It all started some 20 years ago, when PRADAN professionals went to Nathpur for the first time and after three months of intense persuasion and negotiation, 12 women hesitantly came forward. They formed the first SHG of their panchayat, Vikas Mahila Mandal. Slowly, but steadily the number of SHGs grew. Women, whose contributions on the farms and inside their homes were being perennially ignored, started gaining visibility as “agents” with potential to bring such “changes” which none had ever thought of. Change in farming techniques and new set of water harvesting systems transformed the face of agriculture, multiplying the income of hundreds of Nathpur farmers in the next 10 years. Their federation, Mahila Vikas Mandal, Palkot was formed in 2004 with 11 SHG members taking up the challenge of changing the socio-economic scenario of the villages. In fact, during the ensuing Panchayat elections, they came together to elect one of their own representatives as Mukhiya. Their long pending demand for a properly constructed road in Nathpur was finally met with the new lady Mukhiya in place. Nathpur inhabitants experienced the power of a collective, for the first time.
A Village Organisation (VO) named Nathpur Gram Sangathan, Badkitoli came into existence to further the development work with the help of these SHG women.
“Hum khud laabh uthhaye hain group ka…baaki behene kyun pichhe rahengi? Sabko jod lenge group mein” – claimed Premabati, one of the leaders of the federation.
There were a total of 759 households in Nathpur village, and the VO made a detailed plan to mobilise all the left-out families into the SHG fold. To ensure SHG members benefit from robust and functional SHG systems, several monitoring committees, called Mahilamandal DekhRekh Samiti, were established by the VO. They conducted a survey to select the tolas where most of the families were left out. The SHG members took out a rally that moved around every Nathpur hamlet with slogans to raise awareness about importance of SHGs. It was also an invitation for them to attend a SHG awareness camp organized by the village organization in the following week. Various posters highlighting key successes of the SHGs like stopping open grazing, making schools functional, robust Gram Panchayat election campaigns were put up. Specially designed skits, by VO members, brought forth a variety of issues plaguing the society at large, that the 250-strong crowd of women audience had hitherto considered to be their own unique problems. At dusk, as the program drew to an end, several women came forward and consented to form new SHGs. Within a week they had formed approximately 30 SHGs that included close to 400 women.
One more VO, Nathpur Gram Sangathan, Dahudarn had to be formed because the number of SHGs bexceeded the limit by 20! After one year when the VO members realized that many of the newly formed SHGs were underperforming vis-a-vis the aspiration, they planned another camp for strengthening these institutions, and called it an annual Aam Sabha (General Assembly). The event reinfused energy among the members of collectives. The SHG members set themselves to plan with renewed zest for the year ahead. With almost 70% SHGs linked to bank credit, finance committees called, Arthik DekhRekh Samiti started monitoring timely repayment of loans. Of late, the VO is also engaged in monitoring management of the local schools under the leadership of Nyay Ewam Adhikar Samiti (rights and justice committee).
“Nathpur Gram Sangthan Badkitoli ke didion ne milkar har kaam ko aage badhane mein humari madat ki hai. Aaj chahe ghar ka jhagda ho ya phir Ration-paani ka – koi bhi samasya humare liye samasya nahi hai. Dada-log bhi har koi mushkil kaam ke baare mein humko puchne lage hai aajkal” beams Savitri.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.