My journey began 9 years ago in June, 2002 when I joined Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Anad, Gujarat to pursue Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management (PGDRM). IRMA offered me a perfect management course with rural orientation and exposure (loads of case studies about rural cooperatives and producer organizations). At the time of campus placements in April, 2004, I chose to join an NGO called Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) being excited about various rural livelihood activities that they portrayed to us in placement presentations.
PRADAN is a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. It was started in 1983 by two inspired individuals namely Vijay Mahajan and Deep Joshi who had the noble objective of giving professional support to the NGOs so that they can deliver their objectives better. Later, PRADAN got into direct project implementation mode and presently works in 8 states in central and eastern India.
PRADAN recruits university-educated youth and grooms them to do grassroots work. Its Vision is to enable rural communities to live a life of dignity. It has the Mission of impacting livelihoods to enable rural communities. I worked in PRDAN for little over 4 years from May 1st , 2004 to May 23rd 2008 in Kesla (Hoshangabad district) and Jatara (Tikamgarh district) in Madhya Pradesh. I was engaged in promotion of rural livelihoods as a part of the PRADAN field teams. When I look back at my work in PRADAN, I realize that it has greatly influenced my personality and inspired me to prepare for Civil Services and go back to work in some of the poorest and remote districts.
At PRADAN, we were engaged in promoting Self Help Groups (SHGs) of women as instruments of savings and credit. SHGs are seen by PRADAN as the initial entry point to gain foothold in the village and later use it as a platform to link the poor women with the mainstream institutions like banks and government. After the initial micro finance activity, PRADAN promoted locally relevant livelihood activities taking into consideration the diversity of the family contexts and the local resources.
The various activities promoted by PRADAN include forest based livelihoods like tasar sericulture, lac cultivation, siali leaf plate making etc., Natural Resource Management activities (agriculture, horticulture, lift irrigation schemes, watershed treatment etc.), livestock based activities like dairy, goatery etc. and micro enterprise development that included mushroom cultivation and broiler poultry cultivation etc. As a PRADAN professional, I was expected to play the role of a facilitator to mobilize finances for the SHGs from the mainstream banks and government.
I am inspired by PRADAN because it gives space for Community Based Organisations (CBOs) like SHGs, cooperatives and producer organisations etc. It has the vision of developing local capabilities so that the local community takes the activity forward even after PRADAN team leaves the area. Hence, PRADAN constantly works on introducing systems to sustain the livelihoods like training the villagers as para-veterinarians, accountants, technicians to support rural livelihood projects.
I am also inspired by PRDAN’s working philosophy of choosing to work with the poorest and marginalized sections in remote areas. It takes the family as the unit of intervention and moreover puts women members at the center stage of development. The idea of treating the poor people as responsible citizens with full potential and not as beneficiaries or clients greatly inspires me. In PRADAN, we had the custom of sitting along with the village women in a circle on the ground. PRADAN really combines the professional approach to work with the right amount of empathy for the poor people. As told by our Ex Executive Director, Deep Joshi, “Development work needs to have both head and the heart. If all of us have bleeding hearts, it may not work. If we have only heads, they we may dictate such solutions which may not touch the human chord”.
PRADAN’s culture also greatly inspires me for its informality and non-founder centeredness. It is a decentralized collegial body with space for second generation leaders. There is space for expressing our views in the team meetings, consultative forum meetings and even elsewhere. Everybody is so approachable and friendly that hierarchy never seems to hinder any work. All of us used to call Deep Joshi affectionately as Deep and our team leader Madhu Khetan as Madhu etc. Professional ethos of the organization are deeply inspiring like deciding upon the targets with due consultation, conducting various personality development workshops like L-group, MBTI typology, systemic practice of Field Guides to nurture and guide young entrants etc. Integrity at the work place is the non-negotiable value and PRADAN always maintained highest standards of transparency and accountability. We had the custom of not touching any cash related to community in the villages or elsewhere.
When I look back at my work in PRADAN working in such remote areas struggling with language, riding bike on non-existent roads, adjusting with the food and timings etc., I realize that this experience has made me a more adjusting personality ready to take up any challenge elsewhere. It really gave me the self-confidence that I can do trouble shooting whenever needed. However, I could not spend much time with my family and friends who started treating me as Non Resident Andhrite. However, the challenge of gaining the trust of the tribals before initiating the activity and later successfully managing the activity, taking the local administration along etc. made me so engrossed and excited that I never complained about anything. On one side, there was the feeling of getting outdated when compared with friends working in cities. However, on the other side, the excitement of reaching out to more number of families made me glued to the work.
When I look back at the work that I did, I strongly feel that there are few intellectual challenges which are more worthy than addressing rural poverty. As Deep Joshi says, our villages require our intellect and professional talent. Development work is as challenging and complex as remote sensing or high science or nuclear physics. PRADAN wants to prove that development work is equally challenging and rewarding. The work at PRADAN has made me sensitive to the need to work at the grassroots. Even in my new job, I look forward to working in those underdeveloped districts in whatever capacity I can.
