By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: It was a proud moment for the 111 students of the Indian Institute of Management Shillong as they took their oath to pursue their studies in keeping with the spirit of humility, harmony and unity.
At an impressive event held on Saturday, IIM Shillong’s first Director, Prof Ashoke Kumar Dutta welcomed and inducted 111 students representing the fifth batch of students of its flagship PGDM programme.
This time it is also a proud moment for Meghalaya and the region that amongst the new inductees is Shillong’s own Jeremy Simon Nongrum. Three others are from Assam.
Addressing the students and guests, Prof Dutta encouraged the new students to, ‘say yes to opportunities’ and to manage ambiguities with confidence.
“We would love to see a set of future managers who are fired by intellectual curiosity, are intellectually competent, socially committed, morally upright and spiritually inspired. Our strength has always revolved around innovation and the urge to take on leadership,” said Prof Dutta.
With sustainable development as its thrust area, IIM Shillong is a pioneer in exposing its students to the burning issue of sustainability, which in the past four years has proved to be a the unique selling point of IIM Shillong resulting in 100% induction of IIM Shillong’s students into national and multinational corporate houses, Prof Dutta said.
Governor of Chattisgarh, Shekhar Dutt, while speaking as the chief guest said, “You have an added responsibility of meeting the demands of clients not only in India but the whole world since India is today a world leader.”
Reminding the students that the future of India is in the hands of this generation, Governor Dutt said, “We are not looking for managers, who can manage resources, but for leaders who can manage other men but above all, to manage themselves. We are a young nation, and more importantly, we are a nation of young people.”
It may be mentioned that IIM which started in 2008 has now become a much sought after Institute by aspiring students given its innovative practices and course development. Within a short span of time the Institute has within its ambit collaborated and initiated courses such as the executive PG Program in Law & Business with the National University of Juridical Sciences, a two year Post Graduate Program in Financial Markets with the National Stock Exchange, the ongoing Executive PG Program in International Business with the Ocean University of China, Qingdao, and is rolling out its first Fellowship Program very soon.
Its Centre for Development of NER has become a sought after entity in terms of providing academic expertise in the area of management and societal development. Tie ups with various corporate houses such as HCL and SAP India Private Limited amongst others is another way in which the Institute has managed to bring in expertise to the NER by assisting in the CSR efforts visualized to increase developmental efforts in the region.
The Governor of Chhattisgarh and its First Lady had earlier planted orange tree saplings which would be transferred to the Institute’s permanent campus in due course of time. Talking to this scribe the new batch of students said they are entering a new region they had only read about in books. “We love the climate and the ambiance of the Institute and we know we have a great faculty,” said a visibly excited student.