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TO STUDY THE EXISTING SALES PATTERN OF HEALTH AND
HYGIENE PRODUCTS IN RURAL BIHAR AND SUGGEST SUITABLE
MARKETING STRATEGIES TO INCREASE THE SALES
BY
SHWETA MENON
AND
SUNDER RAM
Management Trainee Segment
PRM 36
Submitted to
Dharma Life- Gajam India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
Faculty Guide: Prof. Hitesh Bhatt
December, 2016
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The acknowledgements are our humble way of expressing a deep sense of gratitude to all those
who helped us in successfully completing this project.
We would like to thank Dharma Life for giving us the opportunity to work on this project and
facilitating us to complete it successfully by providing us with access to all the organizational
resources.
We express our heartfelt thanks to our Reporting Officer, Ms. Gunjan Mathur, Manager, Dharma
Life, for taking keen interest in our internship as well as for providing valuable insights
throughout the course of internship. We would like to specially thank her for ensuring a
comfortable and safe fieldwork in Bihar. We would also like to thank Mr. Sheo Prasad, Mr.
Arnab, Mr. Sreehari and other employees of Dharma Life for their invaluable support during the
internship.
We would like to thank my faculty guide Prof. Hitesh Bhatt for guiding me during the internship.
He especially helped me in getting better clarity about the project.
Last, but not the least, we would like to thank Prof. Vivek Pandey, MTS Co-ordinator and
Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) for providing me with a developmental
organization during the Management Traineeship Segment (MTS).
Shweta Menon (P36160)
Sunder Ram M (P36167)
iii
Executive Summary
Title : To study the existing sales pattern of health and hygiene products
in rural Bihar and suggest suitable marketing strategies to increase the sales.
Organization : Dharma Life - Gajam India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi
Reporting Officer : Gunjan Mathur
Faculty Guide : Prof. Hitesh Bhatt
Participant’s Names : Shweta Menon (P36160) and Sunder Ram (P36167)
Objective and Scope of Study: The primary objective was to study the existing sales pattern of
the products sold by the entrepreneurs of Dharma Life (DLEs), based on which suitable
strategies had to be recommended to improve the sales. For this purpose, DLE mapping was to
be carried out on the basis of their level of awareness regarding menstrual hygiene and also on
their sales performance. The extended objective was to develop a monitoring and evaluation tool
for the entire project. The scope of the study was limited to two districts in rural Bihar namely
Bhagalpur and Munger.
Methodology: The study required identifying the challenges associated with the project, for
which identifying the DLEs was important since they form the backbone of the entire project. A
total of 30 DLEs were selected from each district which was done on the basis of their sales
performance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with them. Focus group discussions
were also conducted with select consumers in each of the two districts. Based on the results
obtained from the DLE mapping, marketing strategies were recommended to improve the
dipping sales and a logical framework was developed to monitor the project.
Sources of Data: Both primary sources as well as secondary sources were used for data
collection. The primary sources included semi-structured interviews with the DLEs, different
stakeholders involved in the project and Focus Group Discussions as well. The secondary
sources included the information obtained from Dharma Life.
Major Findings: During the process of mapping the DLEs, it was found that often there was a
delay in delivery of products to these DLEs due to which the consumers preferred buying the
products from the market instead of buying it from the DLE. The delayed delivery was specific
to some blocks only which was due to the lack of a stockist in the area. There were also issues
with the pricing of the products sold by these DLEs. These are some of the reasons why the
DLEs weren’t motivated enough to sell and only focused on generating awareness about good
hygiene practices by using sanitary napkins. Apart from this, there were also issues with the
promotion, packing and product as well.
Conclusions drawn and Recommendations: Poor socio-economic conditions in the villages
puts increased burden on the DLEs themselves to sell more products and earn some money. For
this, it is necessary to incentivize the DLEs in some way. A logical framework has been
developed for the project so that there is clarity about the outcome that is expected and their
inputs can be aligned with the goals. A new distribution channel has been proposed at the block
level that would remove the process inefficiencies. In addition to all these, recommendations
have also been made for the 6P’s i.e. product, price, place, promotion, packaging and
proposition.
iv
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 About the organization: Dharma Life .............................................................................. 1
1.2 Program Brief: Women on Wings (WoW) ...................................................................... 2
1.3 Objectives of the Study .................................................................................................... 3
1.4 Scope of the Study............................................................................................................ 3
1.5 Limitations of the Study ................................................................................................... 3
2. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................ 4
2.1 Approach adopted ............................................................................................................ 4
2.2 Sources of Data Collection ............................................................................................... 7
2.3 Distribution Channel ........................................................................................................ 7
3. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES .................................................................................... 9
4. DATA ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................... 12
4.1 Bhagalpur ....................................................................................................................... 12
4.2 Munger ........................................................................................................................... 28
5. LOGICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................ 47
5.1 INDICATORS ................................................................................................................ 49
5.1.1 Inputs............................................................................................................................. 49
5.1.2 Activities ..................................................................................................................... 50
5.4.3 Outputs........................................................................................................................ 50
5.7.4 Outcome...................................................................................................................... 51
6 CONSOLIDATED FINDINGS .......................................................................................... 53
7 RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................................................... 55
8 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 59
9 ANNEXURE ......................................................................................................................... 60
v
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1: THREE PHASE APPROACH ................................................................................................. 2 FIGURE 2: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 4 FIGURE 3: BHAGALPUR SAMPLING OF VILLAGES .............................................................................. 5
FIGURE 4: MUNGER SAMPLING VILLAGES ........................................................................................ 6 FIGURE 5: DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL AND TRANSACTIONS ................................................................. 7 FIGURE 6: PROPOSED DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM ................................................................................. 56
vi
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 1: DEMAND ESTIMATION OF MUNGER ................................................................................ 63
TABLE 2: DEMAND ESTIMATION BHAGALPUR ............................................................................... 63 TABLE 3: DLE RECRUITMENT DETAILS .......................................................................................... 64
vii
1
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 About the organization: Dharma Life
Dharma Life foundation is a social enterprise which operates across ten states, reaching more
than 2.5 million consumers in more than 40,000 villages in India. There are three major
challenges faced at the last mile markets:
Lack of awareness regarding social problems and their solutions
Lack of access to high quality products
Lack of services and affordability
Hence its mission revolves around addressing these challenges:
To develop and empower village level entrepreneurs, especially women, through targeted
skill training, creating sustainable livelihoods and thereby becoming change-agents in
their communities
To improve the quality of life at the base of the pyramid by providing socially impactful
products at an affordable price
To enable corporations to access India’s rural consumers and provide them with feedback
to enable them to improve their offering
Dharma Life boasts of a wide network of DLEs (Dharma Life entrepreneurs) across villages of
India. It uses this network to impact the lives of rural households through behavior change
interventions and sale of socially impactful products. These DLEs evolve to become change
makers and work on six major social causes – Health and Hygiene, Education, Access to Clean
Energy, Livelihood and Lifestyle, Indoor Air Pollution and Nutrition. The organization is
presently operational in the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Gujarat, with a network of over 10,000
rural entrepreneurs.
This business model uses a holistic impact approach to create value at the last mile. This is
enabled through recruitment and training, awareness generation, enabling access to products,
2
providing finance (through partnerships with MFIs) to DLEs. The effectiveness of this program
is further enhanced by research activities to provide insights and monitor the entire process.
1.2 Program Brief: Women on Wings (WoW)
Under the WoW project, Dharma life works as a distributor partner accountable for developing
sustainable livelihood for women using the “entrepreneur model” via sale of sanitary napkins in
the two districts of Bihar- Munger and Bhagalpur. Its work includes:
Establishing and strengthening a robust network of women entrepreneurs at village level
Creating linkages between awareness and supply of sanitary napkin via entrepreneur
network
Procuring stock and managing distribution of sanitary napkins
Developing purchasing and selling capacity of women entrepreneurs
Ensuring sustainable sale of sanitary napkins at village level
Dharma Life has a robust distribution channel that is put in place to ensure that the women
entrepreneurs (DLEs) are supplied with the products necessary for them to sell at the village
level. Dharma Life’s model of intervention includes recruitment of an Area Channel Manager at
State level (overall in charge for end to end implementation of the project), an Enterprise Leader
at the district level (for operation and execution of project) and several community development
officers (CDO’s for handholding, training and execution of the project) at cluster level
responsible for 10-15 DLE’s each.
A three phase approach has been adopted for this project:
Figure 1: Three phase approach
Step 1: Identification, recruitment and training of Dharma Life Entrepreneurs
Step 2: Training the selected women to become “Dharma
Life Entrepreneurs”
Step 3: Distribution of Sanitary Napkins
3
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The primary objective of the study was to analyze the existing sales pattern of sanitary
napkins that are being sold by the DLEs in two districts of Bihar. After analyzing, suitable
recommendations had to be made to improve the sales. As a part of the study, discussions
were conducted to capture qualitative as well as quantitative information that would describe
the issues that these DLEs faced in selling the products.
1.4 Scope of the Study
The scope of the study was limited to two districts of rural Bihar where the project is
currently being undertaken. The study has been undertaken solely for the use of Dharma Life
and not for the use of other stakeholders involved in the project.
1.5 Limitations of the Study
1. Time Constraints
Due to limited time availability, the study had to be conducted with only 60 DLEs in both
the districts. An extensive study could’ve been conducted spanning more DLEs had there
been more time.
2. Availability of DLEs
Since the study was conducted at a time just after the festivities were over and the
harvesting season was to begin, a lot of DLEs were unavailable to devote more time for
the interview process.
4
2. METHODOLOGY
2.1 Approach adopted
Figure 2: Methodology
Since the study involved mapping the village entrepreneurs, it was imperative that we spend a
substantial amount of time with them to understand their behavior towards menstrual hygiene
and also their buying decision. It was essential to know exactly what is it that brings in behavior
change and how that can be spread over to the entire community thus making a move towards a
safer health/hygiene regime. The methodology involved conducting discussions and interviews
with the DLEs to know more about their capacity as a DLE. This involved carrying out a semi-
structured interview with these DLEs to get qualitative as well as quantitative insights about the
problems that these DLEs face on the field and also to understand the mindset of customers
regarding good menstrual hygiene management (MHM). Based on the data collected from the
field, an analysis was carried out on certain parameters like awareness on MHM, motivation to
work as a DLE, initiative and incentives etc.
Dharma Life works in two districts of Bihar namely Munger and Bhagalpur. Bhagalpur consists
of 16 blocks which are again divided into several villages. There are around 300 DLEs in total
Identifying the DLEs to be visited
Conducting semi-structured
interviews with them
Conducting FGDs with consumers
Mapping and analyzing overall performance of
DLEs
Developing a logical framework to
measure progress of the project
Recommending strategies to
improve the sales
5
from these 16 blocks. Out of these, DLEs were segregated on the basis of their sales performance
and finally 30 DLEs were selected from 4 blocks.
Munger has 9 blocks comprising of 200 DLEs. Out of these 9 blocks, 30 DLEs were selected
from 5 blocks based on their performance.
Jagdishpur
Colgong
Pirpainti
Sultanganj
Sonhanla
Shahkund
Naugachhia
Jagdishpur
Nathnagar
Shahkund
Goradih
Nathnagar
Sabour
Sabour
Kharik
Bihpur
Narayanpur
Gopalpur
Rangra
Chowk
Ismailpur
Figure 3: Bhagalpur sampling of villages
6
Munger
Sadar
Darhara
Bariyarpur
Jamalpur
Munger
Sadar
Tetiya
Bambar
Jamalpur
Haveli
Khargapur
Darhara
Tarapur
Asarganj
Sangarmpur
Figure 4: Munger sampling villages
The entire project was carried out in 2 phases:
Phase I comprised of meeting the DLEs and understanding their role in this project. Apart from
this, meetings and discussions were also conducted with the women and school girls in the
village to understand their level of awareness and behavioral patterns about menstrual hygiene.
Activities were conducted where the importance of good hygiene practices were explained
through a flipchart model and demonstration was also provided to them on how to use a sanitary
napkin. Apart from usage, information was also provided to them regarding the safe disposal of
sanitary napkins.
Phase II: This phase was entirely dedicated for getting a better understanding of the project
‘Making Periods Normal’ from the viewpoint of the other partners involved. Since all the other
partners of Dharma Life are awareness partners, it was imperative to know the process adopted
by them. For this purpose, discussions were conducted with these partners to know more about
their contribution to the project.
7
2.2 Sources of Data Collection
Data was collected using primary as well as secondary sources. Primary sources include semi-
structured interviews with the DLEs and other Dharma Life representatives. FGDs were also
conducted with the consumers to know their level of awareness regarding the usage of sanitary
napkin. Secondary sources include records obtained from the organization.
2.3 Distribution Channel
Figure 5: Distribution channel and transactions
Dharma Life has a conventional distribution system comprising of State level and District level
distributors delivering the stock to DLEs. The information about demand passes through Dharma
Life representatives like CDO and EL to the Head office. The CDO collects the demand from the
DLE, aggregates it and passes on to the EL. There are two CDOs appointed to meet all the
DLEs. EL aggregates the demand and checks for stock at district level distributor. If stock is
available, EL places order to the district level distributor. If stock is not available, EL forwards
8
the order to ACM, who further forwards it to Head office for approval and to the state level
distributor. Stock gets dispatched from state level distributor to the District level distributor to
the DLE through CDO. The money for the stock is collected by the CDO and given to the
District level Distributor. State level Distributor pays upfront to collect stock from Dharma Life
and the same is followed by District level distributor when he/she collects stock from State Level
Distributor.
9
3. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Enterprise Leader (EL)
EL is the person responsible for the aggregation of demand for sanitary napkins and other
products of Dharma Life at the district level. He assists the CDO in promotion of new products
and takes care of stock with the district level distributor. In case stock is less, he also initiates the
procurement process through ACM.
Daily report-
The EL compiles his daily expenses and the time spent on his field visits on a daily basis in a
daily report. He submits it to ACM. EL also submits soft copy of all his bills to ACM for
initiating reimbursement.
Block training report-
The block training report submitted by the EL feeds in from the CDO’s data for the expenses
occurred during the training. It includes the cost of venue and catering at the training session.
After each block training session, CDO records this data and the EL submits it along with the
soft copy of the bills, on his behalf.
District training report-
After all the training sessions in a district are concluded, the EL compiles the relevant data, feeds
it into an excel file and reports it to the cluster PL. Along with the excel file, which is sent via e-
mail, DLE detail forms are also submitted to the PL. This report includes block training details,
number of trainings conducted and number of DLEs trained.
Monthly report-
The EL revises the excel sheet previously generated and adds the sales of the current month as
provided by CDO. This is done for each DLE and the report is submitted to the ACM, every
month.
10
Channel Development Officer (CDO)
CDO is the person responsible for the supply of sanitary napkins and other products from the
district level distributor to the DLEs. He also talks to the DLEs to understand their needs, sales
of current month and promotion of new products of Dharma Life. He also assists DLEs in
conducting activities and facilitates payments for the activities. He also addresses the grievances
of the DLEs.
Daily Report
The CDO is expected to submit a report on daily basis containing information related to his beat
plan and cost incurred during field work. He needs to mention the time spent on field, number of
DLEs he met and their status of sales. This is submitted to the EL who aggregates demand at the
block level. The CDO needs to submit soft copies of bills and names of the DLEs met, activities
conducted and the contacts details for enabling payment to the DLE for conducting activity.
Weekly Report
The CDO compiles information that he collects on his daily visits and reports it at the weekly
meeting with the EL. This includes demand for various products sold by Dharma Life, feedback
from each DLE met during the week and the queries addressed by CDOs. He also submits hard
copy of bills of his expenses to the EL. The data is reported on paper and stored by the EL.
Block training report-
After the block training is concluded, the CDO prepares a report on paper, which is to be
forwarded to the EL. It includes information related to include the following: -
Cost of venue of the training.
Cost of catering at the training session.
Number of DLEs who attended the training.
Number of DLEs trained.
Number of DLEs who covered all the modules of the training.
Duration of the training (hours).
11
Number of DLEs who had prior exposure to menstrual hygiene management before
attending the training.
Number of trainers (main and assistant) per training.
Number of modules covered in the training.
Number of packs of sanitary pads distributed.
This report along with DLE detail forms and hard copy of bills of venue, food, etc.is submitted to
the EL at the weekly meeting.
Monthly report-
The monthly report aims to capture the awareness among DLEs so that subsequent follow up
training sessions by CDOs can be scheduled, if necessary. It also records the sales of various
products in the month. This is done on a monthly basis and on paper.
12
SHG 45%
ASHA 41%
Others 10%
DLE 4%
DLE OCCUPATION
4. DATA ANALYSIS
4.1 Bhagalpur
Part 1: DLE Profile
6
11
8
4
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
25-30 30-35 35-40 40-45
DLE Age
On analyzing the profile of DLE’s we find that the average age of a DLE comes out to be 35 in
Bhagalpur with maximum (45%) DLE’s working as a Community Mobiliser (CM) for Jeevika
and 41% working as an ASHA worker. The socio-economic conditions of the villages in
Bhagalpur vary depending on a few factors like proximity to the nearest town, availability of
basic amenities in the village and also the education status among the villagers.
About 62% DLE’s monthly household income is around Rs. 5000 whereas the monthly
individual income of a DLE is less than Rs.1000 for about 86% of DLEs.
13
Part 2: MHM Training and Awareness
About 86% of the DLE’s had already received training on MHM before joining Dharma Life as a
DLE. Whereas all the DLE’s who were interviewed were a part of the training sessions that the
organization had conducted prior to their induction. The duration of the first training was 3 days
after which some of the DLEs also attended the training sessions conducted for other new DLEs.
Only 1 DLE out of the interviewed respondents attended two additional training sessions after
the mandatory induction session.
The content of the training session included awareness about menstrual hygiene, importance of
good MHM practices and also a demonstration about the products such as sanitary napkins, iron,
water purifier, induction cooker, solar lights etc.
Apart from the DLE’s awareness levels, efforts were also made to understand the common
practices that were followed by the DLE and other women within the community during
menstruation. Almost all the DLEs refrained from entering temples, touching pickles and plants
during menstruation. Though they understand the importance of adopting good hygiene
practices, there are still some inhibitions among women in addressing the topic of menstrual
hygiene. The following graph shows the barriers that DLEs have to overcome in discussing
about MHM.
Yes 86%
No 14%
RECEIVED ANY TRAINING ON
MHM BEFORE?
24
4
1
0 10 20 30
3 days
4 days
6 days
Duration of Training
24
4 1 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Once Twice Thrice
Frequency of Training
14
60% DLE’s reported that there exists barriers to MHM while the remaining 40% were of the
opinion that good MHM practices can be discussed with women openly and that there were no
difficulties in conducting the discussions.
Part 3: DLE’s Initiative and Feedback
About 52% of the respondents joined Dharma Life between January and May with maximum
recruitment taking place in the month of May whereas 45% joined between June and October
with maximum recruitment taking place in the month of August.
4
6
3
5
11
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Mindset of people Lack of education Women understand butare still hesistant to
leave cloth and switchto napkins
It’s a long process; will change gradually
No barriers
Barriers to good MHM
15
These DLEs were advised to take up this role either by a representative of Dharma Life or
through ASHA/SEWA workers, with the complete support of their family members since being a
DLE helps in earning some additional income for the family over and above their monthly
income.
Next we look at some data to assess the income satisfaction levels of a DLE.
14
11
3 1 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Reasons for becoming DLE
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Yes No
Family Support?
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Husband Me Both ( H + M)
Decision maker in family
15
13
1
0 5 10 15 20
Jan-May
June-Oct
Last year
DLE joining period
16
52% respondents were satisfied with their income as a DLE, this was because they considered
their role as a DLE to spread awareness and increase knowledge rather than sell sanitary napkins.
Another observation was that since women were still not aware about the usage of sanitary
napkins, several DLE’s used to provide the sanitary napkins at a lesser price and not bother about
the margin. Low sales is one of the primary reasons why DLEs are not satisfied with their
income. They feel that their income can be increased only when people buy sanitary napkins
from her instead of purchasing it from the market as is the case in most of the villages. Apart
from this, the low margin also acts as a barrier in generating sufficient income for the DLE.
Some of the DLEs were also of the opinion that people still prefer paying Rs. 30 for the product
though the price of Stayfree is now Rs. 33. They vouch to pay later due to lack of change and
then end up not paying at all.
As already observed, most of the DLEs have a primary occupation apart from being a DLE. So
they have multiple levels of interaction with women and hence it is imperative to know what are
the means adopted by the DLEs to have a formal interaction with women. One such method is
conducting small group interaction meetings (SGIM). These SGIM serve as a common meeting
point for the women in the village and these DLEs that too at a time which is fixed by all. On an
average at least 3 SGIMs are conducted in a month, with 69% of DLEs conducting more than 3
meetings. 26 out of the total 29 DLEs have an audience comprising of more than 10 women
while 2 DLEs had around 10 women during the SGIM. Discussions about menstrual hygiene
48% 52%
Are you satisfied with your income as a DLE?
No
Yes
9
4
1
0 2 4 6 8 10
LOW SALES
LOW MARGIN
PEOPLE DON’T PAY IMMEDIATELY
Reasons for low satisfaction
17
2
26
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
10 More than 10
No. of people attending the meeting
often take place towards the end of these meetings after wrapping up the ‘Agenda of the Day’
that most ASHA workers and CMs have to comply to. Since women are not available for
meetings so often, these DLEs often combine their professional meetings with a SGIM thus
serving both the purposes. The following graph shows the target audience that attends these
SGIM meetings: Housewives are the most loyal audience followed by young girls (i.e. school
going girls).
During these meetings, the DLEs sell not only sanitary napkins but also other products like solar
lights, iron, etc. About ___ of DLEs sell products other than sanitary napkins to people. Now,
though these DLEs are working women and manage to influence other women, it often becomes
difficult to engage them in a discussion on menstrual hygiene. The following graph shows the
major challenges that the DLEs face while
conducting meetings on MHM.
Though 52% of DLEs believe that they
can conduct a meeting on MHM without
any difficulty, 48% still face difficulties
while holding meetings. Bringing about a
behavioral change in women is very
difficult and hence women still prefer
0
5
10
15
20
25
Target audience
15
7
3
2
0
0
2
0 5 10 15 20
NO CHALLENGES
STRONG LIKING FOR CLOTH
PRODUCT COSTLY
I FIND IT DIFFICULT TO …
FATHER/SPOUSE DOES NOT …
TIME DOES NOT MATCH
OTHERS
Challenges in holding meetings
18
using cloth over a sanitary napkin, especially when the cloth costs less than a napkin. There were
2 particular instances where the DLE was unwell for a long time and hence wasn’t able to
conduct any meetings.
Members are invited for the meeting on a one-on-one basis mostly and activities are conducted
with these women to encourage them to talk more about menstrual hygiene. Since DLEs invite
these women, they ensure that the target audience keeps changing but this is dependent on the
availability of women in the village.
About 79% of DLEs have a fixed customer base who purchase sanitary napkins from them every
month. Several reasons have been cited as to why the remaining 21% of the DLEs do not have a
fixed customer base. One major reason is that about 45% of DLEs have been newly recruited
because of which they have not been able to promote and propagate much. Hence they have not
been able to build a fixed customer base. DLEs were also of the opinion that since stock issues
are present, they are not able to provide the customer with the product right away. Meanwhile,
the customer prefers not to wait for the product to arrive and buys it from the market herself.
No 21%
Yes 79%
Fixed customer base
No Yes0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0-5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25
Frequency of fixed customers
0 1 2 3 4
Newly joined
Low sales
Buy from market
Reasons for non-fixed customer base
19
Part 4: Product
Part 4: Product
All the DLEs interviewed had received product training from Dharma Life before starting to sell
the products. Apart from sanitary napkins, DLEs received training for the following products as
well. All the 29 DLEs were of the opinion that a product training definitely helps them sell a
product better and they had the following suggestions regarding improving the product training.
Majority of the DLEs were of the opinion that they should be provided with more marketing
tools like pamphlets, free samples etc. which would help them sell the products better. Lack of
proper communication material has also been observed to be a deterrent in selling products other
than the sanitary napkins.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
SGIMMeetings
Schools Others
Promotion of Sanitary Napkins
0 5 10 15 20
0-5
5-10
10-15
15-20
Repeat purchase of sanitary napkins
DLEs use a number of mediums to
promote and sell the sanitary napkins.
SGIM meetings are the most preferred
method of promoting the napkins,
followed by Schools and then others.
Here others include promoting the usage
of sanitary napkins through sewing and
other jobs that the DLEs pursue during
their free time.
Though the repeat purchase frequency
is very less, about 82% of the
respondents have at least 3 repeat
purchases per month. As mentioned
above, newly recruited DLEs haven’t
been able to attract much customers
and hence the repeat purchase is very
low.
20
On the basis of the DLE interview, following products have been identified as fast, medium and
slow moving products in Bhagalpur.
DLEs were also asked about the sources from where the customers could buy sanitary napkins
apart from the DLE herself. According to the data obtained, 33% DLE’s said that sanitary
napkins were available in kirana shops as well as shops outside the village. It was also reported
that some ASHA workers, who were not DLEs, were also providing sanitary napkins to women
at some places. Availability of an alternative source of buying the product gives the customers a
choice of switching from one source to another. The presence of a market nearby the village has
resulted in the customers buying it from the market whenever need arises instead of buying it
from her. Another reason that customers cite for buying the napkins from the market is that they
buy it when they go to the market once in a month for their household purchases.
0 10 20 30 40
Napkins
Iron
Light
Mobile
Which all products training did you receive?
28
0 1
1
4
0 1
0
0
0
0
3
0
0 1
0
0 1
F A S T M E D I U M S L O W
PRODUCT DEMAND
Napkins Light Sewing Iron Mixer Cooker
0 5 10 15 20 25
More informative
Provide marketing tools
Provide more product…
Provide selling skills
Enhance distribution…
How can we improve our product training?
21
Part 5: Sales
DLEs often cover more
than a village during
their field visits.
However, only 14% of
the DLEs in Bhagalpur
reported that they cover
a village apart from their
own village.
Of the 14% who covered other villages as well, only 1 DLE said that distance was a barrier for
them because she had to rely on her husband for travelling to other villages as he used to drop
her every time she had to make a visit.
Since DLEs have a primary occupation as well, they are required to make field visits often and
hence maximum sales happen during these field visits where they are able to sell the products
from door to door. Almost all the DLEs sold more going from door to door, followed by SGIM.
Only 14% of the DLEs interviewed in Bhagalpur owned shops. This can be the reason why
young women are the highest customers since they get the product delivered to them at their
home and also in the SGIM meetings. The middle aged women are amongst those who still have
0
26
4
25
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
OTHERS
DOOR TO DOOR
OWN SHOPS
SGIM
How do you sell the products?
97%
3%
Is distance a barrier?
No Yes
Own 86%
Own + Others
14%
Villages Covered
Own Own + Others
20 22
4
SCHOOL GIRLS YOUNG WOMEN MIDDLE AGED WOMEN
Who are your usual customers?
22
apprehensions switching over from cloth to sanitary napkins. Hence they go back to using cloth
when the DLE is out of stock.
The DLE states a number of reasons to the customers as to why buying from her would help the
customer. Some reasons are as shown below:
Since most of the customers are young women and
school girls, it might be difficult for them to go out
and buy sanitary napkins. Some social customs like
not allowing newlywed brides to venture out after
marriage often leaves them with no other option but
to get it delivered at home through someone. Hence
DLEs delivering the napkins at their doorstep might
be the perfect alternative to them. Besides, in places
where the villages are far off from the town, it is
costlier to visit the market and buy this product. The
transportation charge incurred on visiting the market would be an additional burden on the
customer since they would end up buying a whole lot of other stuffs from the market.
21
7 1
CAN GET IT DELIVERED AT
HOME
CHEAPER THAN GOING TO THE
MARKET
BETTER TO BUY FROM LADIES
Why should people buy from you?
34%
66%
Are you satisfied with the ROI?
No
Yes
4
1 1
STOCKS ISSUE HIGHER MARGINS OTHERS
Suggestions for improving ROI
23
21%
79%
Would you be interested in
stocking more napkins?
No
Yes
33%
50%
17%
Reasons for not willing to stock
napkins
Demand is less
Not able to sellmore
People are notaware of shebeing a DLE
8
10
7
1 0 1 2
<5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25 25-30 30-35
Stock of napkins per month
DLEs were unaware about the concept of ROI until they were explained in detail what it meant.
This shows their lack of awareness regarding the money that they are spending and also the
amount that they are earning on selling it. After explaining what ROI meant, 66% DLEs were
happy with the money that they are earning. One reason for this was that they were selling the
sanitary napkins more as a social cause and a means to increase awareness. Naturally they had
lower or no expectations at all about earning a substantial income. Only 34% were dissatisfied
with the ROI. This was mainly due to the unavailability of stocks because when customers used
to ask them about the sanitary napkins they did not have the product with them due to which they
had to ask the customer to wait. If this happens for two consecutive months, then the customer
stops coming to her altogether thus decreasing her sales. Another reason that was cited for less
satisfaction with the ROI was the low margins. This is because while attracting new customers or
asking them to buy a pad, they often reduced the price and gave it to them at lesser price than
MRP, leaving only a small amount for themselves.
35% DLEs had a stock of 5-10 napkins with
them every month whereas only 2 DLEs had a
stock of 30-35 packets with them. Both the
DLEs own a shop and hence they were able to
stock and sell more. On an average most of
the DLEs kept a stock of 6 packets per month.
A majority of the newly recruited DLEs had
got 4-5 packets at the time of training in
August-September and were still using the
same packets. These DLEs keep stock of the
1
4
2
1
4
4
7
0 2 4 6 8
2 CARTONS
1 CARTON
25 PACKETS
24 PACKETS
20 PACKETS
15 PACKETS
10 PACKETS
Interested in keeping stocks
upto
24
napkins only when the packets get over instead of stocking when the packets are close to getting
over. This is one reason why there is a delay in getting them the packets because the CDO
wouldn’t be able to deliver it to the DLE immediately.
On being asked whether they would like to keep more stocks, 79% agreed and said that they
would like to keep stocks up to 10 packets. Since most of the DLEs kept 6 packets with them,
investing a little money to buy 4 packets wouldn’t be a big burden on their packets. The two
DLEs who own shops were ready to stock up to a carton or two more because they were
confident of getting it sold. Other DLEs said that they can stock between 15 to 25 packets
depending on their spending capacity and also looking at the monthly expenditure that they
incur. Out of the 21% who did not want to keep more stocks, 50% were of the opinion that they
are not able to sell more than what they are selling right now. There are several reasons for this:
Since DLEs have alternate occupations they are not able to devote more time for this. Whatever
selling is happening that is due to their meetings. Since the number of meetings is fixed, the
number of pads that customers demand is also less. 33% said that demand is less; this is because
proper awareness has not yet been conducted and people are still reluctant to use sanitary
napkins. The customers who buy from her are her regular customers who have been using pads
since a long time. One issue among the newly recruited DLEs was that they had not conducted
any meeting till the time of the interview and hence women in that village were not aware of the
fact that she was a DLE and had a stock of sanitary napkins with her.
25
14
7 8
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
1
Demand for napkins
High Low Medium
11
12
2
4
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Availability Cost Ease of Use Others
Factors contributing to sales
48% of DLEs said that the demand for napkins is high whereas 24% DLEs were of the opinion
that the demand for napkins is low. The low demand is primarily prevalent in places where either
the DLEs were newly recruited or DLEs were not motivated enough to sell the products. These
DLEs were further asked to describe factors that would lead to an increase in sales. Price came
out to be the major influencing factor that would spike the sales considerably according to the
DLEs. Next factor was the availability of products i.e. stock issue. Both these factors contributed
to around 80% of the factors that would increase the sales of sanitary napkins.
26
A lot of DLEs had described low margins as a
reason why they were not satisfied with the
profit/ROI on the product. Hence we asked them
to quote an ideal price which according to them
can help improve sales. 35% DLEs quoted a price
between 26-30 whereas 14% said that a price of
Rs. 25 would be ideal wherein they can earn
enough margin also and customers would feel
more at peace paying less. Though none of the
respondents quoted a price less than Rs. 25, a
price range of Rs. 20-25 should be comfortable enough for the DLEs as well as the customers.
10%
90%
Do you earn any profit on the sale
of sanitary napkins?
No Yes
Yes 65%
No 35%
Are you satisfied with it?
Yes No
5
1 1 1 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Lowmargin
Highprice
Stockissues
Lowsales
Reasons for less satisfaction
On being asked if DLEs earn any profit on the sale of sanitary napkins, 90% said yes. On being
probed further they said that even if the profit is as less as Re.1, they were satisfied with the profit
since they considered selling pads as a means of spreading awareness regarding menstrual hygiene.
They were of the opinion that profit amount did not matter as long as people were adopting a new
habit. They also said that they can always start attracting customers later when they are completely
aware of it. Of the 35% DLEs who were not satisfied with the profit, 5 DLEs cited low margins as
their reason.
0 5 10 15
Less than 25
Rs. 25
Between 26-30
Rs. 33
What should be the price of the product according
to you?
27
62%
38%
Are you satisfied with your current margin?
No Yes
4
2 2 2
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
Reduce price Increasemargin
Increaseawareness
Others
Suggestions regarding margin
35% DLEs had stated that they were not satisfied with the profit that they make on selling the
sanitary napkins. Low margin was cited as a reason for the dissatisfaction. Hence when they
were asked if they were satisfied by the current margin that they get, 62% DLEs stated that
since the price of the product was high according to some customers they couldn’t earn much
from the current margin.
0
3
9
12
5
SCORE OF 1 SCORE OF 2 SCORE OF 3 SCORE OF 4 SCORE OF 5
DLE Competency
Only 5 DLEs were found to be high on competency. Their competency was measured on
3 factors: Ability to influence, convincing others and taking initiatives. Maximum DLEs
were found to be having a score of 4 which indicates good competency.
28
4.2 Munger
Part 1: DLE background data
A total of 28 DLEs were interviewed in Munger and the data collected gave out interesting
results. The age of DLEs varied from 18 years to 52 years. It was observed that 57% of DLEs
were in the age group of 31-40 years. There was one DLE who was 52 years old. She had health
issues and was not interested in continuing as DLE. The youngest DLEs were 18 years old and
were the only two unmarried DLEs in the list. There were two DLEs who were married and
widowed.
When we analyse the occupation of different DLEs,
79% of DLEs have alternate occupation. Out of them, 3
DLEs have their own shop. There are 5 Asha and
Jeevika members each and other occupations included
ward commissioner, primary school helper, farmer,
Recurring Deposit collection agent etc.
The DLEs who have an alternate occupation have an
average monthly income of around Rs.1000. Others
<20 21-30 31-40 41-50 >50
2
9
16
0 1
Age profile of DLEs
Number of DLEs
Asha, 5, 18%
Anganwadi, 2, 7%
Jeevika, 5, 18%
Shop, 3,
11%
Only as DLE, 6,
21%
Others, 7, 25%
DLE Occupation
>5000 68%
<5000 32%
Monthly Income of family
29
have fluctuating income based on the sale made. 35% of their guardians are working as
agricultural labourers which results in a monthly income of around Rs.3000. Others, who have
better earning occupations have a monthly income of more than Rs.5000. 68% of DLEs have a
monthly family income of above Rs.5000. This shows their inability to invest upfront for the
products that dharma life is offering.
Part 2 : Menstrual Hygiene Management
In this part of the report we would like to know the awareness of the DLE on Menstrual Hygiene
management. We propose to measure their awareness by knowing how many have received
training on the topic, the duration of it and how many want further training on the same. We also
did a qualitative study to understand the taboos present in the community around menstruation
and captured the topics on which they were aware.
Out of total 28 DLEs, only one DLE hadn’t received any training on MHM. She is a new recruit
and is yet to get a date for training. Since she is also working in anganwadi, she had enough
information on MHM and was confident in explaining them. The DLEs who have received
training reported that they were given training on the menstrual process, its significance, about
the usage of cloth during menstruation, the ill effects of using other items like rag, paper etc, and
the possible diseases that can affect them, the usage of pads, why it is convenient and safe and
about other products of Dharma Life. The duration of training gave mixed response with 16
DLEs have attended all the three days of training, while 5 of them have attended only 1 day due
yes 89%
No 11%
Have you received MHM training from Dharma?
5
3
16
1
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
1 day 1 week 3 days 4 days
Duration of training
30
to lack of time. 3 DLEs have attended training sessions more than once and hence reported a
total of 1 week and one DLE reported 4 days.
Out of 25 respondents who attended the training session, 22 were satisfied with the content of the
training and the rest 3 DLEs thought another training session would help them improve their
learning. Even though 88% were satisfied with the content, some of them still wanted further
training on certain areas of MHM. Out of the 8 DLEs who want further training on MHM, 3
DLEs need it to refresh their memory, 2 DLEs require training on diseases caused due to bad
hygiene.
The popular practices in the village during menstruation included not doing Pooja, not touching
pickle and new plants and trees. There was mention about not touching new seeds, which would
be used for next season also. Even though these practices are still followed, it was also reported
that it is far better than what it was 10 years ago. Many of the practices like staying in a separate
room, using separate bedding, not taking bath etc. have been stopped with regular efforts of the
DLEs and other community workers. In the muslim community, women don’t do namaaz, don’t
touch holy books, don’t step out of the house for 2 days and sleep in a separate bed during
menstruation. Three respondents reported that they don’t go for agricultural work during
menstruation.
no 12%
yes 88%
Are you satisfied with the content of training?
yes, 8
no, 20
Do you require any further training on MHM?
31
On spreading awareness about MHM, the DLEs reported that the younger generation adapts and
uses sanitary pads while older generation is still persistent in using cloth. Some people
understand the importance of using sanitary pads, but still stick to using cloth citing cost as the
deterrent to switching. There are others who don’t prioritise money to buy pads for which one
DLE suggested to save Re.1 a day so that they have enough money by the end of a month to buy
a pack of sanitary pads. Other barriers included people who required time to change their usage
behaviour or were extremely poor that they couldn’t afford the price of the pads.
Part 3: DLE’s Initiative and Feedback
2
13
6
2
5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Acceptance, don’t prioratise money to buy pads
Younger generation adapts, but older generation doesn’t
None
People understand but stick to cloth as they are used toit, citing cost as the deterrent to switching
Others
Barriers to MHM
1
11
9
6
1
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Justjoined
0-12 13-24 25-36 37-48
Number of months being DLE
Number of DLEs
11
13
5
0 5 10 15
Social angle
Income generation
Easier to sell
Why did you take up this role of DLE?
32
The DLEs have been working with Dharma Life for varied duration of time. Out of 28 DLEs
interviewed, 1 DLE has just joined and is yet to receive training. 11 DLEs have been working
with Dharma Life for the past 12 months, while 9 have been working for the last 2 years, 6 have
been working for 3 years and 1 DLE has been working for the last 4 years with Dharma Life.
When the respondents were probed into why they took up the role of DLE, it was found that
income generation is the biggest reason. This come to around 39% of the total DLEs
interviewed. The second major reason is a social inclination towards the betterment of the
society, which constitutes about 33%. A majority of respondents having a social inclination are
the one who are already working as Asha workers or in Anganwadis.
While every DLE was advised by somebody to take up the role, 14 of them were advised by
Dharma Life representative, 4 of them by another DLE (Shefali Satyam or Neelu Devi) and
others by prominent people in the community. 10 DLEs responded that they are decision makers
at home, whereas 14 of them reported they have an equal say in the decisions taken at home,
while 4 DLEs reported that their husband make the decisions at home. In spite of the disparity in
decision making, family was supportive of
the role in every case.
The DLEs in Munger were positive about the
role and reportedly expected to generate
good income from the role as DLE. 18
respondents expected to generate between
Rs.1001 and Rs.3000 per month, while 1
DLE was confident of generating more than
Rs.5000 per month. This particular DLE has
encouraged many other DLEs to join
Dharma Life and promotes other products of
Dharma Life like Induction Stove, iron,
mobile etc. 7 DLEs expect to generate less than Rs.1000 per month from the role.
7
18
2 1
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
<1000 1001-3000 3001-5000 >5000
Income expected to generate per month from the role
33
Even though DLEs were positive about generating income from the role, 52% reported they are
not happy with the current income as DLE. The major reasons for not being satisfied with the
income as DLE are low sales and unavailability of stock issues. 22% reported that they were not
happy with the quantum of sales and thus income generated was low. Another 22% reported they
didn’t get stock of the sanitary pads at the right time to sell. 21% reported low profit/margin was
the reason for not being satisfied with the income generated. Other reasons cited were inability to
invest enough time to sell the products, inability to invest money upfront and delay in payments
for activities. When sanitary pads are not available when customers ask for, it causes loos of trust
in the DLE, hence further decreasing sales. Decreasing sales demotivates the DLEs making them
sceptical about further investing in the products. Another reason for low income is the low
margin earned by the DLEs. Due to the price of the products being on the higher side (as
reported by the DLEs), many of their customers ask for the product at a discount, which further
cuts into their margin. For instance, price of 1 pack of stayfree is Rs.33. Many DLEs are forced
to sell it at Rs.30. Their margin reduces from Rs.3.50 to Rs.0.50; a sharp 71% decrease in the
margin and thus the earnings. There were instances where the DLE had to take the brunt for poor
quality of the product. On further investigation, it was revealed that the product was damaged
due to improper usage of it. In spite of this issue, DLEs have requested to increase the product
range to improve sales and thus their income.
yes 48%
no 52%
Are you satisfied with the income as DLE?
22%
22%
14%
21%
21%
Reasons for not being satisfied with income as DLE
Stock issues
Low sales
Just joined
Lowprofit/margin
Others
34
64% of respondents felt they needed further training from dharma. Of the 18 respondents who
wanted training 14 respondents wanted training to develop their selling skills, 8 respondents
wanted awareness about MHM, 7 respondents wanted training on business skills.
Small Group Interaction Meetings (SGIM)
SGIMs are organised to increase the awareness of people in the community about MHM. The
incentive for the DLEs to organise such meetings is the payments received by new contacts made
during the meetings. This also helps them increase their reach in the village.
Most of the DLEs were conducting only 1 or 2 meetings a month. 15 respondents conducted only
1 or 2 meetings in a month. 6 DLEs conducted more than 3 meetings per month. They were part
no 36%
yes 64%
Do you need any training from Dharma Life?
14
8 7
0
Selling skills AwarenessaboutMHM
BusinessSkills
Other
Area in which training is required
4
8 7
3
6
0 1 2 3 >3
No. of meetings conducted in a month
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
<5 6-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50
No. of people attending meeting
35
of Jeevika or other SHGs in which upto 60
meetings are conducted per month under one
person. Such DLEs use SHG meetings to talk
about MHM and products of Dharma Life. The
delay in payment for the activities has decreased
the interest in DLEs to conduct such meetings. One
DLE was a shop owner. He does not conduct any
activity since awareness is suffiecient in his area
(Kalyan Chak). He has a shop comprising of fancy
ladies items and toher household items. The
number of people attending one such activity
varied from 5 in the case of 2 DLEs to 50 in the case of 3 DLEs. Majority of DLEs had 10
people attending the meeting at a time. Some DLEs used to conduct activity with the help of
Dharma Life representative which used to cater to 40 to 50 people at a time. The activity is done
with women of all age groups, caste groups, irrespective of their education background, school
girls and even for gents in some cases like when an ASHA conducts a meeting. 81% of the
respondents had the same audience in their meetings, only 15% had changing audience. In the
meetings, the DLEs talk about MHM and introduce them to products of Dharma Life. The
products discussed in the meeting include solar lights (7 DLEs reported), mobile phones, iron,
induction stove and johnson & johnson baby products (3 DLEs who were ASHA also).
12
1
0
13
0
6
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
I find product costly
I find it difficult to mobilise people
Guardian does not allow me to do this
Women have strong liking for cloth
Time does not match
Other
Challenges in holding meeting
4%
15%
81%
Does your target audience change or remain same?
changes oncein 3 months
different
same
36
The major challenges in holding meetings
are price of the product and strong
preference for cloth with the women in
the community. Other reasons included
delayed payment for activities conducted
earlier, health condition of the DLE and
unavailability of women during harvest
and sowing time. Awareness about other
brands present in the market also
significantly decreasee the interest of the
villagers in buying the product sold by the
DLE.
While 15 DLEs resported that they invite people for a health meeting, 5 others call for a samooh
meeting to discuss about MHM and products. Other DLEs invite people saying representatvies
from Delhi have come to show them about products, while some others call for a meeting to talk
about general development of the village. 18 DLEs reportedly shared different aspects of MHM
like process, diseases, usage of cloth, sanitary pads and general female hygiene. Some DLEs,
apart from this, talk about general sanitation and other products of Dharma Life.
The number of repeat customers suggests the strength of the DLE to influence the buyers. 26
DLEs have repeat customers. The rest are either newly joined or have stopped sales due to delay
in delivery of stock. 80% of the respondents have 30 repeat customers or less. Among them,
almost 40% have less than 10 repeat customers. This shows that the DLE is not able to influence
people in the village. Of
the 5 DLEs who reportedly
have more than 30 repeat
customers, one DLE, who
is has his own shop has
more than 100 repeat
customers.
Majority of DLEs promote
9
5
7
4
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
<10 11-20 21-30 31-40 >40
Number of Repeat Customers
26
14
3
1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
SGIM
Schools
Personal selling
none
How do you promote the usage of sanitary pads?
37
the usage of sanitary pads through SGIM (26). The next preferred place for promotion of sanitary
pads is schools. 3 DLEs resort to personal selling while one DLE does no promotion. The latter
owns a shop and has around 100 regular customers.
Part 4: Product (Sanitary pad)
68% of DLEs interviewed reported to have received product training in the last one year. The
ones who haven’t received training have received before the start of the work. One DLE was
newly selected and was yet to receive any training. Among the DLEs who received training, 79%
of them reportedly had received training on all the products available in the Dharma Life product
range. This included Induction stove, iron, solar light, mobile phone to name the one recalled by
them. Another 16% DLEs reported to have received product training about solar light, 1 DLE
reported lakdi stove and one DLE reported cooker.
Around 39% of DLEs were not confident about the products; the way it should be used and
wanted further hands on training on its usage. Of them, 8 DLEs wanted training on all the
existing product line of Dharma Life, while 1 DLE wanted to have regular training whenever
Dharma Life introduces a new product. Two DLEs wanted product training on sanitary pads;
about its usage, models and benefits.
32%
68%
Did you receive any training in
the last one year?
no
yes 61%
39%
Do you require any product
training?
no yes
8
1 2
0
2
4
6
8
10
All aboutexisting
products
Newproducts
Pads
Topic of product training
38
46% of the respondents think that product training will improve sales. 21 respondents want
marketing tools to be provided in the product training while 11 and 10 respondents respectively
requested more product options and selling skills training. 7 respondents felt the distribution
must be enhanced. None of the DLEs had any pamphlet or any other marketing tool to describe
the product to the villagers. They also reported that along with pamphlets, villagers feel the need
to touch and feel the product before they buy it. Merely showing them pictures won’t help in
selling. The DLEs who wanted the distribution to be enhanced, were living at areas farther from
the town. They reported that communication with CDO/EL is poor and even if they
communicate for products, it takes 2 to 3 days before the product is getting delivered. Two DLEs
reported that it was a huge task to convince villagers to buy a product worth more than Rs.3000
and when finally when the customer is ready to buy, the response from Dharma Life
representative is unacceptable. On further probing the issue, the Dharma Life representative
reported that stock issues force them to turn down such offers. If the distributor doesn’t have
product stocked at that moment, it takes around a week for the product to reach the distributor
and the customer is not ready to wait for it and look for options in the market.
54% 46%
Do you think product training
will help in increasing sales?
no
yes0
21
11 10 7
0
5
10
15
20
25
MoreInformative
Marketingtools
Moreproductoptions
Provideselling skills
Enhancedistribution
How can we improve our product training?
39
A look at the products in demand in the villages shows that sanitary pads have high demand in
22 of the 28 villages. Other products have very low demand in the villages. The possible reasons
given for low demand are high price of the products, absence of instalment options and
unavailability of stocks. Some DLEs also reported bad quality of the products sold. To
understand the stock issues of the products, we looked at the places where sanitary pads were
available. 18 out of 28 villages covered had sanitary pads available in shops inside the village
and 27 had sanitary pads available outside the village. This shows that there is high likelihood of
low sales through DLEs despite high demand for the product in the village as the customers have
choice.
None of the DLEs were involved with any community development organisation except the ones
working with Jeevika or other SHG supporting organisations and Asha workers.
22
1 2 2 0 1 1 0
2 0 0 1 0 0 1
0
5
10
15
20
25
High Medium Low
Products demand
pads Solar light Induction Stove Mixie Mobile
40
Part 5: Sales
DLEs choose to sell the products in their village as well as in other villages according to their
convenience, motivation and accessibility. 18 of the 28 respondents sold their products only in
their own village, 7 DLEs sold in their village and one other village, one DLE sold the products
in their won village and 2 and 3 other villages respectively. Out of them, only 26% of
respondents reported that distance is a barrier to sales. 6 out of 7 respondents who cover one
other village other than their own village
reported that distance was a barrier to
sales. 4 DLEs who sell in their own
village reported distance to be a barrier to
sales. The reasons given were as follows.
One DLE had a shop and it was not
possible for her to go door to door,
promote the product and sell. Another
DLE reported health issues to be a reason to stay
home. Another DLE was an Asha and had a shop of
her own. She preferred to sell at the shop. The last
DLE had a sewing class at her home and was not
no 74%
yes 26%
Is distance a barrier to sales?
18
15
11
4
6
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
SGIM Home Door todoor
Own Shop Others
How do you sell the products?
18
27
0
0
2
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Shops inside village
Shops outside village
Asha workers and SHG
NGO
Others
Places where sanitary napkins are available
no 70%
yes 30%
Are there any expense incurred while selling?
41
possible to stay outdoors for long. As such,
the DLEs preferred to sell the sanitary pads
through SGIM and from home as compared to
door to door sales and selling at schools. One
DLE reported that she tried to sell the sanitary
pads to the nearby kirana shop, which proved
out to be costly as the kirana shopwala was
getting at lower rates from the wholesaler.
Further, 30% of DLEs reported that they incur
expenses while selling. The expenses were
mainly the rent for transport (generally Auto rickshaw) or petrol charges incurred while
travelling.
The usual customers coming to the DLEs include school girls, Young women of the age 15 to 30
years old, married and unmarried and middle aged women aged 31 to 50 years old. Some DLEs
reported that older women also come to buy sanitary pads for their granddaughters. On further
probing, some DLEs reported that harijans don’t have access to sanitary pads as they are unable
to pay for the product. No other caste or age group were reported who don’t buy pads due to any
taboo in the village.
Ease of access is the major reason why customers prefer to buy sanitary pads from the DLE than
from other sources. Other reasons are that it is cheaper to buy sanitary pads from DLEs than
going to market and the preference to buy from ladies than from gents.
School girls, 23
Young women,
21
Middle aged
women, 11
0
5
10
15
20
25
No
. of
resp
on
de
nts
re
spo
nd
ed
Who are your usual
customers?
42
no 59%
yes 41%
Are you satisfied with the ROI?
DLEs have low investment capacity.
Only 14% of the respondents are
ready to invest more than Rs.2000,
which is required to buy a box of 72
packets of sanitary pads. 40% are
ready to invest less than Rs.500,
which is enough to buy 17 packets of
sanitary pads. Inability to pay for the
product upfront results in low sales
and low income for the DLEs.
Activity payment can be used as
investment to buy pads, but irregular payments have made the DLEs demotivated to carry out
meetings.
Most DLEs don’t understand ROI as for they don’t calculate their earnings nor do they record it.
Since the sale happens gradually over months, they don’t get a feel of the earning that they make.
As such, only 41% of DLEs are satisfied with the Return on Investment and the major suggestion
for increasing it is to reduce price at which pads are given to DLEs. Other suggestions are
increasing margin and resolving stock issues.
13 11
4
13
10
5
<500 500-2000 >2000
Investment capacity
Amount you have invested Amount you can invest
53%
17%
18%
6% 6%
Why should people buy from you and not from anywhere else?
Ease of access
Cheaper thangoing to market
Better to buyfrom ladies
Trust the DLE
43
About 74% of the respondents keep a stock less than 30 pads per month. Another 19% keep a
stock between 31 and 100 packets of pads, mostly near 35 packets per month. Only 7% stock
more than 100 packets per month. The reasons for low stocking are low sales, high prices and
unavailability of pads in time. The positive part is that 56% are still ready to stock more pads.
Even though DLEs are ready to invest, their investment capacity deters them from paying for the
product upfront.
The demand for sanitary pads is high in 23 out of 28 villages and the factors contributing to
conversion of that demand to sales can be attributed to getting price and availability factors right.
23
3 2
Demand for sanitary pads in the village
High
Medium
Low
<30 74%
31-100 19%
>100 7%
Stock of sanitary pads per month
44% 56%
Would you be interested in stocking
more pads?
no
yes
44
21 DLEs reported that price contributed to sales and reducing current price would help in
boosting sales. The other factor responsible for sales is availability. Establishment of a proper
distribution system is very important so that delay in replacing stocks can be avoided. This is
more important in case of consumer durables where the customer is not ready to wait, if the
product is not readily available to him/her.
Almost all of the DLEs reported that it was tough for them initially to establish sales due to low
awareness among the villagers about the product. Most of them have changed the situation and
created an environment where people are moving away from clothes and using sanitary pads. 9
DLEs reported that it was easy to establish sales. They were mostly Asha workers and SHG
members who found it easy to sell sanitary pads. Others have varying reasons like preference to
use cloth and high price of the product excluding them from its usage.
The profit story is the same as ROI story. The DLE doesn’t realize that he/she is earning any
profit and this question seems to be irrelevant to be asked at this juncture. While 74% of the
respondents reported that they earn a profit on the sale of sanitary pads, only 40% are satisfied
with the profit earned. There were some DLEs who were not too concerned about the profit
earned, they wanted to serve the society and make pads available, for which they were ready to
give up part of their profit. As the customers feel that the price is more, the DLEs have to sell the
pads at lower rates, sometimes at no margin. This causes less satisfaction among them.
26%
74%
Do you earn any profit on sale of sanitary
napkins?
no
yes
60%
40%
Are you satisfied with the profit?
no
yes
45
The main reasons for lesser profit earned are high price of the sanitary pad, low margin available
to the DLE and unavailability of products on time when there are demanded. Most of the
respondents (40%) also suggested a price of Rs.25 to be optimum for sanitary pads to improve
sales. About 22% suggested price to be between Rs.26 and Rs.30.
Only 41% of respondents are satisfied with the current margin of products and the major
suggestion is to reduce price at current margin while others suggest an increase in margin. The
2
4
1
1
Reasons for less satisfaction
Low margin High price Stock Issues
3
11
6
4
3
0 5 10 15
<25
25
26-30
33
LESS THAN MARKET PRICE
What should be the price of sanitary pad?
59%
41%
Are you satisfied with current margin of
products?
no
yes
12
4
R E D U C E P R I C E A T C U R R E N T M A R G I N
I N C R E A S E M A R G I N
What do you suggest regarding margin?
46
dissatisfaction with the margins can be attributed to the price of the product which forces the
DLE to sell at lower price. So, better pricing should improve the satisfaction of the DLEs.
13 out of 28 DLEs interviewed turn out to be highly competent on grounds of ability to
influence, convince and take initiatives. Another 11 DLEs turned out to be above average with
competency. Only 4 DLEs faired below average in the competence to take up the job.
1 2
1
11
13
1 2 3 4 5
No
. of
DLE
s
DLE Competence score
DLE Competence rating
47
5. LOGICAL FRAMEWORK
Objectives Measurable
Indicators
Means of
Verification
Important Assumptions
Goal:
Increase in DLE
income leading to
Empowerment of
Entrepreneurs.
Enhance DLE
motivation
Increased
Income
i. DLEs are able to sell at
MRP.
ii. DLEs are satisfied with the
increased income.
iii. DLEs note down income
generated.
iv. More women get to know
about DLE’s work.
Purpose:
Increase in Sales
Sales
Monthly sales
figure
i. People buy from the DLE.
ii. Stock availability increases
credibility of the DLE in the
community.
iii. Improved margins
motivates DLE.
iv. Awareness creation results
in sales
Outputs:
• Timely
availability of
products.
• Improved
margins to the
DLE
• Increase
MHM
awareness in
the
community.
i. Monthly
stock at
each DLE
stockist.
ii. No. of
trainings
provided.
iii. No. of
activities
conducted
by DLEs.
i. Monthly
report of
sales, stock
and activity
payment.
ii. No. of
trainings
attended by
each DLE.
i. Recommended distribution
model is implemented
successfully.
ii. Timely payment for
activities.
iii. Low priced product is of
acceptable quality to the
customers.
iv. New product introduction is
done during activities.
v. Awareness programs are
conducted regularly and
frequently. (At least thrice
monthly)
48
Activities:
• Enhance
distribution
system.
• Introduce
lower priced
product.
• Conduct
awareness
programs in
the
community.
Inputs:
1. Human
Resources:
i. Field staffs
including
EL and
CDO.
ii. Head office
staff
involved in
the project
for
recruiting
and training
the DLEs
2. Financial
Resources:
Cost of travel of
EL/CDOs, cost
of expenses paid
to DLEs during
training
49
5.1 INDICATORS
5.1.1 Inputs
1.1 Financial Resources
The field staff working in Bihar incur some expenses on a daily basis during their visit to the
field for conducting awareness activities and also for delivering the product.
Cost of travel of CDOs/ELs-
The field staffs bear a significant amount when on field. For reimbursements, they are
expected to report their daily expenses to the Accounts department. The CDOs forward the
soft copy of their bills to the EL. The ELs then mail their bills as well as the CDOs bills to
the Accounts Department. The soft copies of bills are forwarded like this after which the
Accounts Department coordinates with the ELs in case of any discrepancy in the bills.
Cost of expenses paid to DLEs during trainings-
Training sessions are conducted for the newly recruited DLEs. On attending the session, they
are reimbursed on the travel from their village and are also given food and other
refreshments. All these expenses are borne by Dharma Life as part of its induction program.
1.2 Human Resources
The entire network of Dharma Life is dependent on its field staffs who run around and get
the products delivered. Hence it is essential to map the time spent by field staffs:
Time spent by CDOs on field:
The CDO reports his daily beat plan to the EL, who monitors it on a weekly basis. Similarly,
EL reports it to the ACM who monitors it on a monthly basis. The ACM is in constant touch
with the Head Office and the Sales Head.
Recruitment of field staff:
50
The recruitment of CDOs is carried out by the EL in consultation with the ACM. After the
recruitment, these CDOs are given hands- on job training and a beat plan is prepared for
them according to which the CDOs are supposed to work.
5.1.2 Activities
5.2 Enhance Distribution System
Since the primary problem identified in the project is the supply chain issue, it is necessary to
enhance the distribution system so that timely delivery of products can be made to the DLEs
and also so that proper cash collection cycle can be maintained.
5.3 Introduce lower priced product
Another roadblock identified in the project was the Pricing Issue that DLEs in both the
districts complained about. A packet worth Rs. 33 was found to be costly for most of the
customers to pay and hence there needs to be an immediate change in the pricing of the
product.
Introducing a lower priced product would be one activity that would result in the DLEs being
able to increase their sales and ultimately reaching the goal.
5.4 Conduct awareness programs in the community
Community outreach is a crucial aspect of any behavior change model. Especially in cases
where the behavior change has to be done in the areas of hygiene and sanitation. Since
Bhagalpur was found to be lagging behind in the awareness part, it is imperative that more
and more awareness campaigns are conducted in the community.
5.4.3 Outputs
5.5 Timely availability of products
This output is achieved based on the assumption that the earlier activity of enhancing the
distribution system has been done properly and the implementation of the proposed
distribution model is also carried out effectively. Only if these two activities are carried out
in tandem, can the timely availability of products be ensured.
51
5.6 Improved margins to the DLE
This is based upon the assumption that a lower priced product has been introduced in the
market and the timely payment is done for all the activities that the DLEs carry out in a
month. Apart from this, there are several other assumptions like:
The lower priced product which is introduced for the price-sensitive customers is of
appropriate quality and is acceptable to the customers.
New and low price products are introduced to the DLEs which will help them earn more
margins by selling them.
5.7 Increased MHM awareness in the community
This is based on the assumption that the awareness activities conducted in the communities
have been followed up frequently with a frequency of at least thrice monthly. This would
result in increased awareness in the community.
The activities are measured using indicators such as monthly stock at each DLE stockist,
number of trainings provided and the number of activities conducted by the DLEs.
All these activities can be verified using sales report, stock reports and the reports about
activity payments. Apart from this, the number of trainings attended by the DLEs are also
a means of verifying the indicators.
5.7.4 Outcome
5.8 Increase in Sales
On the basis of the activities and the outputs, the increase in sales can be achieved which is
the desired outcome of the project. The outcome is based on a set of assumptions like:
Customers would be buying the sanitary napkins from the DLE only, once the
distribution channel is improved and there is increased awareness about the use of
sanitary napkins over cloth.
Another important assumption is that once the supply chain issues are resolved, the DLEs
would be able to sell the products to the customers immediately as and when there is a
52
need for it instead of waiting for the product to arrive every time. This would increase the
credibility of the DLE in her community and help her in selling more since she would’ve
gained the trust of the customers now.
We also had improving the margins of the DLE as one of the desired outputs which if
achieved would help in motivating the DLE further.
Here we are also assuming that the awareness creation activities that are conducted in the
community would result in increasing the sales.
We use the sales figures as the indicator here for which the monthly sales figure would be
used as a means of verification.
53
6 CONSOLIDATED FINDINGS
6.1 DLE Awareness
1. Even though more than 80% of DLEs have received training on MHM, 41% in
Bhagalpur and 28% in Munger feel the necessity of further training on MHM.
2. On the product training front, most DLEs are aware about the products like induction
stove, iron, mobile phone and solar light but they are still skeptical about how to use the
products. 61% in Munger and 14% in Bhagalpur have reported that they need further
product training.
6.2 DLE Motivation
Around 50% of DLEs in Munger and Bhagalpur have taken up the role of DLE to increase their
income. Only 48% in Munger and 59% in Bhagalpur are satisfied with the income earned as a
DLE. Low sale due to unavailability of pads on time is the major reason for dissatisfaction.
6.3 DLE Competence
Around 50% DLEs in Munger are highly competent and 50% DLEs in Bhagalpur are fairly
competent on leadership, taking initiatives and convincing skills.
6.4 Usual Customers
Majority of regular customers in both the districts are school girls and young women. They
contribute to 90% of sales in Bhagalpur and 80% sales in Munger.
6.5 Product
Pads are fast moving products in both the districts. Induction stove, mixer and mobile phone are
slow moving products in Munger while solar light have medium demand and iron has low
demand.
DLEs have reported that the customers require large size pads compared to the ones sold now. In
Munger, consumers require thicker pads while in Bhagalpur, they required more number of pads
per pack.
54
6.6 Price
Only 14% of DLEs in Munger and 12% DLEs in Bhagalpur were happy about the current price
of the product. 40% DLEs in Munger wanted the price to be Rs.25 and 60% of DLEs at
Bhagalpur wanted the price to be between Rs.26 and Rs.30.
6.7 Pack
DLEs reportedly wanted more pads in the pack. It was reported that bigger pack size of 16 or 20
pads would help them stock pads for next month in advance. Households with more than one
woman also preferred bigger packs to save money. Higher packs also meant capacity to pay for
it. Preference for bigger packs was preferred in houses near the town.
6.8 Proposition
Ease of access was the major reason why customers were buying from the DLE at both districts.
6.9 Promotion
26 DLEs in Munger and 28 DLEs in Bhagalpur reported that they promote the sale of pads in
SGIM. The next preferred place for promotion is Schools. 21 DLEs each in Munger and
Bhagalpur reported that they don’t have any marketing tools like pamphlets or catalogues.
6.10 Place
In Bhagalpur, 26 DLEs sell door to door and 25 DLEs sell through SGIM while in Munger, 18
DLEs sell through SGIM and 15 DLEs sell at home. Most of the DLEs reported that
unavailability of pads is causing low sales and hence reducing their income.
55
7 RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings from the field, a change in the 6Ps has been recommended. The 6 Ps are as
follows:
Price: Amongst several reasons that the DLEs stated for poor sales, primary reason was the price
of the product. Since earlier the MRP of the product was less (Rs. 30), customers feel that the
new MRP of Stayfree (Rs. 33) is over-priced and hence do not prefer buying it. DLEs on the
other hand started giving the product at a lesser price so that they could sell it. This resulted in
the DLEs receiving a lesser margin thereby reducing their income level. Based on the survey that
had been conducted, DLEs were of the opinion that if sanitary napkins were priced at Rs. 25 they
would be able to earn enough margin and customers would start buying the napkins as well.
Product: The product that is sold is Stayfree Secure Cottony soft regular with wings. Though the
product offers many features, there have been complaints from customers as already mentioned
in the findings earlier. Customers have complained about the product quality saying that the
product is very thin and hence does not serve the purpose. Another recommendation is regarding
the size of the wings. Customers prefer winged napkins over non-winged ones but prefer larger
wings compared to the one that is being offered. Also it has been observed that customers are not
brand conscious and hence introducing a new, low-cost product can help in easing out the issues
currently prevailing.
Pack: There is a need for more pads to be made available in a single packet so that utility of the
product within a household can be increased. For example, in a household with more than 1
woman, it would be economical for them to buy a packet having 24-25 pads rather than buying 3
packets. Also, introducing variants in the product has been recommended since customers prefer
buying better and bigger packs according to their spending capacity and having a single product
with no variants forces them to choose whatever is offered to them. This leads to such customers
going to the market to buy a sanitary napkin of their choice rather than buying it from the DLE.
Place: Based on the findings in both the districts, a recommendation for a new distribution
model has been made. The proposed distribution model comprises of a stockist at the block level
who will be responsible for giving the products to the DLEs. An existing DLE who owns a shop
would be an ideal stockist at the block level. This DLE Stockist can reduce the distribution gap
56
between the DLE and district level distributor. Though a similar model of a Master DLE had
already been planned once in Dharma Life, this model is an improvement of the current model
that exists.
Figure 6: Proposed distribution system
Selection criteria for a DLE Stockist:
1) The DLE Stockist should own a shop at the block level.
2) Minimum investment capacity of Rs. 20,000/ month (Refer Annexure 3)
Roles and Responsibilities:
1) DLE Stockist should keep regular track of the demand of the product from DLE.
2) Since he/she is a DLE, the stockist will have access to all the products of Dharma Life
which can be sold either to DLEs or regular customers.
3) He/she is supposed to co-ordinate with the district level distributor as and when products
are required.
4) He/she is supposed to collect the payment for the products sold to DLEs.
Existing Distribution
Model
State Level Distributor
District Level Distributor
DLE
Proposed Distribution
Model
State Level Distributor
District Level Distributor
Block Level Distributor
(DLE Stockist)
DLE
57
Benefits of this model:
1) Role of CDO can be minimized from the supply chain as now the DLEs can purchase the
products directly from the DLE Stockist instead of waiting for the CDO to deliver the
products. The CDO can now focus on other activities like promotion of the products.
2) Customers would be able to get a first-hand experience of the products, by visiting the
shop at the block level, thus increasing sales and the income of the DLEs. This also
reduces the information asymmetry that the customers have due to lack of a touch and
feel experience of the product.
3) Though stockist is a DLE, he/she would earn a margin of 50 paisa on selling the products
to the DLEs through his/her shop.
4) This model can also work as an exit strategy for Dharma Life as it would sustain on its
own without the involvement of Dharma Life at the ground level.
Challenges:
1) Difficult to identify a stockist who would have the required investment capacity and take
responsibility for the role.
2) It will be a challenge to estimate demand correctly and maintain proper records for the
same.
3) Stockist would be able to earn more margin only if he/she is able to increase the sales.
Promotion: Dharma Life offers a basket of products ranging from sewing machine to solar
lights, which are given to the customers according to their requirement. But one issue here is that
customers are not aware about all these products and their pricing. Even the DLEs are unaware
about the complete product list and hence there exists a huge communication gap between the
DLEs and the customers. More marketing tools like pamphlets, catalogues etc. need to be
developed to reduce this communication gap.
Product training is another important aspect of this project. DLEs are given product training prior
to their joining but they tend to forget it and end up not knowing how to use a product. This
becomes a problem while explaining the functioning to a customer. Repeated trainings need to
58
be given on the product to ensure that it is retained in the DLEs mind and they can effectively
explain the same to their customers.
Proposition: One major bottleneck in the project is the varied interests of the DLEs. While some
DLEs are extremely clever and can talk through things to push sales, some DLEs are very shy
and cannot clearly express the message across. Hence it is extremely important to put the
message across to the DLE that though selling sanitary napkins is a social cause and creates
awareness, they are supposed to make money at the end of the day, not for the organization but
for themselves. DLEs need to be provided with adequate knowledge in the following areas
before they can sell products:
Accounting Skills: Most of the DLEs do not keep account of the number of packets that
has been sold in a month since they are not even aware about basic accounting skills.
Making them aware will only benefit them as they will be able to monitor their inflow
and outflow better and calculate the margin that they earn by themselves. This will also
give them an idea about how much sales needs to be done to at least break even.
Selling Skills: In addition to accounting skills, DLEs have to be taught to sell the product
in a better way so that they don’t end up giving the product at a lesser price citing lack of
awareness as reasons for doing do.
59
8 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Harshad Thakur, et al., July 2014. Knowledge, practices and restrictions related to
menstruation among young women from low socioeconomic community in Mumbai,
India. Frontiers in Public Health, 2(72), pp. 1-7.
Long, J. H. a. J. L., n.d. Menstrual Hygiene Management - Operational Guidelines, s.l.:
Save the Children.
Marni Sommer, et al., 2014. WASH in Schools Empowers Girls’ Education: Proceedings
of the Menstrual Hygiene Management in Schools Virtual Conference 2013, New York:
United Nations Children’s Fund and Columbia University.
Sarah House, T. M. and S. C., 2012. Menstrual Hygiene Matters, s.l.: UkAid.
Shrivastava, P. S. S. and S. R., 2013. Assessment of Knowledge and Practices about
Menstrual Health among Adolescent Girls of an Urban Slum in Mumbai. International
Journal of Public Health Research, 3(2), pp. 306-311.
60
9 ANNEXURE
Annexure 1: Case Studies
Munger : Agatha Hansda
Agatha Hansda is a DLE from Sawaiya village, Dharhara Block. Agatha Hansda also runs an
anganwadi in her village. She has a girl child and her husband is an agricultural labour.
Agatha Hansda has been associated with Dharma Life for the last 3 years. She decided to join Dharma
after hearing from Dharma Life representative about the kind of work involved. She was working with a
nurse at a nearby Public Health Center (PHC). The nurse, Anupriya used to teach Agatha about female
hygiene, sanitation and other related topics. Inspired by the work Anupriya nurse was doing, Agatha
also wanted to do something for her village and make a difference. Her village includes Santhal tribes
and speak Santhali language. Agatha says, “Most of the women in the village go to the nearby forests
for collecting firewood. They are exposed to adverse conditions of weather. In spite of the difficulties,
they are forced to go as LPG connection is inaccessible to them.” These women go to forests even
during the time of menstruation. Due to lack of resources they used to make use of materials like rag,
waste cloth, plastic covers etc. When Agatha became aware of the situation of women in her village and
the possible diseases which could affect them, she was disturbed. When an opportunity from Dharma
came, nurse Anupriya advised her to take up the role and make the difference in her village that she
wanted to see.
Initially when she started working in the community, she wasn’t able to make much of a difference as
she wasn’t a very influential person in the village. There were several taboos in the village like not
touching trees, plants, not doing Pooja, not entering kitchen, not having pickle; school girls didn’t go to
school during menstruation. To attack these taboos was a difficult task for Agatha. She used to call for
meetings, but not many women used to turn up. Then, she started going door to door and telling women
about the menstruation, the care required to be taken during menstruation, the dos and don’ts, the taboos
involved and the diseases that can affect them if proper care is not taken. Initially, women were not
ready to accept what she said. They used to continue using rag and other materials. Realising that a
behavioural change happens slowly, she decided to promote the usage of cloth, so that the women are at
least safe. So, she started spreading awareness about usage of the right material of clot and how it has to
be washed and dried in the sun. She started telling them about the possible diseases that could affect
them in case they don’t wash and dry the cloth properly. Slowly, women in the community started
understanding the ill effects of using the rag and other materials and started accepting cloth. Once they
started accepting cloth, she started promoting sanitary pads. She started telling them the advantages of
using pads. Even though women still have a reluctance to use pads, she is still able to sell pads to more
than half of the women in the village.
61
Bhagalpur: Baby Devi
Baby Devi is a 40 year old social worker who has been associated with various SHGs right
after her marriage. She got married at the age of 18 and moved into the current residence. Her
husband has his own mill and earns about enough to feed the family of four. Baby Devi has
two children aged 20 and 17. Her elder child is married and younger one is still pursuing
studies. Though Baby Devi’s husband doesn’t earn so much to give them a life of luxury, it is
adequate to keep them happy. Though she is not in need of money, Baby Devi continues to
work with the full support of her husband. Since childhood, she was an inquisitive child and
would keep asking her parents about various things. Since her parents were illiterate, they
would ward her off saying she doesn’t need to understand everything that is happening around.
Being illiterate and poor, her parents couldn’t afford to teach her much. She got married at the
age of 18 and so couldn’t study much. But with the support and encouragement of her
husband, she cleared 12th
standard. After that she wished to prepare for UPSC exams since she
had always dreamt of serving the society in some form or the other. But she couldn’t
concentrate on managing her home, children and studies together and so decided to leave it.
But her spirit was still flying high. She came to know about an SHG that was looking for
volunteers to promote awareness. She saw this as a good opportunity and joined it. After that,
there was no looking back. She continued till the project was completed and then moved on to
work for another project. It was during this that someone informed her about Dharma Life and
what it aims to do for women in the villages. She joined Dharma Life after that and it has been
2 years since her association.
Baby Devi was already a known name in the village because of her association with several
SHGs. But joining Dharma Life has only given her more name in the society. Since she is a
very active lady, most of the women in the village know her and know the fact that she has
been associated with several health and hygiene awareness campaigns. She says it was
difficult initially to talk to women regarding menstrual hygiene and get them to switch over to
sanitary napkins. Women used to run away on the mere mention of menstrual practices and it
used to take a lot of convincing and coaxing for Baby Devi to make them sit through the
meeting. Over the years, she has conducted several meetings at regular intervals on
maintaining health and hygiene. Along with personal hygiene, keeping the surrounding clean
is very important. This is one message that she has been trying to spread in the community.
Importance of sanitation and good hygiene needs to be repeatedly fed to people so that they
remember it and start adopting it. She comes across as a very bold lady who has strong goals
for the community and has the determination to get them implemented as well. Her family has
been very supportive in all her endeavors and hence she has been able to teach her daughter
the importance of good hygiene very early in her life.
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Joining Dharma Life has been a good experience for her, since her confidence in talking to women
on social issues has only increased. She feels happy that she can play the role of a change maker in
the society. Not only hygiene but clean water and clean energy are also areas that she focusses on.
Her reason behind becoming a DLE was her passion to work with the community. “It feels good to
know that people recognize you from far and address you as ‘Madam’. They treat you with so much
of respect and that I think is because they understand the importance of hygiene and know how
difficult it is to bring in behavior change, especially in a society that is so traditional unlike the
modern families nowadays. I go from door to door asking if anybody needs sanitary napkins so that
there is nobody who is ignored in the process. Apart from this, I conduct regular meetings with the
women in the village wherein I demonstrate how a sanitary napkin is used, how to dispose them,
what are the benefits of using a sanitary napkin rather than a cloth. It gives you extreme happiness
when you see people switching to sanitary napkins from cloth and telling you about how they feel
better now.”
She recounts a particular incident during a meeting when she was explaining the benefits of using a
sanitary napkin. Women who were a part of the meeting till then started walking away because this
topic was being discussed. Elderly women were the ones opposing the idea of using pads, compared
to other women. On the other hand, young girls were the ones who were agreeing to everything
about pads. This made her realize one thing that day. Both change makers and breakers exist within
the same society, it is upon you to decide as to which side you are on. The meeting ended on a good
note as the young girls started convincing their grandmothers and other elder women about how
good it feels now compared to the time when she used to use cloth. How, now, she doesn’t need to
spend 5 days at home during periods and how she is able to do all those activities that she does on
normal days. With cloth, her movement was very restricted. Plus there was this constant fear of
staining her dress which prevented her from going to school. “It was very fascinating to watch the
young teaching the old.”
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Annexure 2: Demand Estimation (Munger)
Block Population Sex ratio Bihar Sex Ratio Estimated demand
Munger Sadar 134,089 869 921 126425
Darhara 131753 869 921 124305
Bariyarpur 109359 863 921 102504
Jamalpur 102896 875 921 97685
Tetiya Bambar 76303 875 921 72468
Haveli Khargapur 180920 878 921 172372
Tarapur 110214 888 921 106284
Asarganj 74380 871 921 70304
Sangarmpur 97729 876 921 92923
965271
Total demand in Rs 31853943
Targeting 10% (In Rs.) 3185394 Table 1: Demand Estimation of Munger
Annexure 3: Demand Estimation (Bhagalpur)
Block Population Sex ratio Bihar Sex Ratio Estimated demand
Jagdishpur 172107 899 921 167984
Colgong 331585 871 921 313649
Pirpainti 285357 871 921 269676
Sultanganj 195109 894 921 189243
Sonhaula 192397 900 921 187967
Shahkund 188078 880 921 179698
Naugachhia 105359 882 921 100831
Nathnagar 151291 883 921 145089
Goradih 146210 882 921 140006
Sabour 142805 880 921 136426
Kharik 132898 875 921 126255
Bihpur 123386 879 921 117740
Narayanpur 106701 868 921 100514
Gopalpur 94952 876 921 90324
Rangra Chowk 90284 872 921 85419
Ismailpur 43440 866 921 40817
2,391,635.67
Total demand in Rs 78,923,977.27
Targeting 10% (In Rs.) 7,892,397.73 Table 2: Demand Estimation Bhagalpur
Total demand estimated in Bhagalpur and Munger = 11,077,792
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Annexure 4: Investment capacity required
Bhagalpur Munger DLEs to be recruited Total
Blocks 16 11 0 27
DLEs 334 216 265 815 Table 3: DLE recruitment details
Assuming there are 30 DLEs in each block and each DLE demands a minimum of 20 packets
per month,
Minimum investment capacity of a DLE Stockist for current product = 30*20*33 = Rs.
19800 (Assuming price of Stayfree is Rs. 33)
Minimum investment capacity of a DLE Stockist for a new, low-cost product = 30*20*25 =
Rs. 15000 (Assuming price is Rs. 25)
So approximately an initial investment of Rs. 20,000 would be required from the DLE
stockist.
65
Annexure 5: Questionnaire for DLEs
PART 1: BASIC DETAILS
Unique Code No:
Name of the DLE Age Block Village Marital Status
□ Married
□ Single
1. Number of Family Members
a. Number of adults: Men __________ Women __________
b. Number of children: _________
2. Your occupation other than DLE
a. Only work as a DLE
b. Other than DLE, I also work as ___________________________________
3. Occupation of spouse/father: _______________________________________________
4. Total number of earning members in your family (including you): ___________________
5. Monthly Income:
Individual Household
<1000 <1000
1000-3000 1000-3000
3001-5000 3001-5000
>5000 >5000
PART 2: DETAILS ABOUT MHM TRAINING AND AWARENESS
6. Have you received any specific training in MHM before?
a. Yes b. No
7. If yes, what was the content of MHM training?
8. Do you think getting MHM training is required?
a. Yes b. No
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9. If yes, why do you think MHM training is required?
10. What are the things you don’t do during periods?
a. Not touching people
b. Not entering pooja space
c. Not going to school
d. Staying separate from the house
e. Not entering kitchen
f. Not having pickle
g. Others___________________________________________________________
11. What are the things that women in the community don’t do during menstruation? (probe-
what are the popular menstrual practices)
12. Are there any barriers to good MHM, details?
PART 3: DLE’S INITIATIVE AND FEEDBACK
13. Since when did you start working as a DLE? ____________________________________
14. Why did you take up this role?
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15. Did anybody advice you to take up this role?
a. Yes b. No
16. If yes, who? ____________________________________________________________
17. Is your family supportive about you taking up this role?
a. Yes b. No
18. In case you have to buy something for the house, who takes the decision in your house?
______________________________________________________________________
19. Are you satisfied with your income as a DLE?
a. Yes b. No
20. If not, do you want to list down some reasons? __________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
21. Do you think you can increase the income from this role?
a. Yes b. No
22. If not why do you think so? ________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
23. In your opinion, how much do you expect to generate from this role in a month?
b. <1000 b. 1001-3000 c. 3001-5000 d. >5000
24. What do you think is a barrier to generating this income?
25. Did you receive training before starting this work?
1. If yes, then what was the duration of the training? _______________________
2. Were you satisfied with the content of training and trainers attitude?
a. Yes b. No
26. Do you need any other training session from Dharma Life?
a. Yes b. No
27. If yes, in what topic do you need training?
a. Selling skills b. Awareness about MHM c. Business skills d. Any other
(please specify)
28. How many small group meetings do you conduct during a month?
a. 0 b. 1 c. 2 d. 3 e. >3
29. How many people do you cater to during that meeting?
a. 5 b. 10 c. More than 10
30. Who are your target audience in the meeting?
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a. Educated women
b. Uneducated women
c. Young girls
d. Middle aged women
e. Working women
f. Housewives
g. Women associated with any SHG
h. All of them
31. Do you only sell sanitary napkins during this meeting?
a. Yes b. No
32. Are there any other products you sell during small group meeting?
a. Yes b. No
33. If yes, then what all products do you sell? ______________________________________
34. What are the challenges in holding meetings?
a. I find product costly
b. I find it difficult to mobilise people
c. Father/spouse does not allow me to do this
d. Women have strong liking for cloth
e. Time does not match
f. Others __________________________________________________________
35. How do you invite the members for this meeting?
36. What do you share in these meetings?
37. Is your target audience same in all the meetings or do they keep changing?
______________________________________________________________________
38. Do you have any fixed customers buying sanitary napkins from you?
a. Yes b. No
39. If yes, then how many? ______________________________
40. If no, then what is the problem? _____________________________________________
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41. How do you promote the usage of sanitary napkins?
a. SGIM meetings b. Schools c. Others
42. Does repeat purchase of sanitary napkins happen? (Specify how many?)
1. Yes b. No c. Sometimes
PART 4: PRODUCT (SANITARY NAPKIN)
43. Did you receive any training about the product (sanitary napkin) in the last one year?
a. Yes b. No
44. Which all products training did you received as a DLE till now?
45. Do you think having a product training helps you sell a product in a better way?
a. Yes b. No
46. How can we improve our product training? (remember its product training, no other
suggestion should be entertained at this point)
More informative Provide
marketing
material like
leaflets,
pamphlets etc.
Provide more
product options
Provide selling
skills
Enhance the
distribution
network
47. Please share with us:
Fast moving products
as per you (a product
with maximum
demand and sale)
Medium moving
products (a product
with average demand
and sale)
Slow moving products
(a product with low
demand and sale)
48. Where all is sanitary napkin available in your vicinity?
Kirana Shops Shops outside Asha workers NGOs Others (Specify)
70
inside the
village
the village and SHG’s ______________
49. Have you ever been associated with social/community development organizations to
promote the usage of your napkins?
a. If yes, tell us more
PART 5: SALES
50. Which villages do you cover to sell sanitary napkin? ( Own / Own & Others as well )
51. Is distance a barrier?
a. Yes b. No
52. If yes, please describe further_______________________________________________
53. How do you sell the products?
a. Door to door
b. Own shops
c. SGIM
d. Others___________________________________________________________
54. Sales details
Products Sales
last
month
Sales
expected
this month
No. of people met
for sales
(individually/group)
Pads
Solar lights
Induction cook
55. Who are your usual customers? (Probe: Caste-wise, age-wise or working/housewives)
______________________________________________________________________
56. Why should people buy from you and not from anywhere else?
______________________________________________________________________
57. Are there any expenses incurred by you while selling?
a. Yes b. No
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58. If yes, then what?
59. What is the minimum amount that you can invest as a DLE? _______________________
60. What is the amount that you have invested now as a DLE till now? ___________________
61. Are you satisfied with the investment vis - a - vis return on investment?
a. Yes b. No
62. If not, then what are your suggestions as a DLE to get high return on investment?
______________________________________________________________________
63. What is the stock of napkins per week / month with you? __________________________
64. Would you be interested in stocking more pads?
a. Yes b. No
65. If yes, how much are you willing to invest? _____________________________________
66. If no, then why? _________________________________________________________
67. How would you rate the demand for sanitary napkins in the community you serve?
a. High (I’m able to easily influence and sell sanitary napkins)
b. Medium (It’s a challenge to convince women to use sanitary napkin nevertheless I’m
able to do it)
c. Low (It’s a challenge to convince and get women buying sanitary napkins)
68. What factors might increase the sale of napkins?
a. Cost
b. Availability
c. Ease of use
d. Others _________________________________________________________
69. How tough / easy it was for you to establish sale of sanitary napkin?
70. Do you earn any profit on the sale of sanitary napkins?
a. Yes b. No
71. If yes, are you satisfied with it?
a. Yes b. No
72. If you are not satisfied, what are the reasons? __________________________________
73. What should be the price of the product according to you? _________________________
74. Are you satisfied with the current margin for products?
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a. Yes b. No
75. If no, what do you suggest? ________________________________________________
76. Do you require any product training?
a. Yes b. No
77. If yes, please specify in detail
PART 6: OPINION LEADERSHIP
During discussions on improved menstrual practices
1 Always Others tell me about the practices
2 Mostly Others tell me about the practices
3 Sometimes I, sometimes Others tell about the practices
4 Mostly I tell Others practices
5 Always I tell Others about the practices
In general, during discussions I am
1 Never used as a source of advice
2 Rarely used as a source of advice
3 Not Sure
4 Sometimes used as source of advice
5 Always used as a source of advice
As compared to others, I am asked about improved menstrual practices
1 Never
2 Rarely
3 Not Sure
4 Sometimes
5 Always
As compared to others, I am asked about disposal practices
1 Never
2 Rarely
3 Not Sure
4 Sometimes
5 Always
People ask me about
1 Never
2 Rarely
3 Not Sure
4 Sometimes
5 Always
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pads?
I initiate discussions about menstrual hygiene and related topics
1 Never
2 Rarely
3 Not Sure
4 Sometimes
5 Always
SPECIAL REMARKS (IF ANY):
74
Annexure 6: Questionnaire for FGD
Code No:
1. General Information
Name Age Education
Total number of women attending FGD:
2. Location:
a. Block:
b. Village:
3. Have you all attended any workshop or sessions on female hygiene
Number of women saying YES Number of women saying NO
4. Are you aware about Menstrual Hygiene Management?
Number of women saying YES Number of women saying NO
5. If yes, what did you learn about MHM?
6. How many awareness programs have you attended on menstrual hygiene in the past one
year?
Number of women saying 1:
Number of women saying 2:
Number of women saying 3:
Number of women saying more than 3:
7. Do you use a sanitary napkin?
Number of women saying YES Number of women saying NO
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8. If yes, where do you purchase it from?
Number of women saying DLE:
Number of women saying local shop/kirana shop/shop outside village:
Number of women saying Medical Shop:
Number of women saying SHG:
9. (If from DLE) Why do you buy from the DLE and not from the stores?
10. Are you aware about other brands in the market?
Number of women saying YES Number of women saying NO
11. If yes, please specify names of brands:
______________________________________________
12. How many of you use cloth during periods?
Number of women saying YES Number of women saying NO
13. How many of you use both cloth and sanitary napkin during periods
Number of women saying YES Number of women saying NO
14. Have you received any other product from the DLE?
Number of women saying YES Number of women saying NO
15. If yes, please specify: ______________________________________________
