Programme Development Officer as the designation itself confirms is the profession related to the development work of some kind or other. From the time immemorial India has always been known as a country of villages and peasants. Most of its 110 crores huge population which form the ‘real India’ still lives in rural and semi-rural areas. Keeping into account that our rural population has always been known for its economic backwardness, it becomes the responsibility of the educated people of the country especially the qualified professionals to assist the villagers in their process of development and prosperity so that the whole nation could progress and get prosperity along with the most downtrodden. It is necessary to dispell with the disparity between the have's and have not's of the Indian.
For all those who are deeply concerned about the nation’s overall development, a career as Development Programme Officer offers exciting career prospects. It is a well secure government job and the incumbent is required to coordinate with the Anganwadi workers and work in specific programmes like child welfare or women welfare.
This is an exciting career option for those who want to engage themselves in community development programmes and are dedicated to working for the society at the grass-roots level on the one hand and wants to have a good carrier for themselves. This job definitely gives one mental satisfaction as you are doing your work along with doing something special for your countrymen as well.
Programme Development Officer Eligibility
Age Limits
Generally a minimum 21 years and maximum of 30 years.
Educational Qualifications
The essential qualification for being a Development programme officer is a degree in graduation in any discipline from any of the recognized universities of India.
How to become a Development programme Officer?
Step 1
One has to take the exam conducted by the various state Staff Selection Boards to fill the vacancies arising from time to time. Since the examination is conducted through State Public Service Commissions the candidate should check with the respective State Public Service Commission and apply whenever there is some advertisement about such posts. There is no specific time period of such advertisements.
Step 2
Recruitment: The scheme of the examination consists of two parts. The first part comprises of a written examination and the second part consists of an interview cum personality test for candidates who qualify the written examination.
The written examination comprises of:
- Any combination of two or three subjects depending upon the State
- English language (of qualifying nature)
- Hindi (or the language of the state viz. Tamil for Tamil Nadu, Marathi for Maharashtra)
- In the second part, an interview cum personality test is held for those students who qualify the written examination.
Programme Development Officer
Programme development officer will work closely with the Senior Development Officer to strengthen and improve methodologies, practices and systems for successfully pursuing new projects and funding from governments, foundations and the private sector.
Programme Development Officer Career prospects
This is an excellent field which appeals to the people who love challenges and at the same time want job-security and permanence. It is a class II job and the candidate usually starts as Assistant Development Officer. Moreover, it gives the incumbent to work for the cause of humanity and at the same time meet the source of India.
Programme Development Officer Salary
Though, initially pay package in this field of work is not as lucrative as other professions, but this field surely offers tremendous satisfaction. Generally one can start his career with a starting salary of around Rs.15,000 or above.
