Job Announcement for the position of Assistant Development Officer -
(Sukhi Baliraja Initiative (SBI)/Convergence of Agricultural Interventions in Maharashtra (CAIM) - Microfinance)

Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust

In 2008, to address and alleviate farmers' distress, the Sir Ratan Trust, Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (Tata Trusts) initiated the comprehensive livelihood-focussed 'Sukhi Baliraja Initiative (SBI)' having a total outreach of 25,600 households across 320 villages of the six distress districts, and achieved a fair amount of success in its first year of operations. Concurrently, the Government of Maharashtra (GoM) initiated a bilateral project, namely, "Convergence of Agricultural Interventions in Maharashtra Programme (CAIM)" with the support of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), to address the issue of agrarian distress in the Vidarbha region. The overall goal of CAIM is to contribute towards the development of resilient production, sustainable and diversified household incomes and on-farm / off-farm livelihoods, thereby enabling households to face production and market related risks without falling back into poverty and distress. The CAIM programme has a total outreach of 286,000 households across 1,200 villages, located in the same six distress districts ie, Amravati, Akola, Buldana, Wardha, Washim and Yavatmal. The programme is being implemented over eight years with a total outlay of Rs5.47 billion. The programme will be co-financed by IFAD (35 per cent of the total outlay), GoM (31 per cent of the total outlay), Tata Trusts (14 per cent of the total outlay), banks (13 per cent of the total outlay), private sector (5 per cent of the total outlay) and community (2 per cent of the total outlay). The innovative character of CAIM charts a definitive movement away from superficially alleviating farmer distress through government schemes to developing end-to-end projects focusing on production, technology transfer and farmer training, besides forward and backward linkages with the state and / or the private sector, thereby providing long-term sustainable solutions.

Assistant Development Officer - (Sukhi Baliraja Initiative/ Convergence of Agricultural Intervention in Maharashtra (SBI/CAIM)-Microfinance)
(TT/ADO/RLC- SBI/CAIM/Microfinance/09/2011)


S/he will be deputed full time under CAIM and will be placed in Amravati, Maharashtra. S/he will assist senior programme staff in developing and supporting the Trust's Sukhi Baliraja Initiative through value-added microfinance-based projects. The job will entail working with potential and current grantees; coordinating with Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVIM) / other institutions working towards microfinance in the area; providing support to key projects; monitoring and providing technical support; appraisal, evaluation and analysis of project progress; managing a panel of programme specialists; and documentation and reporting.

The candidate should:

	Possess a masters degree in finance / economics / social science / rural management / development / engineering
	Have an understanding of the various models of microfinance in use, particularly in India, and an interest in supporting community-based approaches
	Have a minimum of two to three years experience creating self-help groups (SHG) and SHG-federations
	Have the zeal to excel, the ability to innovate future strategies and deliver, in a challenging environment
	Be willing to undertake extensive travel to remote areas in Vidharbha
	Have a good command over spoken and written English, Marathi and Hindi. The candidates who do not have knowledge of Marathi language will not be shortlisted.

The Trusts provide an ideal atmosphere, conducive to maximising output. The remuneration shall be commensurate with the applicants' ability and experience.

Applicants should submit their curriculum vitae, along with a one-page note on how they could strengthen the Trust's Rural Livelihoods and Communities portfolio and especially the Sukhi Baliraja Initiative through microfinance-based support. For further information on the Trusts, please log on to http://www.srtt.org. The application should reach the Trusts by November 30, 2011, and should be in a sealed envelope marked "confidential" and "(TT/ADO/RLC- SBI/CAIM/Microfinance/09/2011)", and addressed to:

The Secretary,
Sir Ratan Tata Trust,
Bombay House,
24, Homi Mody Street,
Mumbai – 400 001

Applications by e-mail should be sent to srttrecruit@tata.com. Only short-listed applicants shall be acknowledged.