Soon the summer of 2018 arrived and brought along with it the Summer Internship Program. I and one of my friends, we were posted under the Churchu Team of PRADAN in the Hazaribag district of Jharkhand. In the initial days, I was sent to spend a few days with a host family to unlearn myself and blend into the daily life of a villager. The RLLE experience came handy and I got along nicely with the villagers. I also conducted some tools of PRA by taking help of the host family and their neighbours. This gave me some hands-on idea about the life of villagers. After the stay, I was given a project where I had to understand the existing situation of agriculture and existing market linkages of Tatijharia block in Hazaribag district and suggest alternate models for both. I was given some sample villages by the organisation to work on. I had to make a homogenous sample of the farmers in the sample villages, thus I used stratified random sampling method for the same.
The project required me to travel across many villages which were very difficult to reach as there was no proper road connectivity, especially in the tribal villages that were on the top of hills. Yes, it was physically demanding, but all the anguish used to fade off by seeing the warm and welcoming nature of the villagers. I felt that they were very wonderful and warm people. They were always keen to learn and listen to new things, especially from someone like me who was not from their community. This is more or less the story of most of the villages around the country, but what makes them special is that they believe in learning and accepting rather than contradicting.
In the second phase of the project, I had to visit nearby formal and informal markets and collect data. I along with my partner framed a market specific questionnaire and conducted one to one survey of at least 10-15 vendors of each market to understand the existing market linkage and challenges in both the formal and informal structures. The vendors of informal markets were very keen to participate and volunteer when they heard the name of the organization and that we were students who had come all the way from Odisha to understand their work. I believe all this is due to the goodwill that the organisation has created over the years.
The work PRADAN is doing in the remote and rural areas is definitely commendable. Bringing in professionals from various diverse backgrounds creates an environment where the exchange of information and opinion is not one dimensional which helps them in addressing a situation or issue in a better way. The entire team of PRADAN helped me blend in easily, which helped me to progress smoothly and completing the project on time. They have helped me in understanding teamwork, team management and nurturing team building skills. When I had joined the college, there was a lot of hype regarding PRADAN. Today, I realize and understand the reason for the hype. Definitely, PRADAN is setting standards and milestones in this sector. Post this internship, I can say that my goals are pretty clear now. I’m glad that I chose Rural Management, this institution and that I got an opportunity to work with this organization.
——–
About the Author:
Sritam Krishna Panigrahi
XSRM (formerly XIMB-RM)
2017-2019
Comments
Mohsin Khan
Great work
23 Jun 2018, 03.47 PM
+Read Replies (2)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thankyou Moshin.
23 Jun 2018, 07.07 PM |
Sritam Panigrahi
*Mohsin
23 Jun 2018, 07.48 PM |
Rishikesh Pany
Magnificent work.
23 Jun 2018, 05.47 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thanks, Rishikesh.
23 Jun 2018, 07.41 PM |
Raktima Das
Well articulated! Worth a read.
23 Jun 2018, 06.58 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thanks, Raktima.
23 Jun 2018, 07.41 PM |
Yash Ondhia
Congratulations Sritam! Good one!
23 Jun 2018, 07.02 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thanks, Yash. It was really an amazing experience.
23 Jun 2018, 07.42 PM |
Kshitij Singh
Commerce student from Jamia Millia Islamia, NewDelhi Currently pursuing MBA-RM from Xavier School of Rural Management (Xavier University Bhubaneswar)
Well articulated . Congratulations
23 Jun 2018, 07.05 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thanks, Kshitij.
23 Jun 2018, 07.44 PM |
Arman Mohapatra
Congratulations... Amazing work
23 Jun 2018, 07.14 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thanks, Arman.
23 Jun 2018, 07.48 PM |
Pratyush Samal
Very detailed and we'll written. Keep up the good work.
23 Jun 2018, 07.19 PM
+Read Replies (2)
Pratyush Samal
*well
23 Jun 2018, 07.19 PM |
Sritam Panigrahi
Thanks, Pratyush. It was worth the hype.
23 Jun 2018, 07.45 PM |
Pritish Baruah
An evolving professional.
Excited for RLLE!
23 Jun 2018, 07.45 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Yes, RLLE and Summer Internships will definitely be great learning grounds.
23 Jun 2018, 07.47 PM |
Priyadarshini Rao Kolli
Really Good Sritam!!
23 Jun 2018, 08.09 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thanks, Priya.
23 Jun 2018, 09.02 PM |
Ujjawal Arora
A budding Rural Manager listening to the stories of life, by life itself and trying to share the best of them, with the rest of them!
Perfectly written and quite inspiring.
23 Jun 2018, 08.24 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thanks, Ujjwal. Hopefully I will get to hear similar experience from you in the future.
23 Jun 2018, 09.03 PM |
Shweta Srivastava
A budding Rural Manager
Perfectly written , so inspiring !
23 Jun 2018, 09.24 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thank you, Shweta.
25 Jun 2018, 10.51 AM |
vishal kumar
Loved it...awesome !!
23 Jun 2018, 10.52 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thank you, Vishal.
25 Jun 2018, 10.52 AM |
sudeep Bahinipati
Awesome Work
24 Jun 2018, 12.04 AM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thank you, Sudeep.
25 Jun 2018, 10.53 AM |
Pranabandhu Nayak
An aspiring rural manager dreaming of taking the human race forward.
Great job Sritam. The inspiring narration will motivate a number of people to contribute for the society.
24 Jun 2018, 12.08 AM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thank you, Pranabandhu. The development sector needs more of people who can use their analytical skills for a better cause.
25 Jun 2018, 10.57 AM |
Shailesh Choudhury
Xaverian... voracious reader, always ready to tackle in crunch situation.bon vivant😊
Well written... really got me occupied with the wider horizon of thoughts..
24 Jun 2018, 12.20 AM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thank you, Shailesh.
25 Jun 2018, 10.57 AM |
Bishwa Ranjan Sahoo
Thank you for the valuable insights on development and marketing sectors of rural ecosystem. It would be great help for future generations. Thanks again.
24 Jun 2018, 01.49 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thank you, Bishwa. I am looking forward to reading about your experiences in the future.
25 Jun 2018, 11.00 AM |
Pritam Krishna
Software Quality Engineer at Conduent
Your insights surely provide a person from a different background on the quality of work that has been done . I wish you the best of time and shine ahead my boy.
24 Jun 2018, 08.17 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thank you, big brother. Keep pouring love.
25 Jun 2018, 11.01 AM |
Abinash Sahoo
--
Well done Sritam. I think you have cracked the nuts of myth and misconception people do perceive about RM . Your efforts opened up a vivid and concrete path for many.
25 Jun 2018, 11.23 AM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thank you, big brother.
30 Jun 2018, 09.06 PM |
Pranamesh Kar
An aspiring rural manager and green finger!
It’s great to see your spirit Mr Sritam. Hope more number of young professionals get inspired by this.
25 Jun 2018, 11.37 AM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Overwhelmed!
30 Jun 2018, 09.05 PM |
Tousif Hasan Biswas
Beautiful experience!
25 Jun 2018, 02.15 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thank you.
30 Jun 2018, 09.05 PM |
Adity kumari
Studing MBA from xavier university Bhubaneswar(XSRM)
Quite inspiring, Sritam
25 Jun 2018, 02.17 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Sritam Panigrahi
Thank you, Aditi.
30 Jun 2018, 09.05 PM |