31/07/2026
Sometimes, hope arrives on a sheet of chart paper.
It happened yesterday, during the workshop with young grassroots professionals working with the Tamilnadu State Rural Livelihood Mission - they were asked to imagine what their block could become in five years.
Their vision was ambitious, but deeply grounded.
A block where families are not compelled to migrate because local opportunities are absent.
A block that is increasingly self-reliant.
A block supported by a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Their handwritten plan translates this aspiration into practical building blocks: a block-level Entrepreneurship School, participation of community institutions, bank linkages, livelihood finance, convergence with KVIC, MSME, Startup Tamil Nadu, MUDRA and a portfolio of locally relevant small, micro and mini enterprises.
What moved me most was that they did not see themselves merely as functionaries implementing another scheme.
They saw themselves as planners, conveners and builders of their block's economic future.
IF FIVE-YEAR PLANS were still relevant today, perhaps this is what they should look like: Not written in capital cities, but shaped within blocks; Not beginning with a scheme, but with a shared local aspiration; Not measured only by the outlay planned, but by results.
At SSE India, we believe capacity building should unlock precisely this ability within public systems - the ability to imagine, plan, collaborate and build an ecosystem around local people and local possibilities.
What would your block's five-year plan aspire to achieve? Comment below.
PD TNSRLM DHARMAPURI Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY - NRLM) Alex VF Paul Menon V Vikas BagriDr Amit Nagpal (PhD) School For Social Entrepreneurs India
