Lt Governor inaugurates IIM Jammu’s Online Orientation Program

SRINAGAR, JULY 22 2021 Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today inaugurated the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Jammu’s online orientation program of 2nd Batch of Ph.D. and 6th Batch of MBA.

While congratulating all incoming students for making it into the academic programs of IIM Jammu, the Lt Governor advised them to adopt new strategies to deal with future challenges of business environment in the post-pandemic era.

In the post-pandemic era, business landscape is changing at a faster pace. Digital economy, evolving consumer behaviour, and enterprises agility are going to shape the new career paths in the management, remarked the Lt Governor.

The youth must continuously keep inventing the world around, meeting challenges, and evaluating opportunities that come in the way.

Best products and services are defined by the people, the human customers. Young business leaders will have to build a people-centric culture in management to meet future challenges.

Cross-functional collaboration, Deprogramming, and making leadership roles a shared responsibility are important factors to tap opportunities, help in the growth of institutions and individuals in today’s hyper-connected world, said the Lt Governor.

Opportunities, growth, impact, and mission- will shape the management career and future of our country, enabling to build any skill set to lead an organization or a company, he added.

The Lt Governor called upon the youth to stand up for India and find change-makers in them. Always follow the principle of ‘Dignity of Difference’ and respect the different views on marketing, research, or innovation, he added.

Speaking on the huge investment opportunities available in the UT of J&K, the Lt Governor said that the government intends to take a leap forward in making J&K, an economic paradise for investors.

Sectors like tourism, film tourism, horticulture, and post-harvest management, agro and food processing, mulberry production for silk, health and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, IT & IT-enabled services, renewable energy, infrastructure and real estate, handloom and handicraft, and education offer great growth opportunity to all the stakeholders, he added.

With immense talent pool, business-friendly ecosystem and the trust that we can deliver on the promise leaves more scope for growth in modern technologies needed for Industry 4.0. I would like to invite all the budding managers to take the lead in participating in this process of development, the Lt Governor affirmed.

Underscoring the innovative and reformative measures taken by the UT Government to address the unemployment issue of youth in the long run, the Lt Governor remarked that “We are putting the spotlight on manufacturing, services, technology, innovation, and diversification in agriculture. Our focus is more on re-skilling and up-skilling of youth to meet the challenges of emerging market and become successful entrepreneurs”.

In recent times, the higher education sector has seen a major expansion in the UT with pioneering institutes catering to the needs of qualitative higher education for individual beneficiaries. Jammu & Kashmir will be among few of the UTs/states that have its own IIM, IIT, and AIIMS under the same jurisdiction. Along with the above three, we have also added NIFT to the list. With the introduction of New Education Policy, we shall be able to bring a holistic approach in the education system for all-round development.

Continuous reform is the key to transformation. The appropriate and timely action on different sectors with meticulous plans to meet the challenges will decide the future, stated the Lt Governor.

Re-energizing manufacturing and service sectors is one of the major challenges. We have identified 25 sectors for manufacturing, design, and innovation. The big push in the next few years would be to invite Original Equipment Manufacturers and Original Design Manufacturers to set up shops in Jammu & Kashmir that will also generate employment. The scaling up of infrastructure will be a great move for the big companies to set up manufacturing facilities here, he maintained.

The Lt Governor further advised the students to start thinking from people’s perspective, strive to provide personal service in a professional manner, introspect and see how their decision in today’s environment is shaping the agenda of public policy.

Remembering his tenure as Telecom Minister, the Lt Governor shared the reforms made in bridging the gap between Urban and Rural India, besides improving the access to under-served areas through various digital initiatives. He also spoke on the ground-breaking strategy adopted for financial inclusion of common man, through India Post Payment Bank.

Challenges bring integrity and larger national interest in a person and help in building a superstructure to facilitate sustained growth. Always try to build an ecosystem where innovation and knowledge should become inclusive, reducing social and regional disparities, the Lt Governor advised the students.

Sharing some of his experiences as Lt Governor of J&K, the Lt Governor stated that we have introduced many reforms working day and night, with a solution-based approach to overcome the biggest challenge in J&K i.e eliminating the legacy of delays, and ushering in a development-oriented change, besides empowering the youth to take our UT and the great nation forward.

We have introduced over 150 new initiatives and reforms in a short period of time and evolved a pattern of sustained growth that is evident from the fact that in the last one week, around 100 projects were dedicated to the public. And, many of these projects ensure that our youth become effective partners in the developmental journey.

Our new industrial development scheme aims to take the industrialization attempt to the block level to transform the lives of local communities. In order to tap the vast talent pool, we are expanding programs and schemes that will ensure that every youth is engaged to build a modern Jammu Kashmir, he added.

My approach to management has been rooted in looking at challenges as opportunities and solving them through innovation and creativity. Creating a better future for the youth of J&K and ensuring that they have plenty of opportunities and engagement with the stakeholders is one of our focus areas, said the Lt Governor.

With solution-based approaches, we have effectively dealt with the pandemic.  The UT Administration’s prompt response to the second wave of COVID-19 can be attributed to its experience and investment made in the health sector and emergency preparedness immediately after the first wave impact subsided in August- September, noted the Lt Governor.

Terming Jan Bhagidari as a crucial factor for the growth of any region, the Lt Governor outlined the policies, programs, and schemes initiated by the UT Government for transforming the governance and delivery of public services.

In the last one year, our work has also focused on laying the foundation for grass-root democracy so that Jammu & Kashmir moves ahead towards a glorious future. To truly actualize the PM’s vision of an inclusive and empowered nation, inculcating a sense of pride and taking development all the way to the grassroots level, we have taken major initiatives like Back to Village, My Town My Pride, JKIGRAMS, LG Mulaqaat, redressing the grievances of the people and enabling them to access governance and its institutions. The financial incentivization is done at the Panchayat level where we have now impacted over 20,000 youth (out of which 25% are girls) from every panchayat providing them with financial assistance and handholding to become an entrepreneur, he continued.

  The Lt Governor also mentioned about the Lieutenant Governor’s Sustainable Development Fellowship 2021, which has been conceptualized by the Department of Higher Education to make the youth- the leaders of tomorrow, a partner in transforming the future of Jammu & Kashmir.

The endeavour is to provide the youth a platform and involve them in designing, reviewing, and monitoring government policies and programmes, while the government benefits from their innovative out-of-the-box ideas for sustainable development, he added.

Concluding his speech, the Lt Governor wished the students great learning and achievements in their respective programs, and asked them to take this as an opportunity to be a part of the change.

The Lt Governor also appreciated the contribution of IIM Jammu Community especially Director IIM Jammu, Prof B.S.Sahay, for doing a great contribution to Jammu & Kashmir and to the nation.

Dr. Milind Kamble, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIM also addressed the students on the occasion.

A Video representing the Virtual tour of proposed campus of IIM, Jammu was also showcased to the students.

 Professor Shakti Gupta, Director, AIIMS, faculty members, besides distinguished guests from Corporate sector, Academia, UT Administration and large number of students attended the event through virtual mode.