(SATURDAY) Goa B-school wants to emulate Harvard, back localised research

The Goa Institute of Management (GIM), one of India's top 10 private B-schools, plans to make research on pressing local issues Goa as one of its thrust areas and has zeroed in on garbage and traffic management and tourism as key areas for study.

Newly-appointed director C. Joe Arun said the institute was planning to take a leaf out of globally renowned Harvard management school that lays emphasis on conducting research in the Massachusetts, where the Ivy league university is located.

Arun said that tourism, traffic and garbage management were some the critical areas identified by the Institute in Goa, already known as a top beach tourism destination in the country.

"Harvard takes up issues relevant to the area it is based in and conducts research on those areas. An institute should be able to contribute significantly to the areas it is based in. Likewise, GIM will be taking up research projects which concern Goa," Arun told IANS.

Every year, Goa attracts over three million tourists, almost double its resident population, often resulting in pressure on existing and insufficient infrastructure like roads, transport, water and electricity, among others.

As far as Goa goes, garbage and its management was an underlined area of concern, even before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for 'Swachh Bharat', but an absence of a single functioning large-scale garbage management mechanism has resulted in the menace burgeoning into a gargantuan problem - with no workable solution in sight.

Citing a case in point, Arun claimed that the decennial exposition of St. Francis Xavier scheduled for November-December, where over five million pilgrims from across India and the globe are expected to attend, would be a prime area of research for GIM as far as traffic management goes.

"There will be around five million people coming into Goa for the exposition of St Francis Xavier. Traffic is a long-standing problem that the state is facing. The faculty at GIM can conduct research on such matters that affect the local community and assist in finding a solution. GIM is able to contribute to research which can aid in the development of the state," he said.

The 16th century Spanish saint brought Christianity to Goa and every 10 years his remains, otherwise stored carefully in a local church, are exhibited to the general public, who attend the event by the droves.

According to Edward De Lima, a director at the institute, there was an element of give back already designed into the syllabi and the institute was willing to tie up with the state government vis-a-vis research-oriented projects with a local orientation.

"We would like to do research in various areas, but we don't have any local standing to interfere in the workings of the state government. If the government needs our help, we are happy to offer that help. We have many areas for research, but we would like to give priority to something that we can practically implement around us," De Lima told IANS.

(Mayabhushan Nagvenkar can be contacted at mayshushan.n@ians.in