District Coordinator (Karnataka)

About YRG MERF

Established in 1993, YRGMERF is a leading non-governmental organisation in India dedicated to improving health outcomes through integrated healthcare, inclusive partnerships, and research-driven interventions. Guided by the principles of integrity and sustainability, the organisation addresses both immediate and emerging public health challenges, with a strong focus on prevention, care, support, and treatment—particularly in the area of HIV and other infectious diseases.

In India, the TIFA project aims to strengthen national health security through coordinated action across government systems and community stakeholders. This approach is designed to build a resilient ecosystem capable of detecting, preventing, and responding to emerging infectious disease threats.

As part of this initiative, a decentralised community-based surveillance model will be implemented, aligned with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)’s Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) framework. The model enables community platforms such as Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and Mahila Arogya Samitis (MAS) to identify and report early warning signals using IHIP tools, thereby strengthening community ownership, improving early detection, and enabling timely public health response.

Position Summary

The District Coordinator is the person who makes this project work on the ground. Every block visit, every community meeting, every skilling session, every interaction with the PHC Medical Officer, every IHIP signal follow-up – it either happens through the District Coordinator or because the District Coordinator made it happen. This is not a desk role. The District Coordinator spends 70–80% of the time in the field (blocks, sub-centres, villages, PHCs) and 20–30% at the district headquarters (government meetings, data compilation, reporting).

Key Responsibilities

• Identify and map existing resources at the block level specially those in areas reporting zoonotic diseases during last 3 years. Lead in preparation of block level landscaping report with support of State and National level team members.
  
• Meet with Tehsildar, BDO or Assistant Commissioner rank officials to brief them about the BOHC's role in managing One Health Activities. Share the Office Memorandum issued by Government of India.
  
• Discuss with DSO on the need for organising district level meeting with officials from human health, animal health, forestry, agriculture and environment departments to brief them about One Health activities, requirements for functional BOHC, seek membership nomination for formalising BOHC.
  
• Work closely with subject experts to prepare district specific report on the zoonotic disease trends in last 3 years including availability of data from the relevant departments mentioned above. Identify and list the details of responsible person who should handle the data, discuss the data and trends during BOHC meeting.
  
• Make visits along with Cluster Block Coordinator to blocks specially while organising skilling activities, simulation drives, implementation of one -page alerts, BOHC meetings.
  
• Help in implementation of performance tracker by entering the required data and information in the tracker and prepare required reports.
  
• Conduct monthly review meetings of cluster block coordinators and share observations, discuss areas of improvement. These meetings should align with the project priorities.
  
• Help in documentation and field supervisory visits, record the minutes of the meetings and share the final documents with block and district level officials.
  

Surveillance System Operationalisation

• Ensure that every IHIP signal reported by ASHAs, Pasu Sakhis, Forest staff in the district is tracked through to verification. Maintain a signal tracking register (physical notebook and digital spreadsheet) recording: date of signal, reporter identity, signal description, MO assigned, verification status, time taken, verification outcome, and follow-up actions
  
• Coordinate closely with DSO to understand the status of actions taken by JRRT and required update in alert log-book. Follow up with Medical Officers when verification is pending beyond 12 hours. The 24-hour verification window is a hard commitment – the District Coordinator’s job is to make sure it is met. Where MOs are consistently unresponsive, escalate to the Block Medical Officer or DSO through the State Manager
  
• Support Medical Officers during field verification visits when requested. Help in preparing detailed note on the issues faced in IHIP reporting, verification and risk communication. Bring these notes for discussion during BOHC meetings to improve JRRT activities in the block.
  

Government Coordination at District Level

• Establish a working relationship with the BOHC members and Tehsildar, BDO or Assistant Commissioner rank official who chairs the BOHC. Ensure close coordination with District Surveillance Officer and DSO staff from the first week of deployment. Attend IDSP review meetings at the district level. Provide weekly informal updates to the DSO on progress of project activity in the district
  
• Coordinate with Block Medical Officers to ensure that MOs at PHCs are aware of their verification responsibilities and have the IHIP access and skilling needed to perform them
  
• Maintain a register of all government meetings attended, with date, attendees, discussion points, and action items. This register serves as evidence of government engagement for donor reporting
  

Data Collection and Reporting

• Submit fortnightly data reports to the State Manager covering: BOHC activities, skilling activities, IHIP reporting and JRRT activities, reporting to response loop closure, use of alert log book.
  
• Maintain all source documents: skilling attendance sheets with signatures, community meeting minutes, signal tracking registers, photograph logs, and government meeting records. These are audit-ready documents and must be kept current and complete at all times
  
• Support the State Data Quality Assurance Officer during data quality audits by making all source documents available and facilitating field visits to verify reported data.
  

Requirements

Qualifications and Experience

• Graduate degree in science, public health, animal husbandry. Post-graduation in public health, or community development is preferred
  
• Minimum 4-5 years of field-level experience in community health programmes. Candidates who have worked as Block Managers or District Coordinators in NHM, NRHM, Animal Husbandry Program or NGO-implemented health programmes will be preferred
  
• The candidate must be from the region or must have lived and worked in the state for at least 2 years. Local language fluency is non-negotiable
  
• Comfort using smartphones, WhatsApp, and basic data entry in Excel or Google Sheets
  
• Willingness to travel extensively within the district, including to remote blocks and villages with limited road access
  
• Own two-wheeler with valid driving licence is strongly preferred
  

Benefits

Benefits & Work Environment

• 24 days of annual leave, in addition to public holidays.
  
• Health insurance coverage
  
• Opportunity to work in a collaborative and inclusive environment.
  
• Scope for learning and professional development.
  

YRG is an equal-opportunity organisation. At YRG, we are committed to supporting inclusion and diversity as part of our values. We celebrate employee’s differences in abilities, sexual orientation, ethnicity, faith, and gender. Our team are people with different strengths, experiences, and backgrounds, who share a passion for improving people's lives.