Rural Manager’s Association of XIMB,XUB launches Gramotsava 2015

The Rural Managers’ Association of XIMB, XUB launched the tenth edition of its flagship event, ‘Gramotsava’. Gramotsava is a 3 day rural marketing fair to be held on 9^th and 10th October in the villages of Begunia and Tangi, in the district of Khurda. Some of the corporate participants include companies like Mahindra FES, Mahindra 2 and Mahindra Automobiles and IFFCO. Theme for this year, “Connecting India: Digitalization” is inspired by honourable Prime Minister Mr.Narendra Modi’s initiative, ‘Digital India’. The ‘Utsav’ this year focusses on how digitalization will connect India and its promise to transform India into a connected knowledge economy.

The event started with the customary prayer and an address by the Dean of School of Rural Management XUB, Dr. KajriMisra who emphasized on the merits of field experience and how digitalization is making the necessary impact. The mascot of Gramotsava – BoneyBhaina was also unveiled. An Olive Ridley Turtle that he is, BoneyBhaina is symbolic to peace, longevity, sustainable growth and the heritage of Odisha. As the event progressed, there was a plethora of cultural events by the first year students of the MBA-Rural Management program.

The fair is organized to provide a platform to the participating organizations to promote and create brand value for their products and services among the rural masses, who form a large part of the emerging Indian consumers waiting to be addressed. Gramotsava has proven to be an excellent platform for leading organizations from different sectors to blend rural technology, managerial know-how and investment capacity of rural masses into an integrated effort. The event will be held in three phases: namely – AadiParva (Pre-fair phase), Madhya Parva (Fair day) and ItiParva (Post-fair phase). This ensures a comprehensive study of the tastes, choice and preferences of the rural market through qualitative and quantitative research methods and subsequent impact analysis.

The rural management students willset up stalls to display the products of various partnering companies. Awareness generation and information dissemination regarding the products and services will be undertaken through a range of interactive activities and games. This shall provide a huge learning experience for all the students as they get first hand exposure to the dynamics of rural India.