My inclination towards this sector grew when I was in IIFM. While I learnt the concepts of rural development and improving livelihoods during the course, it was at OLM where I got an immersive experience and the opportunity to understand how utilizing the state machinery would affect the scale of impact of government schemes.

For the past 3 years I have streamlined and implemented SVEP in Angul Odisha at block level. Leading a team of 15+ community cadres and strengthening their CBO Block resource centre (BRC) to achieve annual targets of promoting rural entrepreneurs in different sectors while converging with line departments to finance the enterprises under other public schemes besides SVEP. With the experience of how public schemes are implemented under NRLM, I realised I enjoy working for the people who are largely dependent on state schemes. It made me realise how the general public benefits from the schemes devised to promote better livelihood opportunities and also the importance of detailed planning to achieve the desired results.

This fellowship will be instrumental for me to gain deeper knowledge on public schemes while collaborating with District administration.