IIM Lucknow holds valedictory ceremony for Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship students

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Management (IIM Lucknow) held a valedictory ceremony for students who completed the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) programme. Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Durga Shanker Mishra was the chief guest on the occasion.

The MGNF, an initiative of the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship (MSDE), aims at training persons in two-year certificate in public policy and management in collaboration with Indian Institutes of Management. The IIM Lucknow, which was the largest academic partner, trained 105 fellows spread across four states – Assam (32), Mizoram (11), Uttar Pradesh (51) and Himachal Pradesh (11).

Topper in MGNF programme

The fellows were stationed across various districts and they worked on new development projects. Bhavana Das, a fellow deployed in the Udalguri district of Assam secured the first position while Pallavi Dhiman, who was deployed in Kolasib district of Mizoram, and Anuradha Nirwan, deployed in the Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh, secured second and third positions in the MGNF programme, respectively

Durga Shanker Mishra emphasised on the instrumental role played by the country’s premier institutes such as IIM Lucknow in nurturing the youth for driving transformative changes in the society.

He also reiterated the clarion call ‘Panch Pran’ of the PM regarding resolve to develop India, removing any trace of the colonial mindset, taking pride in our legacy, strengthening unity and fulfilling the duties of citizens with honesty.

A coffee table book ‘Skill Se Samridhhi,’ documenting some of the inspiring initiatives carried out by the fellows during their engagement in this program, was also unveiled during the ceremony.

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IIM Lucknow director Archana Shukla said, “The engagement of fellows at districts complemented with exceptional mentoring support from the institute has been able to instil a sustained dialogue of skill development at the local level. The bottom-up approach in public policy designing that the fellows have been able to bring in will go a long way in implementing the contextualised programmes on the ground.”

Regarding the role of IIM Lucknow in the program, Prof. Ajay K. Garg and Prof. Kshitij Awasthi, Program Directors - MGNF at IIM Lucknow shared, “A holistic mentoring approach was followed at IIM Lucknow, keeping the learning and overall development of fellows at the centre of all initiatives. This has equipped our fellows to collaborate effectively with local administrations and implement some of the unique projects on the ground.”