To produce socially responsible corporate managers, the Indian Institute of Management-Tiruchi has made socially relevant projects compulsory for its students to receive Post Graduate Diploma in Management.
Except a few, most students of Indian Institute of Management hail from urban areas. Many of them have solid economic background.
A section of them had not received enough exposure on rural life, agriculture, and the standard of living.
The move is aimed addressing this issue.
Under the move, students of Post Graduate Programme in Management will have to choose one of socio-economic issues of people living in Tiruchi and neighbouring districts.
They would work in teams of five or six students on issues of social importance such as rural health care, education, malnutrition, functioning of self-help groups, dairy farming, organic farming, and animal husbandry.
Besides undertaking field visits, they would collect data on selected topics and analyse issues and problems under the guidance of a faculty member.
The projects would then be evaluated by internal and external evaluators.
“There is a need to produce socially responsible corporate managers and leaders so as to make them aware of issues and challenges confronted by all sections of society. The concept will address the issue at least to an extent,” says Prafulla Agnihotri, Director, IIM-T.
There was a growing recognition among the leaders of corporate world that they needed to look beyond the immediate boundaries of their companies.
Business leaders, as custodians of society’s most powerful institutions, are increasingly expected to reconnect business success with social progress.
The organisational leaders should engage with social issues that affected their community and offer their organisational and managerial expertise in tackling these complex problems, Mr. Agnihotri added.
Suresh Paul Antony, Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Management, IIM-T, said 17 teams had undertaken projects on various societal issues of the region.
The students had spent significant time in visiting villages for identifying issues.
It had given good exposure to the students on several issues confronting the society. The best projects would be awarded at the institution’s Foundation Day (January 4).
The students will work in teams of five or six
They must collect data on chosen topics
