Indian Institute of Management-Sambalpur plan to develop Smart villages

45 students will receive their degrees during second convocation of business school on Sunday.

SAMBALPUR:  IN a landmark proposal, the Indian Institute of Management, Sambalpur (IIM-S) has planned to develop a business model taking two clusters of proposed Smart villages and bring about  economic and social development of the residents of the clusters. Informing this to media on Saturday, a day ahead of the second convocation of the premier B School on Sunday, slated to be attended by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik,  Director of IIM-S, Mahadeo Jaiswal, said though the proposal is at a conceptual stage, they are serious about the model.

 Jaiswal said two clusters of Smart villages in the State, one in western Odisha and another in Koraput in southern Odisha, will be identified. If successful, the model will be replicated throughout the country. He said development and economic alleviation need to be self-sustainable. The clusters will have best of schools and hospitals besides all requisite facilities to give it a push, he added. 

Director of IIM-S Mahadeo Jaiswal 
Director of IIM-S Mahadeo Jaiswal 

The IIM Director said grey areas in the clusters would be identified and all available potential, including business and tourism, will be tapped for development of the residents. Jaiswal said based on the potential, a self-sustainable business model would be developed for the clusters and both students and faculties of IIM-S will be involved in realising the concept.  He revealed that they would take the local industries into confidence and call on them to contribute for development of the villages. On the second convocation, Jaiswal said the institute is now functioning from a building provided by Sambalpur University on the campus. 

The second convocation of the institution will be held at Biju Patnaik Auditorium of the university. Naveen Patnaik will address the convocation. Altogether, 45 students will receive their degrees during the convocation. Three students will be awarded gold medal, he added.    Expressing satisfaction at the placement of students of IIM-S, Jaiswal said this year the average offer for IIM-S students has been `10.03 lakh per annum. Last year, it was `7.2 lakh. 

He said one of their students, Ananad Kulkarni, has notched up a placement offer with `60.7 lakh per annum.  He also revealed that as per IIM Act, 2018 passed in Parliament that makes IIM an institution of national importance, henceforth IIMs  will award MBA degree, instead of PG Diploma. 

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