As Shivkali washed the dishes and did the laundry in the house of the Bada Sahib of the village, this Gond tribal woman secretly cocooned a dream of a life out of intergenerational poverty.
But can a maid, a casual labourer or a marginalized farmer and others at the bottom of the social pyramid really become self reliant economic actors?
Anshuman Singh from Betul relives the fear and faith, hesitance and hope, and finally tumble and transformation of the last decade in the life of Shivkali.
Within just a few months of her marriage, Shivkali faced an uphill battle to feed her family. The family, with no irrigation infrastructure, was at the mercy of the rain-gods. There was a brief period of dry spell during that monsoon. Crop failure loomed large. This proud tribal woman had to make a choice or rather had no choice.
She found work as a maid in one of the affluent houses in the village and laboured from morning to night, just to put two meals for the family on the table; in their case on the floor. She toiled there for two years.
“A farmer belongs to the field and not inside someone else’s household”, the sentiments are still strong as she reflects now.
Farming in this village, as in large parts of rural India, was not remunerative enough. She began engaging as casual labourer, wherever there was work available. Someone, in her neighbourhood, informed her about the new help groups in the village and its utility in catering to credit needs. She joined the Devi Self Help Group (SHG) in February 2007 and started saving ten rupees weekly.
Life moved on. A well was dug in her farm when her SHG negotiated in the Gram Sabha (village council meeting) for the same. New cropping practices were introduced. Agriculture production increased. Her family grew to five, including a son and two daughters. There were now more mouths to feed.
Photo Credit: Anshuman Singh
When in the summer of 2012, PRADAN team discussed about a magic plant, there was a touch of skepticism in the village.
The fruit of mulberry (locally called Shahtoot) is small and black. It grows in the wild and little children can be seen swinging from the trunks and devouring the sweet juicy pulp in Churi village in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh. Mulberry sericulture (to rear and sell cocoons), at that point, seemed a far-fetched venture for the women of Churi given the technical expertise it entailed.
A visit to another village some twenty kilometers was arranged where communities were engaged in mulberry sericulture. One thing led to the other and soon Shivkali was rearing silkworms. It required technical knowledge and stubborn engagement to take care of silkworms.
“In the first year, I could barely earn anything (Rs 1,400). I had not yet grasped the technicality very well. I feared people would say I could not do it well and even this path would close forever,” she remembers clearly.
During the second year, her SHG sisters stood firm with her. Jaiwanti and Rampyari supported her in cultivating the plants while Kamla worked with her in the worm rearing process.
Photo Credit: Anshuman Singh
“In the next season, at the end of every training session, I used to go home and think about all the technical details. I wanted to know everything. I had to succeed. Failure would be worse than working inside someone else’s household.”
Photo Credit: Anshuman Singh
Persistence and hard work bore fruit; fruit sweeter than the black and juicy Shahtoot.
Shivkali, today, is a source of inspiration for many families in her village who are stuck in poverty. For them, cocoons are an instrument for a better life. Fifty-two women in this village are intensively into sericulture today. Shivkali walks with a proud gait- the demeanour of an empowered tribal woman who did not resign to circumstances. She is ever ready to extend her new technical skills to other sisters in her village. Together they can be a force for good, a force for change.
The actors like Shivkali, at the bottom of the social pyramid, need not be maids to destiny but given the right opportunity, support, and training can be masters of their own fate.
Photo Credit: Anshuman Singh
As Shivkali washed the dishes and did the laundry in the house of the Bada Sahib of the village, this Gond tribal woman secretly cocooned a dream of a life out of intergenerational poverty.
Organization: Professional Assistance for Development Action
Designation: Employment Facilitator
Number of Positions: 1
Locations: 1)Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
PRADAN aims at providing relevant employability skills to young women from its states of operation – Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh- and help them get linked to appropriate employment opportunities. A major destination of employment is in the four southern states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Delhi NCR Region in potential sectors such as manufacturing, automotive, e-commerce, garments, textiles, hospitality, healthcare and retail industry. PRADAN is looking for a person to liaison with employers and young women who are engaged so that they work in a dignified work environment, able to retain themselves and build a long-term career for themselves. The person would be reporting to Integrator, PRADAN.
Key Deliverables:
QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES:
Education
Applicants must have Degree/Post Graduate Degree/ Diploma preferably in Social Sciences, Rural Development/ Management or equivalent, from a reputed institute.
Experience
(1) Minimum 3 to 5 years of experience in rural / urban development / skilling / employability programmes.
(2) Experience of working with employment generation programs is preferable, and not mandatory.
Skills and Competencies:
(1) Good written and oral communication skills in English and functional communication in Hindi and Tamil is preferable
(2) Excellent interpersonal skills
(3) Excellent team skills
(4) Willing to travel
COMPENSATION OFFERED
Compensation offered to the selected candidate shall be commensurate with qualifications, experience, and past salary history.
LOCATION
The job requires the person to be on the go; can operate from Coimbatore but should be willing to visit the employment facilities on a regular basis.
Founded in 1983, PRADAN has been at the forefront of innovations in rural development and has played a significant role in the design and implementation improvement of major rural development programmes. Given the deep deprivation in rural pockets, particularly among tribal and vulnerable groups, we promote sustainable livelihoods, integrated with work on issues of Gender, WASH, Health, Nutrition, Climate Change, Skilling and Governance. We currently work across 8 states, reaching out to 2.8 million households in collaboration with more than 100 NGO partners. PRADAN is an equal opportunity organisation. To learn more, please visit us at: www.pradan.net.
As an Executive (Communications), the incumbent is supposed to be a knowledgeable, self-motivated and passionate individual with a creative bent of mind. The major focus area would be to promote and help flourish the practice of reflective writing and process documentation. The role involves content generation, curation, presentation and publication of articles for internal forums and external agencies including mainstream media. The person will also be responsible for organising training events for the same. Creating and implementing the media strategy to showcase PRADAN’s successes and challenges will be another key aspect of the position.
The qualifying degree is a minimum of 16 years of education (A Master’s degree in English literature, or any other social science stream).
A degree or diploma in Mass Communication from a reputed institute is preferred
Nature of Engagement: Regular position with a probation period of six months.
Remuneration: Based on qualification and experience the CTC would be in the range of INR 8 to 10 lakhs per annum. The CTC includes basic pay and other allowances. Apart from this, provision of deferred benefits such as PF, Gratuity, NPS, Insurance (Term life insurance, hospitalization insurance for self and dependents and accident insurance policy) are provided.
Place of posting: In PRADAN locations (possibly district town or state capital)
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Those shortlisted will be invited to a selection process in Noida, tentatively in the first week of September 2024.
PRADAN is an equal opportunity employer. Women candidates are encouraged to apply.
Interested candidates with the relevant background and fulfilling the eligibility criteria are visit our website https://www.pradan.net/join-us/#careers and fill the ‘Application for Executive (Communications)’.Applications close by August 31, 2024.