- One-Week Rural Engagement Programme commences in hybrid mode for 648 participants
- PGP, PGPHRM and IPM participants to interact with 30K villagers in 52 districts of MP
To provide its participants with a rich, practical and socially-oriented approach to learning, IIM Indore had launched the Rural Immersion Programme (now known as the Rural Engagement Programme-REP) in 2009. The programme aims to sensitize the budding managers and entrepreneurs towards the various schemes undertaken by the government in villages and to study and analyze their execution and effectiveness. The orientation of the REP 2021 was held at IIM Indore on October 25, 2021, in hybrid mode. The programme was inaugurated by Prof. Himanshu Rai, Director, IIM Indore. Prof. Bhavani Shankar, REP Coordinator and Faculty, IIM Indore was also present on the occasion. This year, the participants would study the impact on health and hygiene after COVID19 in the rural areas of Madhya Pradesh, based on the COVID guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Prof. Rai in his address shared the journey of the transformation of the former Rural Immersion Programme (RIP) to the Rural Engagement Programme (REP). He noted that earlier the participants used to stay outside the villages and analyze the issues faced by the villagers. ‘With a realization that the brightest minds in the nation are proficient of doing much more, especially in line with IIM Indore’s vision to take every step in contributing to the nation-building, we decided to amend the RIP to REP, and hence, the participants now live in the villages to understand the problems of the rural areas. They also provide solutions to resolve the issues and submit a report’, he said. This year, however, the participants would be conducting the study via telephonic interviews amid pandemic.
Mentioning that over 833 million people residing in the rural areas of India do not have access to elementary facilities like access to clean drinking water, electricity, education, or the internet, Prof. Rai said that its time to understand that the people in the rural areas have a completely different set of problems. ‘Most of the things we take granted for, are a huge privilege for them. We should stop deciding the priorities for other people and instead understand their issues’, he said. REP is an imperative programme since it not only aids the participants to understand ground realities but also enhances their social consciousness, sensitivity and managerial and decision-making skills. He invigorated the participants saying that the one-week journey of REP will help them create memories and understand the problems in the rural areas, but more importantly, the sensitivity they will gain through this programme will remain with them throughout their lives. ‘If you can make a difference in even a single person’s life during this programme, you will be doing a great job as a compassionate human being’, he concluded.
Giving an introduction to the REP, Prof. Bhavani Shankar noted that IIM Indore has taken intense steps for increasing the engagement of participants with a noble cause of making a difference in the lives of rural people. ‘The change in rural landscape is a daunting task, however, the participants will have a constructive engagement with the villagers during this one week. They will work on finding out the impact of the pandemic and how to cope up with the same’, he said. The participants received the description and an explanation of Survey Instruments on health and hygiene behavior among citizens of Madhya Pradesh by Prof. Shankar and Prof. Ajit Phadnis.
A total of 648 participants from the first year of PGP and PGPHRM and the fourth year of IPM will communicate telephonically with over 30,000 villagers from 52 districts in Madhya Pradesh. Two teams of 6 students will study one district and work on a database of 600-700 citizens from each district. They will conduct phone interviews to understand the present situation of COVID appropriate behavior in the area. This includes the adherence to COVID guidelines by the citizens, understanding the constraints faced and the reasons behind the same and coming up with recommendations to address the constraints. The participants would submit the report on November 03, 2021.