For the last 624 weeks, the Laxmi SHG in Somukheda village in Hosangabad district of Madhya Pradesh had been meeting every Tuesday evening without fail. Twelve years of unflinching commitment. There had been many ups and downs in this journey which the women fondly remember and cherish:
“Jab Samiti bani thi, muje laga hum jaldi hi jhagda karenge”, remarks Vimla. (When the group was formed, I thought we will all end up quarrelling)
“Tu toh ekdum chup rehti thi, kaun jhagda karta tere sath”, overrides Shivkali. (You were so silent back then, who would fight with you)
“Hum sab jab pehli baar bank gaye group ka khata kholne, manager dang reh gaya”, exclaims Sunita. (The bank manager was taken aback when we went to open our group’s account for the first time)
“Koi soch sakta tha ki hum unpad mahilaye murgi ka dhanda karenge”, adds Latika. (Who would have thought that illiterate women like us would be engaged in poultry enterprise?)
The women of the SHG were in a reflective training exercise to take stock of their journey so far and find ways to address challenges in future. They were now aspiring to expand their poultry enterprise.
The expansion entailed financing additional shed construction, and they needed loans from a financial institution. Several Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) started approaching them with their readily available soft loans, but the interest rates were very high. The alternative was to engage with a public sector bank. Being a part of the larger Narmada federation, definitely gave them the confidence to affirmatively engage with bankers. The Central Madhya Pradesh Grameen Bank (CMGB) offered the SHG a loan of INR 0.25 million (US$ 3,447). The women of the group have since successfully renovated their poultry sheds and increased the space and thereby doubled their flock of poultry birds.
This linkage has helped them strengthen their livelihoods and significantly increase their household incomes, giving them much confidence. The loan repayment is regular. Gone are the days when bankers were irritated to see poor women requesting for loans. Who would have thought that a SHG in a remote village in MP would be able to evolve a transparent finance management system and engage with a public sector bank to ensure financial inclusion? These Adivasi women are challenging many old norms. And setting new ones; be it for justice or for financial inclusion.
Thank you for being a part of this journey. The communities in remote corners of our country need support: our support to realize their potential. Imagine the change we can bring, together. Let’s inspire more people to bring about change- to collectivise another village or help start a micro-enterprise in a remote corner in India. Let’s come together and make a difference.
The journey of the last decade had brought a sea change in the lives of women of the Laxmi SHG. Strong association with their group and the larger federation, Narmada Mahila Sangh, provided each member with the courage to fight with poverty and inequality. Now they were aiming at significantly increasing their livelihoods portfolio, and to do that, a substantial support from a financial institution was the need of the hour.
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.