branch at Narayanwadi on Khadilkar Road, Girgaum, Mumbai was also launched which was 10th branch on all India basis and 6th branch of Institution in Mumbai. The year also witnessed visits by a number of high profile guests to various branches of Lijjat. These included the KVIC Chairman, Shri G. Ramchandran (24-03-1973), the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Vasantrao Naik (24-04-1973), Shri Vijay Merchant (25-07-1973), well known communist leader Shri Gulabrao Ganacharya (25-09-1973), Mayor of Mumbai, Shri Sudhir Joshi (16-10-1973), Shri S.K. Somani and Shri Rushabhdasji Ranka (14-12-1973). In the year 1973, one anomaly of accounting system was also removed. After institution started to open branches in 1968, the annual accounts used to carry every year individual balance sheet and income and expenditure account of each branch but the consolidated picture of the entire institution was not emerging. Thus annual accounts for the samvat year 2024, 2025,2026, 2027 and 2028 (i.e. accounts from 1967-68 to 1971-72) did not carry consolidated accounts. However, it was decided in 1973 that henceforth consolidated annual accounts covering entire institution should be prepared while each and every up-country branch must retain a copy of their individual audited annual accounts with them for their reference and circulation among the sisters of their branch. From the annual accounts for the samvat year 2029, the system of consolidated accounts was introduced. Which developments took place in the year 1974? The year 1974 can be termed as one of most memorable year for Lijjat. In the samvat year 2030 (1973-74), the total sales crossed important landmark of Rs. ten million and amounted to Rs. 1,12,63,225 and sisters earnings amounted to Rs. 27,14,643. During the year nearly 1000 new sisters joined the organization and membership rose sharply from 1701 to 2773 in a total of 13 branches and one division including 3 new branches and one division which were opened during the year. The KVIC extended, after a gap of 4 years, a substantial loan of Rs. 6,50,000 in 1974 to the institution. Shri P.D. Dattani took voluntary retirement in January 1974 from his job as a journalist in a Gujarati newspaper and dedicated himself fully to the work of Lijjat. Since he was working on 24 hour basis for Lijjat, institution decided to bear all his expenses including all his personal expenses and a public announcement of the same was made in Lijjat Patrika. On 12th January, 1974, the Hyderabad branch was launched with a simple ceremony. It was 11th branch on all India basis and 5th branch out of Mumbai. On 9th February, 1974, the Jabalpur (Wright Town) branch was started which was 12th branch on all India basis and the 6th branch out of Mumbai. In May 1974, a new booklet for the institution In Quest of Sarvodaya was written in English and published. It was a multi-color publication, printed on art paper with offset technology which had recently arrived in India at that time. The booklet carried on its last page a famous poem Where the Mind is Without Fear and the Head is held High written by Shri Rabindranath Tagore and published in his nobel prize winning book GEETANJALI as it was one of the most appropriate poem for Lijjat. The booklet proved so popular with every body that it was made a permanent publication of the institution and later translated in all the Indian languages. When the then Government declared emergency on the 26th June, 1975 and introduced censorship, the printing of Shri Rabindranath Tagores poem was discontinued from subsequent editions of the booklet as the poem had become a sensitive

issue with the then censorship authorities because the same poem was published prominently by a leading English newspaper on its first page as its silent protest against the imposition of censorship. On the 13th June, 1974, a new Khakhra Division was launched at the Narayanwadi branch of the institution. It was for the first time an attempt was made to make any product other than Lijjat papad. On the 14th July, 1974, the 9th annual general meeting was held. The meeting, among other things, resolved to appoint M/s. N.C. Mehta & Co. as the statutory auditors in place of M/s. C.K. Vyas & Co. who were auditors of the institution since the institution became a registered society and audited the accounts for 8 years. On 25th September, 1974, the Warnanagar branch was inaugurated at the hands of Shri S.M. Shah, a close well wisher of the institution. It was 13th branch on all India basis and 7th branch to be opened out of Mumbai. On 14th October, 1974, one more press conference at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai was held to make the official announcement that the sales of institution have surpassed Rs. one crore level. On the 20th October, 1974, The Bombay Municipal Corporation issued order No. 84 granting exemption from the payment of octroi duty on all Lijjat products entering into city limits from outside with effect from the 1st January, 1974. On 22nd December, 1974, the Kolkata Kalighat branch was inaugurated at the hands of Shri Jaharlal Benarajee. It was 14th branch on all India basis, 8th branch out of Mumbai and 1st branch in Kolkata. Acharya Vinoba Bhave started his famous one year Maun Vrat from December 1974 after addressing a convention on Geeta. The distinguished visitors during the year 1974 included the then topmost industrialist of India, Shri G.D. Birla (03-03-1974), The Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Shri B. Shankaranand (30-03-1974), the Divisional Superintendent of Western Railway, Shri T.N. Subramanyam (21-04-1974), KVIC special officer, Shri V. Padmanabhan (16-06-1974), Karnataka KVIB Chairman, Shri S.V. Manjunath (19-06-1974), Andhra Pradesh KVIB Chairman, Shri K.K. Reddy (17-07-1974), W. Bengal KVIB Chairman, Shri Jaharlal Benarajee (04-09-1974) and Shri Tatyasaheb Kore (10-12-1974). What happened during the year 1975 ? During the samvat year 2031 i.e. 1974-75, the total sales were marginally up at Rs. 1,18,86,604 while sisters earnings were Rs. 29,35,860. The total membership was up at 3045 at end of the year i.e. in November 1975 in a total of 14 branches and one division. On the 17th February, 1975, a meeting of representatives of all the outstation branches was called at Bandra Sahakar Bazar branch and for the first time norms about sales of Lijjat papad, purchase of raw materials, limit on outstanding debit balance of outstation branches, working capital needs/ raising of loans etc. by the outstation branches were evolved and adopted after thorough discussions and these norms were later ratified by the Managing Committee in its meeting held on 23rd February, 1975. As difference of opinion arose between salesmen of Pune branch and Warnanagar branch about sales area, a meeting of representatives of both the branches was held on the 22nd April, 1975 at Bandra Sahakar Bazar branch and their sales area were clearly defined. The repair work of the 15F building where the Girgaum branch was located was carried out with the cooperation of the tenants as well as with moral responsibility of Lijjat and a booklet containing accounts of the same and other information was released by Lijjat in April 1975.

For the first time, a conference of wholesale dealers of Lijjat papad was held at Birla Krida Kendra, Mumbai on the 26th April, 1975. Lijjat purchased a few galas on the ground floor of newly constructed Milan Industrial Estate, Cottongreen, Mumbai in April 1975 and started its flour mill there from the 5th October, 1975. The flour mill was inadvertently named as Cottongreen Flour Mill Division although it was only a service unit and not a self supporting different activity like Lijjat Khakhra Division at Narayanwadi. Lijjat was allotted 3 buildings containing 80 flats each on hire purchase basis by the Maharashtra Housing Board at Magthane in Borivali (East) in June 1975. However, the institution accepted allotment of only two buildings. Shri V. Padmanabhan, a close well wisher of the institution was given a warm send off by the sisters of the institution at Dadar station on the 24th June, 1975 as he was leaving Mumbai on his retirement from KVIC. As the per bag production at Girgaum, Wadala and Mulund branches was lower than the norm of 300 packets in the month of June 1975, the sisters of these three branches reduced their rolling charges for 8 days from 1st July to 8th July to adjust the loss. On the 10th July, 1975, a Central Communication Centre, a predecessor of the present Central Office was launched at Kamal Apartments, Bandra, with help of two part-time employees under supervision of Shri S.M. Shah, a close well wisher of the institution. From the July 1975 issue of the LIJJAT PATRIKA, the practice of publishing the names of sisters who had taken the additional rolling charges was introduced. The idea behind starting the new practice was to make it sure that no single sister should be left out even by mistake from such distribution. On 31st July, 1975, three sisters of Mumbai gave a talk on All India Radio, Mumbai on activities of the institution. A similar talk was given by two sisters of Ramania branch over All India Radio, Bhuj station on the 25th August, 1975. On the 10th October, 1975, the two programs, one each in Bengali and English language was telecasted on Kolkata station of Doordarshan. As there was urgent need to have cash money on hand for some work in Mumbai, all the sisters in Mumbai took their rolling charges less by 30 paise per kg for one day in the month of August 1975. Lijjat participated in International Food Fair held from 22nd to 24th August, 1975 in Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai. The 10th annual general meeting of the institution held on 23rd August, 1975 was attended as its Chief Guest by Shri Ghanshyam Oza, the then Chairman of KVIC. The demand for Lijjat papad went up so much that sisters were not able to cope up with the flood of orders and institution started to face difficulty ! To find a way out, an announcement was made by the institution in September 1975, that whoever, whether a sister member or an employee, comes out with useful suggestion or practical way-out to increase the production substantially will be given a cash reward of Rs. 1001. On the 5th November, 1975, a sister at Wadala branch lost her purse containing cash amount of Rs. 12,600 in the branch. The next day all the sisters at all Mumbai branches took their rolling charges less by 5 paise per kg and the concerned sister got back her lost money within a day. On the 1st December, 1975, the Rajkot branch, which was the 15th branch on all India basis and 9th branch out of Mumbai, was inaugurated at the hands of Smt. Jayaben Shah. The distinguished visitors during the year included Dr. Nazma Heptulla, Smt. Patibha Patil and Post Master General of Mumbai, Shri Arunachalam (13-02-1975), Shri B.K. Boman

Behram, Mayor of Mumbai (16-03-1975), Smt. Yashodharamma Dasappa (20-03-1975), Dr. Vimala Siddharth, daughter-in-law of Shri Kasturbhai Lalbhai (08-04-1975), Shri Govindjibhai Shroff of Excel Industries and Shri Liladhar Pasu Shah (21-04-1975), Shri S.M. Joshi, a veteran socialist leader (11-05-1975), Shri P. Narsa Reddy, the Revenue Minister of Karnataka (20-05-1975) and Shri Nanalal Mehta, Mayor of Mumbai (17-08-1975). Which were the remarkable developments during the year 1976 in Lijjat ? The total sales in samvat year 2032 i.e. 1975-76 again jumped by nearly 100% to Rs. 2,06,77,579 and sisters income also went up to Rs. 46,85,677. One branch was closed down and no new branches were opened during the year. At the end of the year, i.e. in November 1976, there were a total of 15 branches and one division. On the 12th February, 1976, there was a tragic accident when a coach of a local Central Suburban Railway train caught fire near Matunga station in which several passengers lost heir lives. Among them was Shri Shantilal V. Savla, a lawyer and selfless sarvodaya worker, who had helped the institution a lot in respect of Lijjat Ganga, Jamuna & Godavari Cooperative Housing Societys legal matters. On the 8th August, 1976, the 11th annual general meeting of the institution was held at Valod. It was first such meeting to be held out of Mumbai. After detailed discussions, the articles of association were amended. It was the 5th amendment since inception and first major and comprehensive amendment. With this amendment in place, a branch coordination committee, in which representatives of all the branches were inducted as its members, was constituted which played a very important role in improving internal working systems of all the branches for nearly next two decades. The meetings of the branch coordination committee became a standard feature of all the subsequent annual general meetings. On the 18th November, 1976, the Rajkot branch remained closed for a day due to serious difference of opinion among the sisters of the branch. From the December 1976 issue of LIJJAT PATRIKA, a Hindi section was added in it besides its regular Marathi and Gujarati sections and it became a three language publication. On the 26th December, 1976, the Cottongreen Masala Division was inaugurated at the hands of Shri P.K. Sawant, President, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. Lijjat Masala was 2nd product, other than Lijjat papad, to be introduced after Lijjat Khakhra were introduced in 1974. The distinguished visitors during the year included Shri B.G. Vergese, a top journalist and former Information Advisor to the Prime Minister (27-01-1976), Shri Kul Bhushan Baxi, Director, KVIC, Lucknow (27-03-1976), Shri A.M. Thomas, Chairman, KVIC (07-07-1976), Shri M.N. Govindan Nair, the Minister for Housing, Kerala (19-09-1976), Shri Ramnarayan Nagardas Pathak and Smt. Hiraben Betai (19-11-1976), and Shri Kantisen C. Shroff of Excel Industries Ltd. (22-11-1976). Which were the notable events of the year 1977 ? The total sales amounted to Rs. 2,46,99,991 and sisters income amounted to Rs. 55,77,602 during the samvat year 2033 i.e. 1976-77. There were a total of 17 branches and 2 divisions at the end of the year. One of the most notable event of the year was the publication of the booklet The Basic Thoughts and Traditions of Institution containing a gist of the seven fundamental principles on which the institution was based and a brief explanation of the various customs and traditions evolved over the years and followed meticulously in Lijjat. The booklet was originally written in Gujarati language and it was immediately translated in Marathi language. Both Gujarati and Marathi editions of the booklet were published simultaneously in January 1977. The booklet proved very popular and it was made a permanent publication of the institution. Its Hindi edition was brought out in March 1977 and English edition was published by the end

of the year. Later it was translated in all the Indian languages and subsequently renamed as Basic Philosophy and Practices of our Organization. On the 16th January, 1977, a public blood donation camp was organized in Bandra Sahakar Bazar branch and 13 sisters of Lijjat served in the camp as a volunteer. In March 1977, suddenly a slight difference in the taste of Lijjat papad started to appear without any apparent reason. The institution declared a reward of Rs. 1501 to find out the real reason behind the deviation in the taste. There were many theories put forward but none gave 100% satisfactory answer. Luckily, within a few days the taste again became normal without any efforts. On the 11th March, 1977, Shri U.N. Dhebar, a close well wisher and supporter of the institution passed away. The sisters paid their tearful tributes to the departed leader by arranging prayer meetings at all the branches. From the 17th March, 1977, a program of medical check up of all the sisters in Mumbai branches was launched. From April 1977, the institution took on short term lease, a small printing press in Borivali (East) and asked its workers to run the press on their ownership basis. However, the experiment proved a failure despite the best efforts of the institution. The KVIC extended another loan of Rs. 10 lakh to the institution. Together with past outstanding amount of Rs. 6,40,000, the total loans from KVIC reached the level of Rs. 16.40 lakh. The Valod branch sisters launched the construction of their own new building with their own money from the 5th May, 1977. On the 28th May, 1977, the Central Communication Centre at the Kamal Apartments was renamed and officially inaugurated as the Central Office of the organization. Shri Madhukarbhai R. Parekh, grandson of Shri Chhaganbapa, joined the Central Office and served there for about 6 months to organize the working system of the Central Office. On the 25th July, 1977, the Delhi branch of the institution was inaugurated at the hands of Begum Khurshida Kidwai. It was the 16th branch on all India basis and 10th branch out of Mumbai and 1st branch in Delhi. In August 1977, Smt. Ilaben Bhatt, the founder of world famous SEWA institution of Ahmedabad was awarded the prestigious Magsese prize of 10,000 US dollars. The news delighted hearts of all the Lijjat sisters. The Agmark Laboratory at the Cottongreen Masala Division was inaugurated on the 4th September, 1977. On the 16th October, 1977, Smt. Premkuvarben J. Davda, the first President, relinquished her post and Smt. Shashikala More was elected in her place. On the 21st October, 1977, the M.H.B. Borivali (East) branch of the institution was inaugurated by Dr. Nazma Heptulla. It was 17th branch on all India basis and 7th branch in Mumbai. The Rajkot branch sisters acquired a new premises near the Swaminarayan Gurukul and shifted the branch there from the 26th October, 1977. The new, attractive and more hygienic polypropylene bag for packing of Lijjat papad was launched from November 1977. The institution participated in a food exhibition arranged from 9th to 11th December, 1977 by the Institute of Catering Technology, Dadar, which helped Lijjat to promote its products in high profile hotels and restaurants.

The distinguished visitors during the year included Shri Shivaji Narhari Bhave and Shri Prabhudas Gandhi (14-02-1977), Shri Somdatt Vedalankar and Shri Ratibhai Gondhia (2805-1977), Dr. Chandrashekhar Gopalji Thakkur (19-09-1977), Smt. Jayawantiben Mehta (3009-1977) and a high level delegation from the Government of Ghana, Africa (16-12-1977). How events unfolded during the year 1978 ? The total sales during the samvat year 2034 i.e. 1977-78 amounted to Rs. 3,20,47,155 and sisters earnings arose to Rs. 80,54,711. With addition of one branch in December 1977, closing of one branch and opening of 3 new branches during the year, the total number of branches went up to 18 plus two divisions by the end of year. In order to bring transparency in the working of the institution, names of all the persons receiving a monthly remuneration of Rs. 1000 or more were published in January 1978 issue of LIJJAT PATRIKA. From January 1978, the activity of holding Area Meeting was relaunched in Mumbai branches with new vigor with two sisters each from all the Mumbai branches coming forward to assume the responsibility for the same. In the Managing Committee meeting held on the 9th January, 1978, it was resolved to constitute a 13 member Advisory Board headed by Shri P.G. Kher for the first time. The first meeting of the Advisory Board was held on the 5th February, 1978. The Jabalpur Wright Town branch of the institution was closed down by the Managing Committee with effect from the 24th February, 1978. This brought down total number of branches to 16. Shri P.D. Dattani paid a visit to the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in March 1978. Two post graduate students Mr. S. Mallick and Mr. G.R. Manjunath were deputed by Prof. K.R.S. Murthy to make a study of Lijjat. The Chennai branch of the institution was inaugurated by Miss P.T. Saraswathi, the then Social Welfare Minister of Tamilnadu on the 12th May, 1978. Chennai became the 17th branch on All India basis and its 10th branch out of Mumbai. On the 5th June, 1978, the Narayanwadi branch was closed down because of insufficient membership and the Khakhra division which was functioning there was shifted to Bandra with effect from the 6th June, 1978. The Khakhra division functioned at Bandra for nearly four years till it was again relocated to Borivali in 1982. The closure of Narayanwadi branch again brought down total number of branches to 16. From June 1978, Shri P.D. Dattani took retirement from the activities of Lijjat but continued to act as honorary adviser of the institution. On the 15th August, 1978, the Salaya branch which was again 17th on all India basis and 11th branch out of Mumbai, was launched with a simple ceremony. On the 14th September, 1978, Marathi, Gujarati and Hindi editions of biography of Shri Chhaganbapa titled as PUNYASHLOK CHHAGANBAPA were released in a well attended public function held at Sanmukhanand Hall, Mumbai. On the 15th September, 1978, the first meeting of the branch coordination committee was held at Hotel Oriental Palace, Mumbai in which several important decisions were taken. In the 13th annual general meeting held on the 2nd October, 1978, it was resolved to appoint M/s. Nanubhai Desai & Co. as the statutory auditor in place of M/s. N.C. Mehta & Co. In its meeting held on the 26th October, 1978, the Managing Committee resolved to prepare henceforth the minutes of the Managing Committee meeting as well as minutes of the annual

general meeting in Marathi language in place of Gujarati language which was the practice till then. Governor of Gujarat, Smt. Sharda Mukherajee, inaugurated on the 22nd November, 1978, the new building of Valod branch which was constructed at the cost of Rs. 2.35 lakh by the Valod sisters out of their own resources. On the same day the 22nd November, 1978, the Muzaffarpur branch of the institution was inaugurated at the hands of a girl child, Sanjida Abdul Sattar as the then Union Industry Minister, Shri George Fernandes, who was to perform the inauguration ceremony could not attend the function due to unavoidable circumstances. It was the 18th branch of the institution and 12th branch located out of Mumbai. The 2nd meeting of the branch coordination meeting was held at Nehru Stadium, Pune on the 23rd December, 1978. In the meeting a number of important decisions such as all the advertisements in future will be released by the Central Office only were taken. Union Industry Minister, Shri George Fernandes inaugurated the Match Box Division of the institution at Dahanu in Maharashtra on the 30th December, 1978. The match box was the first nonfood product to be introduced by the institution. The distinguished guests during the year included Prof. K.G. Desai of Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai and Prof. K.R.S. Murthy of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (February 1978), Principal Shri R.D. Desai and Prof. Dr. N.V. Gaitonde of the Labor Training Institute, Mumbai (05-03-1978), Shri Vamanrao Mahadik, Mayor of Mumbai (18-10-1978), Shri Yadunath Thatte, a prominent journalist (09-12-1978).

PLEDGE FORM
To be filled up by sisters joining the institution

SHRI MAHILA GRIHA UDYOG LIJJAT PAPAD

(Recognized by Khadi and Village Industries Commission) I,..................................................................................................., solemnly pledge that I shall voluntarily observe the following Rules of our Sarvodaya based institution, Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad. 1. I shall undertake every job of the Udyog as divine task and gladly accept whatever reward received by me as consecrated Prasadam. I shall never show any mentality of poverty. I know that members of our Udyog do not accept any donation or gift. On the contrary, they can donate collectively on behalf of the Udyog. I myself or any member of my family shall not make papad other than those of Udyog. I shall treat the Udyog as temple of God and I shall act accordingly. I shall take care that this temple of God is neither harmed by me nor by anyone else. I shall be able to terminate the services of any salaried or honorary worker. Once a decision is taken regarding the distribution of rolling charges or additional rolling charges, I shall abide by it, until the entire distribution is over. I shall adopt the broader meaning of collective ownership. No one in a family counts the number of pancake one eats when they sit together for dinner. Similarly, I shall not put that type of calculation while sharing the rolling charges or additional rolling charges, viz. instead of thinking in terms of let me get more than others, I shall aspire that no one should get less than me. I shall roll out at least 3 kg papad every day. If, for any reason, I have to leave the Udyog, I shall have no rights or claims against the Udyog as the temple of God or the idol therein can never be broken and apportioned. I shall follow all the rules, whether temporary or permanent, which may be laid down from time to time in the interest of the Udyog.

2.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

8.

9. 10.

11.

Name Address Date Your Sister

W HERE T HE M IND

IS

W ITHOUT F EAR

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into everwidening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Rabindranath Tagore