Madhya Pradesh’s Harda district will be developed by the Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIM Indore) now. The prestigious institution will work on strengthening the local markets. For this, IIM Indore has collaborated with Harda District Administration to develop Harda as a model district. The Memorandum of Understanding for this was signed by Prof. Himanshu Rai, Director, IIM Indore, and Mr Rishi Garg, IAS, District Magistrate, Harda District, Madhya Pradesh. The MoU was signed on November 16, 2022.
Prof. Himanshu Rai expressed his elation on this and told that IIM Indore is determined to take such initiatives to contribute to nation-building, and uplift the condition of the city, state, and country. Talking about the development, Prof. Himanshu Rai said, ‘I believe that women have a significant role in empowering society. Thus, we aim to conduct financial literacy training workshops for the women of the district and grab opportunities to become financially independent through various sources of livelihood’, he said. Repeating the One District One Product (ODOP) initiative we contributed to in the five districts of Uttar Pradesh, we plan to design the marketing and branding strategy for the local market in Harda as well. We will focus on rejuvenating tourism in the area by boosting village tourism, eco-tourism, camping, and natural treks. In addition, we will also promote farmer producer organizations and other government schemes in the area’.
Mr Rishi Garg also expressed his delight and said, ‘This collaboration will help us strengthen our understanding of rural management, leadership, and administration and allow us to interact with some excellent faculty members of the institute. The training programmes for the women would strengthen our society base and enable the women in the area not only become financially independent but confident as well.’
