OFF THE BEATEN TRACK RURAL DEVELOPMENT Work for rural development & make a living too

Mumbai: Has compassion or consideration for the needy been put on the backburner by the thought of earning your daily bread? A career in the rural development sector is now rewarded with adequate compensation to sustain the zeal. 

    "The time is always be right to work for social good but with the CSR clause in the new Companies Act, employment opportunities have increased manifold in 
the development sector. A quick search on Linkedin will show that several companies are looking for candidates who understand the rural market. ," said Sahej Mantri, manager (alliances) at Hopemonkey.org, a nonprofit organization involved in fund raising. 
STARTING OUT 
    Social work or rural development as a discipline is available in many universities and institutes, both at the graduate and postgraduate levels. Specialization in post-graduation could include topics like human resource management, criminology and correctional administration, medical and psychiatric social work, family and child welfare, rural and urban community development, and schools social work. 
    However professionals say lack of a formal background in social work may not be a hindrance. "You can learn the working of the industry through internships and volunteer work. Once you have been in the field for some time you gain understanding about the beneficiaries to work towards their good," said Mantri. 
CAREER PROSPECTS 
    The job would involve working to provide solutions for people's social, economic and emotional problems through counseling, arranging conferences, increasing resources, spreading public awareness and starting social programmes and health services. Opportunities in the development sector are varied, which can range from working in various developmental projects of the government to working for NGOs and international organisations. 
HEART OF INDIA 
College of Social Work, Mumbai 
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai 
Institute of Rural Management, Anand 
Jamia Millia Islamia, Faculty of Social Sciences, New Delhi