Haqdarshak Success Story – Connecting Indian Citizen with Eligible Welfare Schemes

The govt. of India spends over 7% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on welfare services. But still, we see a huge gap in the demand and supply, that ultimately results in unspent funds. This is where Haqdarshak steps into the game. The company wants to connect Indian citizens with their eligible welfare schemes through its app and technology platform. They want all the weaker and marginalized sections of society to avail the benefits of government & non-government programs. So, let us get into this article to read the success story of this amazing startup.

Haqdarshak – Key Points

• Startup Name – Haqdarshak
• Founding Year – 2015
• Headquarters – Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
• Founders – Aniket Deogar
• Industry – Finance, Government, Financial Services
• Sector – Private
• No. of employees – 300
• Website – www.haqdarshak.com

Haqdarshak – Founder & Team

• Aniket Deogar - He is the CEO & co-founder of Haqdarshak. He is an alumnus of SRCC, University of Delhi and an Acumen India Fellow. Aniket has always been an active worker for the marginalized people of our country and he leads the team with his extremely passionate drive.
• Madhura Karnik – She is the Chief Growth Officer (CGO) of the company and leads the growth vertical that includes marketing, client servicing, sales, communications, and impact measurement. Madhura is a financial analyst and an ex-journalist.
• Savita Muley – She is the Vice President of the product & tech who is building the next-gen tech team & products for the last mile. Savita has more than 18 years of experience in advising and delivering solutions for global financial services giants.
• Gayathri Shanmugam – She is the Vice President of training & development and monitoring & evaluation. Gayathri has more than 20 years of experience in IT and ed-tech and leads quality control audits via M&E.

Haqdarshak – Brand Name, Logo, and Tagline

• Brand Name – The company’s brand name resonates with its work. They are connecting all the right people with the various government and non-government schemes, hence the name Haqdarshak.
• Logo - Haqdarshak’s logo is very simple and it is written in both English and Hindi language. This is a smart move to cater to all the people of India.
• Tagline – The company’s logo is ‘Every Citizen Matters’.

Haqdarshak – Business Model

Haqdarshak’s business model is described in the below-mentioned points:

• They use technology to build the information gap by codifying and digitizing welfare schemes data on the platform thereby building a rich repository of government services in local Indian languages.
• They use an easy eligibility-discovery engine that provides results in minutes.
• Haqdarshak trains select field agents for on-field implementation to implement the assisted-tech model.
• They provide end-to-end support to community members.

Haqdarshak – Investors & Funding

Haqdarshak raised $1.1 M funding in over 3 rounds. All of its fundings rounds are mentioned below.

• $191 K – Angel round, Ravi Saxena, May 22, 2017
• Undisclosed amount – Seed Round, Acumen, Jul 30, 2020
• Rs. 66.5 M – Seed Round, May 11, 2021

Haqdarshak – Offerings

• The company trainers field cadres as last-mile support agents – Haqdarshaks. They provide application support services to communities for a fixed amount of fee. They use the Haqdarshak agent app for implementation.
• They design and implement agent-based and direct-to-beneficiary welfare schemes linkage programs for NGOs, government departments, corporates, and philanthropies.
• They have a customized scheme-linkage program for pre-defined beneficiary cohorts. They focus on improving the standard of living of citizens through schemes across thematic areas including education, social security, education, and employment.

Haqdarshak – USP

Haqdarshak has been able to strengthen service delivery with the help of technology at the last mile. This ensures transparent, efficient, and fast execution of our solutions. Some of its USPs are as follows:

• They have accountable verticals for every function with a structure that both guides and empowers.
• The company has documented processes and people independent structure that enables them to work like a well-oiled machinery
• Haqdarshak also invested in an in-house dedicated M&E team that acts as the ears and eyes of operations.
• They also have standardized yet customizable and cohesive offerings.
• Haqdarshak has a team of experienced people that launches projects in record time.

Haqdarshak – Advantages

Haqdarshak provides various advantages to its customers. Some of them are as follows:

• Community-based collective impact
• Women empowerment
• Supporting women by creating livelihoods for them
• Measurable, quantitative results
• Sustainable livelihood
• Engage and empower communities
• Linking unorganized sector workers with social security
• Focused, thematic area approach
• NGO empowerment

Haqdarshak – Growth

Haqdarshak has seen a reasonable amount of growth in the past few years. Some of its growth factors are as follows:

• The company has trained more than 18,000 Haqdarshaks in over 3-4 years
• They have reached across 22 states
• Haqdarshak have submitted over 12,00,000 applications for the welfare program
• The company has helped in channelizing benefits worth Rs. 1300 crore since its incorporation
• They have impacted over 15,00,000 citizens through their various programmes
• They have successfully converted over 10,00,000 applications to benefits

Haqdarshak – Challenges Faced

There is always a tone of challenges on the path of a startup journey. Haqdarshak being a newly incorporated company, had to face various challenges. Some of them are as follows:

• Accessibility – The beneficiaries of the various schemes and programs live in rural or extremely remote areas of the country. It is a task for the company to reach out to these people, hence making the touchpoints very far.
• Mobility – Due to the poor development in the rural areas of the country, mobility is also poor. There is very limited public transport available and commuting to those places is tough.
• Network connectivity – These places also have poor network connectivity. So getting any work done is quite difficult as the use of an internet connection is a requirement.
• Literacy – In India, illiteracy is very prevalent. The illiteracy rate amongst women is way high as compared to men. Especially in rural areas, women are often illiterate. This makes them difficult in comprehend the government information.

Haqdarshak – Future Plans

Some of the upcoming plans of Haqdarshak are as follows:

• The company wants to reach all the states in India, including the very remote areas as well.
• Haqdarshak is planning to train over 30,000 people by the end of this FY.
• They want to submit more than 15,00,000 applications for the welfare program.
• Haqdarshak wants to increase their channelized benefits over Rs. 1400 crores.
• The company also wants to successfully convert more than 12,00,000 applications to benefits by the end of this FY.
• Haqdarshak wants to impact the lives of more than 20,00,000 citizens through their various programmes in the coming few months.