MP Darshan: Rural Immersion Programme
Highlights >>

In the words of the Father of the Nation M. K. Gandhi, The soul of India lives in its villages". According to the 2001 Indian census, 74% of Indians live in 638,365 different villages. At IIM Indore, there is an overwhelming realization of the important role that rural India will play in the overall development of this nation. When Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam enlightened the IIM Indore community about the PURA concept, the Director of the institute took it upon himself to find out whether the implementation of PURA on the ground can be made a reality. The PURA concept proposes sets of villages, well-connected within themselves, thus providing the economies of scale of services, infrastructure etc. In addition, this connected cluster is also well connected to a nearby city which is located about 50 to 100 km away which assures the modern global connectivity required for the villages.

20 of Madhya Pradesh's districts were chosen and teams of students from PGP-1 made week-long trips to these districts. Christened the Immersion Programme, the entire effort worked wonderfully at sensitizing the participants towards the needs and problems of the village communities, and how the government machinery is working towards the betterment of the people in these districts. 3 groups had also visited the international borders in North Bengal, South Bengal and west India to learn about the functioning of the Border Security Force at these locations. Different groups had many different stories to tell, and many suggestions for solving the problems of the districts. The overwhelming response in the post-trip debriefing session was that the effort should be towards making the connection of the groups with the districts that they visited a permanent one. As one of the participants commented, it is exciting to think how one week of your life can change your entire perspective about life at the other end of the spectrum!

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The Experience

"The rural immersion trip has been a memorable experience. I have a new found respect for administration and the government machinery. Also, it is amazing to note the myriad of opportunities and possibilities rural India presents to entrepreneurs and to people who want to make a difference.

It was highly inspirational to know and see some 'Sachivs' and 'Sarpanchs' work so selflessly and tirelessly for the upliftment of their village. Even today, a lot of villages have a feeling of bonding and community among themselves which is found missing in most urban areas. They have a lot of faith in each other. Spare a thought for the principal and teachers who have been toiling for years in the schools in these areas just to ensure that at least a few have better lives. I salute the doctor who still hangs in there in a remote village to serve those 1000+ patients who would be left without treatment for days if he were to go.

One of the most touching experiences was the visit to the high school at Chegaon Makhan. We interacted with the students of class XIth Science and the enthusiasm and spirit showed by them was heart rending. Many of them had to travel 15 kms through kuccha roads to reach there. They had little money and little support from their own village. Yet, they want to study further. We met a group of boys amongst them we spoke mainly to Mihir and Gautam. Mihir wanted to know how he could become the collector. The entire group was keen to get into the army. They said," Isn't it more heroic to die for the nation? We will do anything for the nation". That’s when Gautam said '' Sir, one should either be a terrorist or an army guy. That’s a sure shot way to be famous!". The boys apparently didn’t like the Sarpanch of the village. Gautam wanted to know from us how they could blow him up without getting caught :) All in jest of course!

It will be a shame if these fine boys and girls don't continue their education. They cited the distance of the college from their village and money as the primary reasons of not continuing. The awareness of the benefits of education was quite high in the village and neighbouring villages. The parents wanted to send their children but could let them study beyond 12th std. It was unfortunate that hardly any girl in that school went to college after the 12th Std. The school had an internet connection but no power and no teacher!

We saw the hydel power plant at Omkareshwar and I felt as if I was in some other universe. In this Universe the HULs, Cokes and the BCGs look like tiny tots. Here was the real thing. This was the plant and many other such ground breaking projects that would transform lives of millions. It would enable hordes of men and women to do things they found almost impossible to do earlier. In short they would get power, power that would allow them to irrigate farms that would feed the nation, power that would allow a village youth to also study after the sun sets, power that would allow an octogenarian in a village to spend his/her last days with a fan over his/her cot.

It is also commendable that certain government officials work tirelessly in spite of constant obstruction by politicians. To deliver in a completely thankless environment, takes men of steely determination. In short, they have dedicated their life to nation building.

I feel humbled and inspired at the same time."

- Ankit Doshi
IIM Indore
Batch of 2009-11