The fifth national symposium on rural management commenced on Friday at XIMB, Bhubaneswar addressing this year’s agenda, “Managing to Transform: Rethinking Rural and Development Management”.
The Xavier School of Rural Management (XSRM) once again set the stage, with all rural stakeholders coming together for transformational development in rural managing.
Prof Kajri Misra, Dean XSRM, opened the session, laying down the lines of discussion. Vice Chancellor of XIMB-XUB Fr Dr Paul Fernandes SJ spoke on the importance of rural management for societal and corporate development.
Rural Development Principal Secretary Madhusudan Padhi, Deputy General Manager, NABARD Manojit Biswas and National Rural Alliance and Activation Manager Navneet Gambhir were some of prominent figures from the industry who attended.
Dibyajyoti Pattanaik, Director, Annapurna Microfinance, emphasized the rapidly changing world of financing and the importance of adaptability and a convergent effort on part of the entrepreneurial world. Shankar Shastri, Director, Executive VP and Chief Risk Officer, Annapurna Microfinance, an alumni of XIMB, highlighted the significance of MSMEs in shaping up the rural development scenario in India while calling for more technical and skill investment for a faster transformation.
The speakers also categorically addressed the several Government schemes such as Kishan Credit card (KCC), National livestock Scheme, MNREGA amongst many others which could prove instrumental in rural poverty alleviation and promote better standards of living.
Agribusiness, dairy and meat value chain were also declared as the future frontrunners of rural development.