She drove me tentatively as we passed through the town. As she crossed the main highway, she breezed through, letting me talk to the wind. Mohini was riding me for the first time. I was really excited to reach the interiors of India on my maiden journey. After a ride of an hour, she reached her work place. Mohini, an engineering graduate with a management degree from Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) embarked on the journey of rural development in the year 2016. Her workstation is the radius of 25 kilometres in Narharpur block of Kanker district in Chhattisgarh. She works in PRADAN with indigenous tribes in some of the poorest and isolated villages of the country.
I was left wondering at my alternative prospect: Where would I be if Mohini had accepted the offer to join a bank instead of PRADAN?
I must say I have already seen many emotional roller coaster events. Mohini’s parents visited and they were left wondering what their highly educated daughter was doing in such a remote place. I liked the awe on their face when they met other young and educated professionals in the team who were working in Kanker on poverty alleviation.
Mohini has spent much of her time in mobilizing women of villages into Self Help Groups. These are small informal mini-banks of poor families to access easy credit and save.Mohini, today, is organising a village level meeting on improved agricultural practices. This is the peak of summer before the monsoon rains. Women in the village are eagerly waiting for her. Some of them even admire my looks and colour.
However, I must say the roads are very bumpy. I like the ride though. Children rush behind me as soon as I reach their village. Little girls climb on me, as the agriculture training commences, at a distance.
One girl chirps, "I will also buy a scooty when I grow up"
The monsoons have arrived. I like staying out and getting drenched.
We reach the village again. It was quite muddy on the way but I don’t mind. Mohini is training the women on improved farm practices. I see her teaching new techniques to women farmers by demonstrating in the farm itself. She does this in every village that she goes.
As I wait, it drizzles a little; washing away all my mud.
The rains lashed last week but I was sturdy. We visited many villages and worked with women farmers on pest control practices. The Self Help Groups have started inter-loaning. I overheard a woman say, “We have our own bank now!”
Today, the sun is peeping out. We reach the village where Adivasi women are waiting for us. They hold Mohini tight to tell her that the crops are in a healthy shape. The new System of Root Intensification (SRI) technique and organic pest management seems to be the reason for their happiness.
Earthen roads in the village are today strong and durable as the sun has been beating down.
The Self Help Groups have now provided micro-credit to poor families to cater to needs in agriculture, buying school uniform for their children and even medicines.
The harvest is also done. New agricultural practices adopted by women farmers have ensured year round food security. Families have earned significant income from new techniques of vegetable cultivation.
I overhear some happy villagers, “There has been bumper rice production this year”.
Another astonished man remarked, “Women from our village are selling vegetables in the market”.
Ah! I almost forgot. Mohini even tried teaching some women farmers how to drive me when they came to the PRADAN office.This has already been a mind boggling journey for me. Women who had never ventured out of their houses are speaking up now. Many still suffer from poverty and marginalization. But Mohini keeps pushing every day. It is such a difficult area and at times, I am at loss of words to talk of triumphs and frustrations, of alienation and reclaiming their lives and rights, of annual Mahadiveshans and women power, of new agriculture techniques and vegetable farming, of difficult living conditions but happy camaraderie and team work, of deprivation and food security, of silent suffering and fighting for elections, of family visits from home and creating new family links with communities, of Holi and Diwali, of erratic rain, monsoons and irrigation, of mango orchards and poultry farms, of walking miles, from being driven to meetings to taking the driver's seat.
I feel happy. I am also a co-traveller in this journey of development in some of the poorest villages in India. And tomorrow, I look forward to another exciting day of many smiling faces and aspiring better lives.
She drove me tentatively as we passed through the town. As she crossed the main highway, she breezed through, letting me talk to the wind. Mohini was riding me for the first time. I was really excited to reach the interiors of India on my maiden journey.
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.