NISHANT Singh, a software engineer working with Wipro in Hyderabad, nursed a quiet ambition — he wanted to set up his own social enterprise. He had read biographies of Muhammad Yunus, the father of microfinance, and Leila Janah, the young founder of Samasource, who believed it was well-paid work and not aid that eradicated poverty.
It was the SBI Youth for India (YFI) Fellowship that caught his attention. Nishant applied, was accepted, and then placed in Jawhar, a tribal hill station in the Western Ghats in Maharashtra. He worked there in partnership with BAIF Development Research Foundation, formerly called the Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation.