Aajeevika Bureau

Aajeevika Bureau's vision is to become a leading agency working to ensure secure and dignified lives of communities dependent on migration and labour. The Bureau's mission is to provide lasting solutions to economic and socio-legal problems of migrant workers - directly as well as through partners - by creating replicable models offering services and security at both source and destination.

financial services and inclusion

The financial services initiative of the Aajeevika Bureau arises from the fact that rural migrants remain outside the reach of institutional financial services. They are unable to source cheap and timely credit, do not have options to save, have almost no coverage by formal insurance and are largely unable to remit money home safely. Because of their high mobility combined with poor and unstable returns, they are not considered credit worthy or bankable. A large number of migrant workers remain caught in a cycle of work advances sought from their contractors, agents or middlemen.

Keeping in mind the unique difficulties faced by migrant workers in accessing credit, savings and remittances, Aajeevika Bureau has promoted a new entity (a Section 25 Company) with the mandate of providing comprehensive financial solutions. The company is known as the Rajasthan Shram Sarathi Association (RSSA) and it has launched a micro-lending programme for migrant workers registered by the Bureau’s field centres. The programme is presently in an action-research phase in which a set of loan products are being tested before being launched on more commercial lines. The financial services are being tested in the following 3 field locations of the Bureau:

Gogunda

Kelwara

Railmagra

Aajeevika Bureau has been pushingcommercial banks to open their doors to migrant workers. Migrants are not able to produce adequate identity documents to meet the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms of banks hence remain excluded from banking services. The Bureau is assisting large scale opening of bank accounts among migrant workers by helping them access the no-frill account provision in banks. A few banks have started to accept the Photo ID card as a valid introduction document, hence easing the process of account opening.

The Aajeevika Bureau is a Service Delivery Partner in an innovative Contributory Pension Scheme launched by the Government of Rajasthan. The scheme is aimed to provide pension coverage to the large number of unorganized sector workers of the state and the Bureau is using its networks to include migrant workers in its fold.