Mr. N K Singh, Chairman, MDI Board of Governors, conferred a doctoral degree on 8 participants and declared them as Fellows of MDI. Mr. Singh then awarded PGDM degreesto 530 students of the various programs at MDI. With this ceremony 183, 55, and 38 students were declared to have completed their PGPM, PGP-HR, and PGP-IM programs respectively; 102, 65, 50 and 29 participants were declared to have completed the Executive Management Program (EMP), National Management Program (NMP), the Energy Management Program and the Public Policy & Governance Program respectively.
Congratulating the passing out graduates, Mr. NK Singh said, “They had no doubt difficult times ahead of them but the skills learnt by them during their education in MDI will hold them in good stead. The changed global economic scenario called for a complete overhaul and reassessment of our growth dynamics and strategies. There is a need for major changes in our economic and social planning and services especially in the field of education. Reforms in higher and technical education are urgently needed and we have to devise how to improve our rural income in order to make the masses real customers and consumers of our services.”
While speaking on market strategies amidst global economic slowdown, Mr. Singh said, “This is essential to eliminate our dependence on exports and foreign markets. We have to have our own variety of regulatory and structural reforms in agriculture and in labor policies. This also calls for re-writing old classical theories and practices to help mitigate the impact of the present global slowdown. The MDI Board of Governors has initiated an intensive review of the institute’s course curriculum. The committee set up for this purpose will reframe and redraw our education content in a way that it is relevant to the changing market needs and demands. I assure that MDI authorities will see to it that all the pass outs are placed suitably at the earliest.”
Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman Aditya Birla Group, was the Chief Guest for the occasion. Due to sudden illness, he was unable to arrive on the day. Dr. Santrupt Misra, Director HR & Business Head for Carbon Black Business of Aditya Birla Group delivered the Convocation Address on his behalf.
At the Convocation address, Dr. Santrupta Misra called the year 2008 as the year of the unthinkable and shared with the gathering of more than 1000 people, what it means – at a global, macro level for business and for entrants to the world of business.
Stressing that development means providing more opportunities of work, Dr. Misra said, “The current time though hard, provided a great opportunity for students to learn and they had to look to varied avenues beyond traditional MNCs, and large corporate firms. So, Students who have passed out need to also seek opportunities in mid-size companies, government and government enterprises, and regulatory bodies like SEBI, state financial institutions.”
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. C V Baxi, Director MDI, said, “MDI in its 35th year of existence has strengthened its core activities like research and consulting, long-term education and in-house management development programs for the corporate and public enterprises. The institute has made significant progress in its international linkages and collaborations, and Ph.D level and executive education programs. There are around 1000 students in its various long term programs with 530 graduating this year.”
Prof. Baxi complimented the Dean (School of Energy Management and School of Public Policy & Governance) for initiatives in stabilizing the two programs by introducing an innovative curriculum appreciated by numerous stakeholders.
The institute has entered into academic and research collaboration at the national level with DOPT, Department of Atomic Energy, and Haryana Government. At the international level, the institute has entered collaboration with prestigious institutions like George Mason University (USA), Kent University (UK), Total University (France) and many more.
On the placement front, Prof. Baxi said, “Despite the global economic slowdown, MDI has successfully placed majority of its students and efforts are under way to place the remaining ones.”
