Bishnu Charan Parida (MRM 2004-05) is a development management professional having 25 years of full-time experience in NGO, UN, and Govt. agencies. Currently, he is working as a Chief Operating Officer of JSLPS (Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society, Rural Development Department, Govt. of Jharkhand). JSLPS is implementing National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) the flagship scheme of the Government of India in Jharkhand and is one of the best performing development organizations in the country. He had earlier worked as Dy. CEO in SSUPSW (Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of Bihar), as SPO in UNDP (in Jharkhand), as a Team Leader in PRADAN (Odisha and Jharkhand), and as an Educational Trainee in RSC (NCSM), Govt. of India in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
He is a gold medalist (topper) in his class of MRM at IIFM in 2005. He did Masters in Social Work (MSW) from Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan in 1995 with 1st Class (2nd Topper) and B.Sc. (Physics Honors) from Utkal University, Odisha in 1991. He completed an eMDP (Satellite-based 6 months duration) on “Senior Leadership Programme (SLP)” from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozhikode in 2015. Presently he is pursuing a Ph.D. in Management from ICFAI University Jharkhand. He is a member of ICSD (International Consortium for Social Development).
Email Id – [email protected]
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM to this role?
A. I did MRM course in IIFM in 2004 – 05 taking a sabbatical leave from PRADAN after working for nearly 8 years. Before that, I had tried few distance learning courses from IGNOU and the University of Hyderabad unsuccessfully (could not submit assignments in time due to full-time work). After completing the MRM course in IIFM, I continued in PRADAN for the next 4 years and then move to UNDP in 2009. I worked in UNDP in Jharkhand up to 30th December 2011. I worked in SSUPSW (State Society for Ultra Poor and Social Welfare), Department of Social Welfare, Govt. of Bihar for a short period i.e. from 2nd January 2012 to 20th June 2013. I am continuing in JSLPS from 22nd June 2013.
Q. What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
A. My present organization JSLPS is one of the biggest development organizations in Jharkhand and also in India. It has an outreach to 32 Lakh Rural Households (families) through 2.56 Lakh women Self-Help Groups in NRLM. It has a budget outlay of more than INR 1,000 crores per year, 2,800 staff on its payroll, and more than 50,000 Community cadres are supporting its mission of women empowerment and livelihoods promotion. JSLPS is also implementing high intensive livelihood projects (I. JOHAR through World Bank and II. J-HIMDI through JICA loan fund) in Jharkhand. It is satisfying to work in a big organization with a multi-disciplinary team of professionals in the government set up and collaborate with multi-stakeholders from the state government to the central government, resource agencies, NGOs, World Bank, etc. We can undertake any big or small activity all over the Jharkhand in quick time. Women SHG members and staff of JSLPS had done lots of work in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Jharkhand and prevented spreading the coronavirus to a great extent. But the operational job is painful and one is always under pressure to deliver quickly and report the progress frequently.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. Yes, I learned Natural Resource Management, General Management, and Organizational Behaviour in IIFM which helped me in broadening my understanding of Environment, Development, Research, and Management and inter-link between people -planet- profit. It helped me to play my leadership role in a better way. MRM degree of IIFM helped me to work in UNDP and also to pursue Ph.D. in Management.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers. What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles?
A. Many teachers, development professionals including my colleagues in PRADAN, UNDP. SSUPSW and JSLPS and even my MRM classmates have influenced me in my career.
My advice to freshers and IIFM graduates are –
One should assess his / her values, strengths, weaknesses, likes, desires, dominant emotions, etc. required for various sectors. For example, the development sector job needs professionals with passion and concern for others particularly for the poor and underprivileged. Government sector job needs much patience and working in ambiguity while corporate sector job needs quick delivery ability in the tight timeline/schedule.
It takes time to identify one’s passion and talent for one particular domain/sector i.e. environmental jobs or micro-finance or development sector jobs. One should accept the job offer whatever comes to him/her, work for few years, and then move to his desired role with further preparation and capacity building.
Freshers who have an interest in teaching and research should do a Ph.D. in the desired subject in the early phase of their career (ideally within 3 years).
Freshers who want a leadership position in any sector should work a little longer (more than 5 years) and gain diverse experiences. Few experts say that one needs to work in a minimum of two Domains (Marketing / IT / Business Development / Operations / HR / Finance etc.) in two positions (field-level / regional level / National level / Corporate Headquarters) in two regions (states/countries) to become a successful leader in any sector.
Job profiles are changing drastically due to the influence of technology, innovation, and market demand. One should not be predetermined to work on a particular job. One should develop his / her abilities to work on any job in any sector.
Self-development and continuous learning of diverse things for further improvement should be given priority. Early success leads to arrogance, arrogance leads to complacency, and then to failure. Be humble while getting success and bounce back from failures. Develop resilience capacity to survive in the complex job market.
Communication skill is an essential skill which is required for all kinds of jobs in all sectors. Observing, listening, and responding appropriately are ingredients of better communication skills.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. Celebration of birthdays in mid-night, going to the New Market area of Bhopal in a small group, field trips to different forest divisions/biodiversity parks are few memories of IIFM days. MRM 2004 – 05 batch mates are all close friends. Our relationship is continuing through phone calls, WhatsApp, and occasional meets.
Q. In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution (courses, faculty, library, friends, and alumni. Anything else!!) or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A. I have been influenced by many faculty members of IIFM. A few of them are Dr. Parul Rishi, Dr. Rekha Singal, Dr. Suparva Patnaik, Dr. Amitabh Pandey, Dr. P. K. Biswas, and Dr. H. S Gupta. Interestingly, Dr. Parul Rishi and Dr. Rekha Singal ( now at IIM – Ranchi) have been helping me in my Ph.D. work on Emotional Intelligence. We are also working on few research surveys.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors?
A. I read lots of books and magazines mainly on non-fiction i.e. self-development, management, and leadership. I am a member of the Book Lovers Club (BLC) of India. I am a subscriber of Amazon Kindle unlimited, Medium, Harvard Business Review, Readers Digest, Mindtools, etc. Furthermore, I have done and currently pursuing few online courses on Emotional Intelligence, Research methodology, Leadership, etc. through EDX, Coursera, Swayam platforms. I also watch Bollywood movies on the weekends with family using OTT subscription (Airtel Xtream, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, and Discovery+).
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students?
A. I am interested to take classes (online and offline) on the Development sector for students, joint research and consultancy assignments with faculty, and networking with alumni as a contribution to IIFM.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. Jayanta Sharma, MRM 2004 – 05.