Individual Consultant – Block Coordinator-Enterprise Promotion (Uttar Kannada)

4 Posts.

Background

UNDP strives to have a workforce, which reflects diversity and gender balance, and applies an equal opportunities approach. UNDP does not solicit or screen for information in respect of HIV or AIDS status. All selections are on merit.

The DAY-NRLM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission) is the flagship program of Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India relaunched in 2016 for promoting poverty reduction by building strong institutions of the poor, particularly women. The programme creates and enables community owned institutions of women to empower and make them economically self-reliant by improving their agency to access a range of livelihood and financial services and maximize their resources for creating sustainable livelihood opportunities.

The state governments are mandated to set up dedicated Mission Management Units at the state, district and village/community level for the effective implementation of the NRLM scheme. The mission provides regular hand-holding support to SHG/federations for a period of 5-7 years. At the end of a fully implementation cycle the SHGs/federations are well prepared to become resource institutions at the community level for providing evidence and support to other social initiatives.

Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (KSRLPS)

The State Government is implementing DAY-NRLM scheme in phases through Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society in the name of “Sanjeevini”. The mission statement of KSRLPS is: “To reduce rural poverty by providing gainful wage and self-employment opportunities through community institutions resulting in sustainable improvement in their livelihoods”.

Sanjeevini is a community driven and process-oriented programme. The processes include different activities such as awareness building, social mobilization, development of Community Resource persons (CRPs). Formation of CBOs, strengthening SHGs/ CBOs/federations/Livelihood Collectives, establishment of linkages and promotion of livelihoods. The conventional methods of monitoring focuses on physical, financial and logistic aspects of projects, but do not capture the processes of community perception, satisfaction with project services, inclusion and

institutional dynamics. As the community processes do not conform to pre-set rules, deadlines, targets or blueprint approaches, a responsive and adaptive implementation is necessary.

It is in this context that the State government of Karnataka has partnered with UNDP to implement The National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP) in Karnataka. NRETP proposes to implement higher order economic activities which are cross cutting in nature, for instance, the project design envisages that there will be an organic link between the model Cluster Level Federation (CLFs) and financial inclusion strategies, insurance and pension schemes, producer groups and organizations, product marketing and enterprise development. The financial inclusion strategy will also have a key role in financing of farm and non-farm enterprises. UNDP will be uniquely positioned to quickly transfer the technical know-how gained at the national and state level working across the country. The state SMMU will be fully synchronized with the National level team working at the center, important for better alignment of state priorities with those of the national programme while formulating the State specific poverty reduction action plans.

Under the scheme, UNDP is looking for a Block Coordinator - Enterprise Promotion, Consultant to undertake the activities as provided below. The incumbent will be based at KSRLPS and will perform duties under the direct supervision of an official designated by Mission Director.

Duties and Responsibilities

Candidate should be willing to travel across the districts of the State of Karnataka
Ensure provision of Business Support Services by OSF to all the entrepreneurs in the block
Ensure that OSF has the required technical information (information about schemes etc.) for the services that need to be rendered
Create various data sets of enterprise and entrepreneurs in the block including the baseline survey of existing enterprises; ensure that this data is updated at regular intervals
Assist in preparing the necessary content for training and capacity building of various stakeholders
Ensure that financial requirements of enterprises are met, both from CEF and through Formal Financial Institutions
Coordinate amongst TSA, OSF, CBOs and project staff for effective implementation
Assist in identification and selection of Community Cadre and Mentors for OSF
Institutionalize OSF and governance mechanisms (infrastructure, opening bank- account, appointment and rotation of signatories, etc.) as per norms
Support the CBOs in operationalizing the various activities under the programme and in building their capacities to take over all the programme elements at the end of the project period
Identify new business opportunities and markets for setting up enterprises
Ensure regular monitoring and reporting of entrepreneurship development activities in the block
Ensure that both the quantitative and qualitative targets are met
Ensure MIS and monitoring reports are submitted as per the defined timelines.
Provide handholding and business management support to the clusters /incubated enterprises being supported in the block.
Any other tasks/responsibilities as assigned by the Mission Director

Deliverables & Payment Schedules:

Payment %

Deliverable target dates

Submission of report highlighting,
Understanding and analyzing of block level projects implemented by Sanjeevini.
Detailed reporting of the analysis of the assigned block.
Conduct at least 2 field visits in the month.

8%

Month 1

Submission of report highlighting,
Preparing the implementation action plan as per the project / Annual Action Plan.
Get approval from the supervisor at Taluk Panchayat.
Conduct at least 2 field visits in the month.

8%

Month 2

Submission of report highlighting,

Ensure provision of business support services by OSF to all entrepreneurs in the block.
Conduct at least 2 field visits in the month.

8%

Month 3

Submission of report highlighting,

Ensure OSF has the required technical information to render the services.
Create various sets of enterprise & entrepreneurs in the block.

Conduct at least 2 field visits in the month.

8%

Month 4

Submission of report highlighting,

Identify Assist in preparing the necessary content for training & capacity building.
Conduct at least 2 field visits in the month.

8%

Month 5

Submission of report highlighting,

Collection of data for the past 6 months about the progress of the project.
Submitting the data to the MIS team for monitoring & evaluation.

8%

Month 6

Submission of report highlighting,

Ensure that financial requirements of enterprises are met.
Coordinate amongst TSA, OSF, CBOs and project staff for effective implementation of the project.
Conduct at least 2 field visits in the month.

8%

Month 7

Submission of report highlighting,

Support in identification & selection of community cadre and mentors for OSF.

Institutionalize OSF and governance mechanism.
Conduct at least 2 field visits in the month.

8%

Month 8

Submission of report highlighting,

Support CBOs in implementing various activities under the program.

Identify new business opportunities & markets for setting up enterprises.
Conduct at least 2 field visits in the month.

8%

Month 9

Submission of report highlighting,

Ensuring both quantitative and qualitative targets are met regularly.
Conduct at least 2 field visits in the month.

8%

Month 10

Submission of report highlighting,

Providing hand holding & business management support to the clusters.
Conduct at least 2 field visits in the month.

10%

Month 11

Submission of report highlighting,

Collection of data for the past 1 year about the progress of the project.
Submitting the data to MIS team for monitoring and evaluation.

10%

Month 12

Competencies

Strong in numeracy, analytical, and business skills
Good team player with strong ability to work in teams and with people with no direct reporting relationships
Data driven, open to learning and adaptable, should be willing to adapt to ground realities
Compassionate for the poor and willing to look at issues from their lens
Honest, fair and objective in work
A Self-starter and a target-oriented person
Willing to travel extensively in the field and stay in a village for 15 days a month

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications:

Postgraduate in management / commerce / engineering/ MSW(Community Development) and relevant filed background from an institution of repute.

Experience:

Minimum of 1 year of experience of working in non-farm livelihoods promotion or in a business organization preferably in rural based value chains.

Languages Required: Fluency in English and Kannada– spoken, read and write for all official communication is essential.

Duration of The Work:

The contract will be awarded for one year initially. Working days will be as per the State Government policy.

Languages Required:

Fluency in English and Kannada- spoken, read and write for all official communication is essential.

Official Travel:

In case of official journey within/outside the state, candidates will be entitled to reimbursement from KSRLPS. All official travel must be authorized and certified in advance by KSRLPS.