IIM Kashipur is made unique mainly by its location and its infrastructure. The campus is located in the Terai region in the foothills of the Himalayas in the lap of mother nature. The place is the gateway to Nainital (also known as the Lake District of Uttarakhand) and Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve (First National Park in India). This, at times serves as a good escape from the hectic and rigorous curriculum of the PGP course. The campus is located away from the hullabaloo of city. IIM Kashipur is the IIM of rural India. This is important because it should be a priority for an institution of national importance to observe the problems of rural India closely and provide innovative management solutions to the problems of the community at large. This is the very purpose the IIM’s were established in the first place, but the sad reality is that little has been done to address the problems that affects the masses. While Operations Management and Supply Chain Management is taught so deeply across top B-Schools to prepare the students for the Corporate World, little has been done and even lesser accomplished in the public domain. The Public Distribution Systems remain in shambles, thus defeating the purpose. The rural location of the institute will definitely in the long run provide an opportunity to work closely with the community stakeholders. One such initiative is the IIM Kashipur’s Parivartan club which undertakes activities like educating the poor rural children, blood donation drives, book distribution drives, etc. In future, deeper involvement can be expected. The institute is located close to the Automobile and FMCG manufacturing hub of Northern India (The Rudrapur Industrial belt). This provides an opportunity to have practical learning about the best practices followed by the industry giants like Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, etc. This is especially important if we see it like this: After independence, the government of India had declared Industry as the Prime Moving Force (PMF) of the Economy and it is the Secondary sector that has the potential of stimulating maximum economic growth, as has been achieved in China. It is also in line with the Government of India’s “Make in India” initiative that the focus on Secondary sector be increased. It becomes all the more important from the recent happenings. It is the secondary sector that pushed India’s GDP growth to 7.2% in the recent quarter after the slump following demonetisation and GST implementation. The institution is well set for becoming one of the best in the country for Operations Management. This is facilitated by the presence of leading faculties of Operations Management in the institution. The faculties are central to the academic learning of the students. It is where IIM Kashipur is blessed with professors who have a deep understanding of the modern day industry practices. The professors themselves have acted as consultants to several industry giants. There is a huge amount of research work backing their knowledge.
Talking about infrastructure, the institute is built on 200+ acres of land. As a budding institute, the transformation has been quick in comparison with some other institutes of similar stature. This indicates the cooperation among various stakeholders at IIM Kashipur. The classrooms can be easily compared to some of the best in the country. The hostel blocks boast of state-of-art Radiant Cooling System which does the same job as an air conditioner, cooling in summers and heating in Winters while at the same time being environment-friendly. The open-air amphitheatre is one of its kind. The campus promises to come up as one of the most beautiful campuses of the country owing to the greenery surrounding the campus.
Which Aditya Birla Group Company would I like to work for and why?
I would like to work for Aditya Birla Capital Limited, the holding company of the Financial Services Business. The reason is as follows: One of the main problems that India faces is the incapability of Indian students to apply theoretical knowledge in the real world, in practical situations. While some call it incapability I view it from a different perspective. The problem is that we Indians are too worried about conforming to societal norms. A majority of Indians don’t enjoy what they learn or do. For success in any field of work, be it art, architecture, science or even management, one should have a keen interest in what he does. One should be able to like his profession. If that is not the case, then the above so called incapability will not cease to exist. I have opted Finance as my majors because I enjoy learning it and want to apply my theoretical knowledge in the industry. Aditya Birla Capital Limited is the perfect company that a Finance enthusiast would like to work for.
- Rakshit Rana