Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan highlighted the National Education Policy (NEP) and the vision to transform the education system while exhorting students to bring about a synergy of modern knowledge and traditional values and become true brand ambassadors of India.

Addressing the 7th Foundation Day of the Indian Institute of Management, Sambalpur, PradhanSaid Sambalpur is the cultural capital of western Odisha, a cradle for Sambalpuri handloom, dance, and music, and a land of freedom fighters like Veer Surendra Sai, globally renowned poets like Gandadhar Meher, Bhim Bhoi. As students you must take inspiration from their lives and leave an indelible mark in the field of education, he said.

The ceremony held in the blended mode was addressed by Subroto Bagchi, Chairman, Odisha Skill Development Authority, Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate, Affairs Officer, Flipkart, and Prof Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, IIM Sambalpur.

“As students of IIM Sambalpur as you embark on your life’s journey, you will not only become responsible citizens of the country but also leaders of tomorrow”, stated the Union Minister.

The NEP is based on the foundation of accessibility, affordability, equity, and quality, needless to say, it aims to transform our education system with the emerging dynamics of the 21st century. Subroto Bagchi, in his speech, noted that an educational institute must have a physical as well as digital infrastructure intertwined.

Then there is a need for intellectual infrastructure to prepare the students for the future, lastly, and importantly it must have an emotional infrastructure. The duty to build emotional infrastructure lies with the students.

Prof Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, IIM Sambalpur, said, IIM Sambalpur was established in the year 2015 with 49 students in the first batch of MBA and currently 6th and 7th Batch of MBA strength is 328, 3 batches of Ph.D. is 15 students, and 2 batches of Exe Ph.D. with 22 students and 1st batch of Exe MBA with 54 executives. The Institute outscored most other top Institutes in terms of highest gender diversity in MBA (2019-21) batch with 49% girls’ students and 43% girls in MBA (2020-22) and 46 percent in the current year (2021-22).

Addressing the audience, Rajneesh Kumar, “ As a country that has emerged from the pandemic, it has changed how we perceive businesses and everything else. There have been fundamentals shifts that covid has created in our lives and businesses. There is a need for businesses to be more responsible and inclusive. At Flipkart, this is exactly what we try and do – build responsible growth and businesses. We believe this is all connected and coupled with our aspirations.” He further elaborated on Flipkart’s initiative to support small businesses through Flipkart Samarth and their partnership with IIM Sambalpur.

Indian field hockey player Amit Rohidas and renowned Sambalpuri singer Padmashree Jitendra Haripal were honored at the function. IIM Sambalpur also awarded merit scholarships worth Rs 1,00,000 each to the top seven students of the second year based on their academic performance in the first year.