Sammaan foundation

Sammaan foundation “The new upgraded rickshaws”

In a country like India, cycle rickshaw has always been a symbol of poverty. Rickshaw pullers earn low wages and are very hardworking. But still they are trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. They never got the due which they deserve. In 2007, Irfan Alam founded Sammaan foundation to bridge this gap and give rickshawalas a new lease of life. It became an innovative people’s carrier that can go places.

The new upgraded rickshaws give you extra comfort and you can read newspapers, drink soft drinks and also recharge your phone. It was started in Bihar and Jharkhand initially. Irfan rents rickshaws on 20 Rs a day and provides uniform to the pullers. It currently operates with 3000 rickshaws. Over a lakh rickshawalas have already registered with this foundation.

Sammaan foundation was basically started to prove in the market that a social enterprise can be a profitable venture. He wanted to prove that Corporate Social Responsibility itself could be a good business and not simply charity. To make people and investors aware of this strategy was a big challenge because of the perception of rickshawalas being illiterate.

Irfan Alam won the youth icon award of 2007. Currently they operate in 10 cities in India across 5 states. His foundation raised the earnings of rickshawalas by 40%. He derives revenue out of advertisements and value added services like mineral water, fruit juice, FMCG products, telecom product sales etc. Thier client list includes Hindustan times, Bisleri, Priyagold, Idea, Vodafone, Airtel, TATA teleservices, oriental insurance and Max.

Today it is the largest network of rickshaw operator and a revenue of around 1.25 Cr. They have the vision to have rickshaws all over India. It is indeed a great salutable work.