We are Hiring: Researchers for National Dalit Watch-NCDHR
Beena J
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National Dalit Watch-National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights is hiring Researchers
A Study on the magnitude of the impact of droughts on Dalit and Nomadic Communities in Marathwada region in Maharashtra
About National Dalit Watch-NCDHR
The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), is a coalition of Dalit and Adivasi human rights activists and academics, founded in 1998, dedicated to promoting social equity and inclusion, particularly focused on enabling the Scheduled Castes and the Schedule Tribes to access their Constitutional rights and their development entitlements. Registered Under Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 (Regd No: S-51984 / 2005), NCDHR works on the themes of access to criminal justice system, higher education and public budgets, Dalit women rights and justice, and systemically inclusive disaster response and risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
National Dalit Watch (NDW) is the humanitarian initiative of NCDHR to respond to the situation of exclusion of Dalit and Adivasi communities during disasters. Built on the experiences of NCDHR during the Tsunami in 2004 and later in Bihar Floods in 2007 and 2008, NDW enables Dalit and Adivasi rights organizations, local activists and community leadership, and other humanitarian organisations to effectively monitor discrimination and exclusion during disasters and the extent of realisation of relief entitlements. The findings are fed to the policies and advocacy engagements with the humanitarian stakeholders, viz, the Government, bilateral agencies, I/NGOs, academia and so on to establish an inclusive disaster response and disaster risk reduction system.
About the Study
Drought is classified as meteorological drought when rainfall is deficient >20% than the normal rainfall in the given area; hydrological drought, when there is significant depletion of surface water; and agricultural drought, when inadequate soil moisture led to fall in agricultural productivity[1]. The NITI Aayog report of 2018 on composite water stated that India is facing its worst-ever water crises and by 2030 the demand is projected to be twice the available supply.
Protracted drought spells have been increasingly acknowledged to be Climate change induced. This continues to displace the weaker and vulnerable sections in search of livelihoods, risking protection and disrupting even the frailest of income and social security. In India, Dalits comprise 16.6% and Adivasis 8.6% of the country's population with 705 recognised Scheduled Tribes, De-notified and Nomadic Tribes form 10% of the country’s population. (Tiwari, 2020). The marginalization of the Dalit and the Adivasis makes them more vulnerable to the differential and lasting impacts if droughts and resultant water scarcity and loss of livelihood. Caste issues being pervasive in drought regions of Maharashtra and Bundelkhand, the Dalits, particularly have faced violence over accessing common water sources.
Water scarcity, climate change, reoccurring drought, floods, water delivering resources and infrastructures at the rural level, extreme poverty, water pollution and water borne diseases ae combine challenges that confront the Indian government and the people. As livelihoods of Dalits, Adivasis and Nomadic and Denotified Tribes disappeared, the loss of income caused an increase in the uptake of loans, including from local moneylenders at high rates of interest. The recent COVID 19 pandemic and lockdown has made the communities worse with the loss of livelihood, food insecurities and health problems.
The regions of Marathwada in Maharashtra and Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have come to be known for long spells of drought, and synonymous with agrarian crises. On an average, 80-100 districts received deficient rainfall and were declared drought affected in India, every year including the best monsoon years since 2000. Severe countrywide drought occurred for 4 years since 2000, causing widespread hardships to the human and livestock population. Droughts are a clear manifestation of climate change. Beside the loss of livelihoods and water stress, drought has cascading effects on the ecosystem and threatens the food and nutrition security, risking health among the most marginalised communities living in the precincts of the society.
Disaster Management Act, 2005 is the primary law at the national level that provisions for management of disasters in the country and is mandated to prepare National Disaster Management Plan for the country. However, Government of India has notified the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare (DACFW) as the nodal agency to formulae policies, plans and institutional mechanisms related to drought management in the country, and to monitor and coordinate central government response to droughts. The National Disaster Management Authority Guidelines on Drought Management, post-drought relief policy framework, and other Central and State Government institutional arrangements exist to monitor and respond to droughts, along with state mitigation packages.
The drought management system in India needs to be investigated for its effectiveness and inclusiveness in protecting the lives and livelihoods of the marginalized communities, whilst working to prevent, mitigate and manage the droughts. To edge off drought impacts, there is a need for drought need assessment for marginalised communities which are not the owners of land or critical infrastructure and excluded from reaping assistance from mitigation/compensation and social security programmes on account of drought losses. This would support the policymaking to address their issues and develop response and mitigation plans and strategies that are responsive to the pre-existing vulnerabilities of marginalized communities.
Objectives
The objective of the study is to enable inclusion and resilience of Dalit and Nomadic communities in drought response and management in Maharashtra. To do this, the study will delve into the following:
1. Understanding the pre-existing vulnerabilities and the impacts on these communities, especially looking at the loss of livelihoods, access to water, and social security coverage and realisation. This may include some insights through people’s narratives into COVID-19 impact.
2. Understanding the coping mechanisms of the Dalit and Nomadic communities during the droughts
3. Analysing the drought relief/ management and mitigation system, policy, and financial measures against their contribution to strengthened resilience or vulnerability
4. Recommending inclusive and robust policy measures and strategies to the State Government, to enable drought resilient Dalit and marginalised communities.
POSITION 1: (01) Full-Time Research Coordinator for 5-months
Mandatory Requirements
1. Must be a PhD scholar in the field of Disaster Management or Social Sciences
2. Must be well-equipped with qualitative and quantitative research process, including Sampling, Data collection (household survey, case studies, focussed group discussions etc.), Analysis and Reporting
3. Must have interviewing, community engagement and qualitative data collection skills
4. Must have practical experience in primary research
5. Prior knowledge of issues of social exclusion/inclusion and discrimination, and disaster management systems in India, specifically in droughts is desirable
6. Knowledge and experience in using mobile app-based data collection tools such as ODK and Kobo Collect etc. is preferred
7. Must be fluent in Marathi and English languages with ability to produce quality report in English
8. Preference would be given to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates especially women candidates familiar with the region or locals
Responsibilities of the Research Coordinator (RC)
1. The RC will have the following responsibilities (not exhaustive)
2. Coordinate the overall research and deliverables in a timebound manner under the close supervision of the Study Advisory Committee
3. Engage in evolving the study design, review of literature, tools, pre-survey field testing of the tools, making modifications based on testing and finalising
4. Training the animators comprising the research associate(s) and volunteers on mobile app-based data collection tool
5. Overseeing the quality of data being collected and rectifying the mistakes and gaps
6. Conducting daily review meets post the data-collection with the animators to ensure the data collection is carried out smoothly and the field-level challenges are identified and resolved
7. Periodic field visits to monitor data collection
8. Analysing the data and producing the final draft report as per agreed timeline
9. Conducting the above and other actions based on the Work Plan and periodic reviews by the Advisory Committee members
Timeline and Payment
- The study will commence in February 2021 and conclude by May 2021
- The remuneration is fixed at a consolidated sum of. Rs. 200,000 with communication and local travel reimbursement as per actuals
- Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an online interview and would also be required to provide a specimen of research paper/analytical paper/report/articles/ etc. authored by them
- S/he would be paid in three instalments: (i) an advance of 25%, (ii) the next interim payment of 50 % on completion of writing out the narratives (qualitative data emerging from FGDs and interviews), quantitative data collection, getting the master sheet ready for analysis and (iii) the final 25% on completion of the analysis and report.
- S/he is free to conduct the research efficiently so as to complete before date also, of course subject to the quality scrutiny by the advisory committee.
POSITION 2: (1) Research Associate for Data Collection (Qualitative & Quantitative)-2 months
Mandatory Requirements
1. Must be a Post-Graduate in the field of Disaster Management or Social Sciences
2. Must have interviewing, community engagement and qualitative data collection skills
3. First-hand experience in FGDs, case studies, data collection is a pre-requisite.
4. Prior knowledge of issues of social exclusion/inclusion and discrimination, and disaster management systems in India, specifically in droughts is desirable
5. Knowledge and experience in using mobile app-based data collection tools such as ODK and Kobo Collect etc. is preferred
6. Must be well-versed in Marathi and English
7. Must be a resident of Marathwada region
8. Preference would be given to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates especially women candidates
Responsibilities of the Research Associates (RA)
1. Collecting households level survey data and field narratives in a timebound manner under the close supervision of the study Research Coordinator
2. Pre-survey field testing of the tool, making modifications based on the testing.
3. Conducting Focused Group Discussions and case studies/field narratives
4. Data collection using mobile app-based tool.
5. Conducting the above and other actions based on the timeline under close supervision of the Research Coordinator and the Advisory Committee members
Timeline and Payment
- Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an online interview
- The study will commence in February 2021 and conclude by May 2021
- Data collection will begin from 5 February and be completed in a maximum of 30 days.
- The fee is fixed at a consolidated Rs. 60,000 with communication and local travel reimbursement as per actuals
- From the commencement of the survey the RA could be paid the advance of Rs. 25,000, and Rs. 20,000 after the submission of and FGD/Case studies, with remaining Rs. 15000 immediately after completion of the survey.
POSITION 3: (3) Researchers for Data Collection (1 month)
Mandatory Requirements
9. Must be a Post-Graduate in the field of Disaster Management or Social Sciences
10. Must have interviewing, community engagement and qualitative data collection skills.
11. First-hand experience in FGDs, case studies, data collection is a pre-requisite.
12. Prior knowledge of issues of social exclusion/inclusion and discrimination, and disaster management systems in India, specifically in droughts is desirable.
13. Knowledge and experience in using mobile app-based data collection tools such as ODK and Kobo Collect etc. is preferred
14. Must be well-versed in Marathi and English.
15. Must be a resident of Marathwada region.
16. Preference would be given to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates especially women candidates.
Timeline and Payment
- Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an online interview.
- The study will commence in February 2021 and conclude by May 2021
- Data collection will begin from 5 February and be completed in a maximum of 30 days.
- The fee is fixed at a consolidated Rs. 30,000 for 30 days of engagement with communication and local travel reimbursement as per actuals
- From the commencement of the survey the other RAs could be paid the advance of Rs. 5000, and the remaining Rs. 25,000 immediately after the completion of the survey.
Where to Apply?
Interested candidates are requested to send their CVs with a letter of motivation to vai...@ncdhr.org.in by the 15th of February.
NOTE- Swadhikar-NCDHR reserves the right to modify the criteria for selection should the need arise at any point of time.
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Kind Regards,
Beena J Pallical
General Secretary
NCDHR-National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights-DAAA
8/1 South Patel Nagar, 2nd Floor
New Delhi - 110 008
be...@ncdhr.org.in
www.ncdhr.org.in