International Conference on Rural Management, 2017

In the last two decades, the social and economic environment has evolved immensely, giving rise to an enhanced understanding of rurality. Keeping cognizance of the same, the Xavier School of Rural Management (XSRM), whose MBA in Rural Management is one of the highest ranked courses in the domain, successfully concluded its first International Conference on Rural Management (ICRM), at the Xavier University, Bhubaneswar campus, on November 23 and 24, 2017.

The conference stood on the shoulders of the ambitious seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), charted by the United Nations, in an effort to consciously aspire to achieve 169 targets by 2030 in the fields of poverty, inequality, food security, clean energy, peace and justice; to protect our planet.

The conference was inaugurated by an insightful address by the chief guest, Shri Amarjeet Sinha (IAS; Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India). “Poverty challenge is multi-dimensional. We lose sight of our objective when we focus only on our specialized sector”, were his wise words. He was joined in this august gathering by Shri Saurabh Garg (IAS; Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment, Government of Odisha). Shree Garg further emphasized on the challenges faced within the spectrum. “There is a high degree of variability in rural sector; coping against which is a major challenge for rural managers”, he said. He substantiated this by highlighting the four major roadblocks in the rural sector, viz insufficient penetration of formal financial system, need for high capital investment in agriculture and allied sectors, need for more focus on supply aspect of farmer produce, and more penetration of technology for development and business purpose.

Father Dr. Paul Fernandes, SJ (Vice Chancellor, XUB), Father E.A. Augustine, SJ (Registrar, XUB), Professor KajriMisra (Dean, XSRM, XUB), Professor T. Kumar (Coordinator, ICRM), and Professor KushankurDey (co-Coordinator, ICRM) also graced the podium for the inauguration.

The conference was attended by eminent industry stalwarts and respected government office-holders, who led various panel discussions, which also saw papers being presented on diverse topics.

On Day 1, the first panel discussed ‘Rural Management Education and Professions’, chaired by Shri DurgaprasadDuvvuri(OD&C, Chairman, GREX Governing Council). The panel consisted of luminaries like Shri Sanjay Panigrahi (President – Rurban & Special Projects, Pidilite Industries), Shri Sankar Dutta (Development Consultant), Mr. AjitChoudhuri (GM – Community Services, Tata Sustainability Group), Professor Debiprasad Mishra (IRMA & Gram Vikas), Professor KajriMisra (Dean, XSRM, XUB), and Mr. G. Murlidhar (Mentor, Akshara for Development).

The panel discussion was followed by the presentation of papers on veritable topics anchored on ‘Social & Economic Perspectives in Development’, ‘Capabilities and HR for Development’, ‘Development Policy and Strategy’, ‘Rural Marketing & Market Development’ (where the theme was illustrated by Professor Sridhar Guda of IIMK on “Psychic distance in ‘Intra’national Marketing”), and ‘Agribusiness Management’. These technical sessions were chaired by illustrious professors of Xavier School of Rural Management.

The Second Day of the conference started with a special address on ‘Veritable Rural Transformation’ by Shri Tripathy (IFS; Commissioner, Rural Development, Government of Jharkhand), followed by a memorable address by Shri Jugal Kishore Mohapatra (IAS; former Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development) on ‘HR support to the Panchayats for effective programme delivery’.

Day 2 also saw the presentation of papers on ‘Organizational Forms for Development’, ‘Rural and Development Finance’ (where the theme was illustrated by Mr. Ramana, erstwhile CEO, Basix), ‘Livelihoods Promotion for Development’, and ‘ICT and e-Governance for Development’.

The International Conference on Rural Management brought down its grand curtains by a Valedictory Session, wherein the report of the conference was given by Professor T. Kumar. Father E.A. Augustine, SJ (Registrar, XUB) gave the valedictory address, and distributed the honorary certificates to the distinguished participants of the conference. Professor Kushankur Dey brought the event to a close; a conference which was built on the ethos of the revitalization of the valuable field of Rural Management, which needs to demonstrate a concerted effort towards consolidation and institutionalization, particularly as the task of rural development which it needs to address remains vital, and needs to be expanded to include additional issues such as environment and climate change.