SPJIMR welcomes the 21st batch of its Post-Graduate Programme in Development Management (PGPDM)
Dr. Sanjay Chahande, IAS (Retired), Former Additional Chief Secretary, General Administration Department of the Government of Maharashtra presided over the batch inauguration ceremony as the Chief Guest.
November 28, 2022: SPJIMR’s PGPDM welcomed its 21st batch at the Mumbai campus. It is PGPDM’s second batch for the 2022 academic year and one of its largest batches to date with 30 social sector practitioners hailing from across 14 states. The cohort represents an interesting mix of diverse sectors including agriculture, sustainable livelihoods, education, healthcare, empowerment of women and marginalised amongst others. The batch includes participants with 3 to 31 years of work experience.
PGPDM Programme Chair, Dr. Tanojkumar Meshram appreciated the unique diversity that the batch brings to SPJIMR and applauded the participants for choosing to partner with SPJIMR, an institution which truly believes in socially responsible management education. Dr. Meshram emphasised, “I feel that there is a capacity-building crisis in the development sector, and in this context the decision that you have made to join this programme, to spare a good amount of your time away from your personal and professional circles is commendable.”
In his welcome address, SPJIMR Dean Dr. Varun Nagaraj presented the concepts of sustainable development as described in the Brundtland Report, also called ‘Our Common Future’ and said, “When you go back to your organisations and pursue your purpose there, find a way to consciously impact at least one of the three pillars of sustainability: the economy, society and the environment.”
Prof. Prabhat Pani, Executive Director, Centre of Innovation and Sustainable Development (CISD), shared an overview of the centre and informed the participants that sustainable livelihoods in agriculture and enhancing equity in education were the chosen focus areas to create new knowledge and research in their forthcoming academic year.
The event concluded with the keynote address from Dr. Sanjay Chahande, IAS (Retired), Former Additional Chief Secretary, General Administration Department of the Government of Maharashtra, who complimented SPJIMR’s efforts in the social sector and emphasised that academic institutions play an important role to impact desired change in this sector. He also urged the participants to find solutions to address the deep-rooted issues of prevalent poverty in the country.
The PGPDM programme’s mission is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the development sector organisations by building the capacity of development professionals and helping them create a more inclusive and sustainable society.