Indore: Indian Institute of Management Indore is planning to widen scope of its ‘Rural Immersion Programme’ (RIP) by next year. The programme analyses execution of state government schemes. “IIM Indore aims to widen the RIP in a way that the student continues to remain a part of the programme even after he graduates,” IIM Indore director Prof Himanshu Rai said during a panel discussion on the topic, ‘Rural engagement – The Way Forward’, on Wednesday.
The RIP is an initiative instituted with an objective to sensitise budding managers and entrepreneurs of this institute towards schemes undertaken by government in villages and to study and analyse their execution and effectiveness. Rai said management institutes need to increase engagement with the rural areas as good management involves betterment for all. Noting the importance of sanitation he said, “Healthy mind can only reside in a healthy body, and clean sanitation is one of the key factors of being healthy.”
The next keynote address was by Asit Gopal, IFS, state programme officer, State Swacch Bharat Mission-G. Lauding RIP, Gopal said such programmes help government to enhance their schemes in a better manner. Michael Steven Juma, chief of field office, UNICEF, MP, was also present. He praised students for their efforts in validation of ODF villages, and re-emphasised on the need to expand their scope of analysis while coherently exploring strategic linkage between sanitation, health, nutrition and education critical for the achievement of SDGs.
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Speaking of women hygiene during a penal discussion, IIM Indore director Rai said, “We need to break the taboo about menstruation and create awareness of female hygiene in the villages so as to create healthy lifestyle.” The panel discussion had Rai, Gopal, Ajit Tiwari, deputy commissioner, DPRD, Bhopal, Nageshwar Patidar, UNICEF field officer, MP; and Prof Bhavani Shankar, IIM Indore as panellists. While Patidar noted that sanitation and water are going to be big service areas in the coming years as the quality of water is degrading gradually, Gopal stated that spending time on rural engagement might be a big challenge. Tiwari discussed about wastage in rural areas and said solid waste management also needs to be taken care of. He encouraged students to prepare and collect relevant data, as the government finds the data useful in creating new schemes and apps.
ABOUT RIP
Spread over a week, across several districts in Madhya Pradesh, the programme’s main objective is to provide insights on various dimensions of district level administration, focusing primarily on the policy administration and the execution gaps, while dispelling several stereotypes associated with the rural population at large. Participants are divided into groups of 10 each, based on their choices. The entire programme is organised in coordination with Madhya Pradesh Mantralaya, Bhopal.
