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IIM grad Shuvajit Payne gave up a cushy job to work in rural India

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IIM grad Shuvajit Payne gave up a cushy job to work in rural India

May 14, 2015

“I dream of rural India where every village will become a self-sufficient entity, every village will have inspiring teachers and are developed in terms of social happiness," says Shuvajit Payne, narrating his life changing experience of working in rural India, to Manu A B.

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Image: Shuvajit Payne with a villager.

He had a dream job with IBM in London, owned high-tech gadgets, went on foreign trips and had all the luxuries a 27-year-old could possibly imagine.


But after working for four years, Shuvajit Payne decided that this was not what he wanted to live for. He wanted to do something meaningful in life rather than making a multinational company richer!
Though Shuvajit did not have a concrete plan in mind, he was confident of making a difference in the lives of the people in rural India.


Shuvajit Payne graduated in economics from the Presidency College, Kolkata. He then did MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow in finance and marketing and went abroad like many of his peers.
“It was a tough decision to quit the job and leave London. But I was convinced that I should not be wasting my time in the corporate world. I always felt I was born to do good, work for a larger cause,” says Shuvajit.

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Image: Waifad village where Shuvajit Payne started work.

Bracing stiff resistance from parents, society and of course friends, Shuvajit moved ahead in his pursuit to build a better India. “My parents were worried how I could live without a stable income and that too in remote villages without any basic facilities. I could not convince them initially. When everyone questioned me, I did not have concrete answers,” says Shuvajit.


He knew he had to work in rural India, helping thousands of people who are talented but can’t join the mainstream due to lack of training and proper resources. Fortunately, a friend suggested that State Bank of India’s Youth for India program would be an ideal platform to take the plunge.


Supported by SBI, the 13-month long programme gives an opportunity to youngsters to work on rural development projects with experienced non-government organisations. They are provided with a stipend and connected with NGOs to work towards building solutions to help people, who don’t even have access to basic facilities.


Presently, 54 fellows are working on a number of projects at 35 villages in 10 states – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharastra, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Orissa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. SBI Fellows can either choose to work on an existing project of a partner NGO or start a new project.

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Image: Shuvajit Payne at his modest room in the village.

The fellowship was the right platform and an eye opener for Shuvajit. After the basic training, he was posted to a village called Waifad in Wardha district of Maharashtra.


“My first day at the village was scary. It was a drastic change of lifestyle for me. There was no proper accommodation… I thought I would go back to Wardha and stay there till some arrangement was made but I was told that it was not easy to get a place to stay on a rental basis so soon. But the saving grace was a computer centre that was set up in a broken haveli. I was allowed to stay at this centre. So all I had with me was a bag, a laptop and a chatai (mat). There were so many infrastructural issues in the village, worst being power cuts and no Internet connection at times, which meant I was cut off from the outside world. But despite the initial teething problems, I got adjusted to the new life within a month and I enjoyed every moment of it,” Shuvajit recollects heartily.


Living at the computer centre turned out to be a big advantage for Shuvajit. It was a place frequented by villagers so it helped him build a rapport with them instantly. Though initially they laughed at him and were reluctant to talk and share their woes, the ice melted very soon.

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Image: Shuvajit Payne teaches students in the village.

Since the Vidarbha region was prone to farmer suicides, people wanted to move out of villages in search of greener pastures. The worst part in these villages was the bad quality of education and lack of facilities to hone their skills.


“No one wants to become a farmer. The young generation wants to flee from the villages. But this is not a bad move. Agriculture in India requires huge investment. If 2 or 3 children from a family get better jobs, they can plough their income back to farming. So it is very important that they find good jobs,” explains Suvajit.


Shuvajit started off by teaching English to children in the village. He found that there were many students who knew the subjects but language was a huge barrier. He trained about 300 students in interesting ways. Around 50 of them emerged successful after the training.




Please read more

IIM grad Shuvajit Payne gave up a cushy job to work in rural India - Rediff.com Business
 
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