Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to launch the ‘Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship’ (MGNF) programme.
R Subrahmanyam, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development; Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, World Bank; and officials from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship were present .
The two-year fellowship programme will be delivered by IIM-B’s Centre of Public Policy (CPP), an independent public interest-oriented policy think-tank engaged in pioneering research, teaching, training, and capacity-building.
The MGNF will be launched on a pilot basis in Gujarat, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Eligible fellows will need to have a graduate degree from a recognised university. They must be citizens of India and in the age group of 21-30 years.
150th year tribute to Mahatma
Dr KP Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said: “The launch of the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship Programme is in line with one of our objectives of bringing about convergence of efforts of various governments and programmes right at the district level. We are certain this programme will attract great talent, which will further strengthen the skill component at the district administration level. It is also critical to us that we have a high quality truly global academic institution like IIM Bangalore as our academic partner to ensure the programme’s appeal and success. The MGNF is our tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, who was a proponent of decentralised planning, as we celebrate his 150th birth anniversary this year.”
IIM-B Director Dr G Raghuram said: “The Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship programme is aimed to identify and train a group of young, committed and dynamic individuals, who will leverage the IIM-B ecosystem in management, entrepreneurship and public policy and work with the district administration in strengthening the process of skilling to create a vibrant local district economy. Its unique design will allow the fellows to take academic learning at IIM Bangalore and use it in the field, under faculty mentorship, with the goal of understanding challenges and barriers that the district ecosystem faces in fostering growth and development.”