“Today I actively participate in the Theatre of the Oppressed. I visit remote villages across Purulia district in West Bengal, taking my story and other social messages to women and adolescent girls to give them hope, encouragement to raise their voices and to live a life with dignity. I pledge to make my daughter a confident and independent working woman. “
I was born to a family where sons and daughters were not considered equal, which is the norm rather than an exception in Indian society. I wanted to study but was married of early to a man who was severely diabetic and 12 years elder to me. Abuse -both emotional and physical, was a daily affair in the household. However, my husband died soon after my daughter was born, leaving me totally dependent on my in-laws and staring ahead into a dark future. Being a Muslim woman, one is strangled with several social and cultural restrictions especially in rural societies. My life was more stifling as I was a widow, a Muslim widow.
Looking back on my association with Pradan — it changed my life forever. One of my neighbours introduced me to a local Self Help Group (SHG) promoted by Pradan. The eighteen women members in my group gave me solace and support as most of them had similar problems. For the first
time ever; I had my own money, my own savings! I found purpose in life and was determined to live for my daughter.
I gathered courage and applied for a teaching position in the Adult Functional Literacy (AFL) programme of Pradan. As most women were illiterate they would say, “we are blind even though we have eyes”, but we all knew that it had to change. To my joy I was selected for the position of Facilitator. The AFL centres run in the evenings so that women could easily join, but I was not allowed to leave home after dark. My SHG co-members went to my in-laws and after much persuasion convinced them. They promised that they would escort me to the centre and drop me home after classes. Thus began my journey, but it was not my journey alone, it was the journey of 19 women and I was just a symbol!
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.