page_title: Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad
section_title: Organization structure and management
hierarchical_section_title: Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad / Organization structure and management
caption_attribution_description: The organization structure of Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad, based on [1]
context_page_description: Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad, popularly known as Lijjat, is an Indian women's cooperative involved in manufacturing of various fast-moving consumer goods. The organisation's main objective is empowerment of women by providing them employment opportunities. Started in 1959 by seven women in Mumbai with a seed capital of only Rs.80, it had an annual turnover of more than Rs. 800 crore in 2018. It provides employment to 43,000 women across the country.
  Primarily a cottage industry, urban by its origin, which has spread to the rural areas, it had an annual Rs. 290 million worth of exports in 2010. It is considered as one of the most remarkable entrepreneurial initiatives by women that is identified with female empowerment in India.
context_section_description: Lijjat believes in the philosophy of sarvodaya and collective ownership. It accepts all its working members as the owners and an equal partaker in both profit and loss. The members are co-owners and fondly referred to as "sisters". All the decisions are based on consensus and any member-sister has the right to veto a decision. Men can only be salaried employees (accountants, drivers or security guards), and not the members of the organisation (i.e. they are not the owners).
  The running of the organisation is entrusted to a managing committee of twenty-one members, including the President, the Vice-President, two secretaries, and two treasurers. Sanchalikas are in-charge of various branches and divisions. The office bearers of the managing committee and the sanchalikas are chosen from among the member-sisters on the basis of consensus every three years
  . Each branch has a committee of eleven member-sisters, again chosen by consensus.
  The central office at Mumbai previously coordinated the activities of various branches. But, as the organisation grew, the authority was decentralised in terms of work and sharing of profits at the branch level. However, the sanchalikas still need the managing committee's approval before they undertake any new project or activity.
  All the branches follow the same set of instructions and have similar accounting system. To co-ordinate various branches in a region or state, there are branch co-ordination committees and area meetings of the various branches in a state. The annual general meeting is attended by member-sisters representing branches and divisions from all over India.
  Currently, Lijjat has branches in seventeen Indian states – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
  Account books are easily accessible to all the member-sisters, ensuring transparency. Lijjat follows its own financial accountability principle. There is no credit method for running operations in the organisation. Every payment is done on a daily basis, except for the outside supply of raw material. Profits and losses are shared equally among the members of a given branch. In the initial days of Lijjat, the profits of the first six months were shared equally among all sisters in the form of gold. This sharing practice is still in effect, but now the decision whether to share the profits in gold or in cash is made at the branch level. The cost of national-level advertising is borne by all branches and divisions, depending on their individual production abilities.
  The quality of papads can vary due to quality of water used in various parts of India. To avoid any inconsistencies, the final products are tested in the Lijjat's laboratory in Mumbai. In the monthly meetings, the quality issue and modifications are tested. The central office purchases and distributes all ingredients to maintain the quality of the final product. For example, the urad dal is imported from Myanmar, asafetida is imported from Afghanistan, and black pepper comes from Kerala. 
  The committee often makes surprise visits to various branches to assure that production conditions are hygienic. When a new branch of Lijjat opens, a neighbouring Lijjat branch helps it by guiding and training new members.
  On successive failures of a branch to abide by the organisation's philosophy of consistent quality and production of papads, the central committee reduces the daily wages of its members by 1 rupee. The member-sisters are also rewarded for extra effort. For instance, in 2002, the member-sisters at the Rajkot branch received Rs 4,000 each as bonus, while the member sisters at Mumbai and Thane branches received a 5-gram gold coin as an incentive. Several issues of Lijjat Patrika enumerate the names of the names/numbers of the member-sisters, who were rewarded with the cash or gold, for their extra efforts.
caption: Lijjat organisation structure
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