IIM Bangalore to launch Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship programme

The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) on Wednesday signed a pact with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to launch Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) programme to foster strong skill and development outcomes in district economies.

IIMB Director G Raghuram signed the contract in presence of R Subrahmanyam, Secretary at the Department of Higher Education at the Ministry of Human Resource Development, and Junaid Ahmad, Country Director at the World Bank, and officials from the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

The two-year fellowship programme will be delivered by IIMB's Centre of Public Policy which is 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 in the age group of 21 to 30 years.

Raghuram said the MGNF programme is aimed at identifying and training a group of young, committed and dynamic individuals who will leverage the IIMB 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 IIMB 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," he said in a statement.

K P Krishnan, Secretary at the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said the programme will strengthen the skill component at district administration level. "The MGNF is our tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, who was a proponent of decentralised planning, as we celebrate his 150th birth anniversary this year.