The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
SAMBALPUR, MAY 8, 2021
India is currently undergoing through unparalleled circumstances that has not been witnessed before across generations. The brutal second wave of the Covid pandemic has left the country crippling. With over 37 lakh active COVID cases, the country needs immediate solutions to address the crisis. IIM Sambalpur has signed a memorandum of onderstanding (MoU) with the Office of the Collector-cum-District Magistrate Sambalpur to tackle the COVID crisis in the area and assist in the overall development of Sambalpur.
The MoU was signed in the presence of IIM Sambalpur Director Prof. Mahadeo Jaiswal and Sambalpur Collector Subham Saxena.
The MoU will focus on effective citizen engagement and efficient health infrastructure supply chain management to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic; enabling research and solution frameworks for governance such as impact evaluation; and creating new class of Applications and Solutions that focus on optimizing the delivery of government services in identified areas.
The technical areas of collaboration includes development of tourism in and around Sambalpur, Public Health, Handloom and Handicraft development, Mission Shakti, Indigenous Knowledge documentation, to study scope and scalability of food processing units in Sambalpur, Financial Inclusion through skill development and livelihoods, Urban Governance & Transformation, and Smart Sambalpur with “Education Hub” as the core.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Mahadeo Jaiswal highlighted, “While the Government is doing their very best to mitigate the catastrophe, it is also important for all of us to offer solutions and assist the Government in their endeavour. We believe we can offer a scientific approach in areas such as supply chain, logistics, operations, modelling and manpower management. IIM Sambalpur has created task forces with our faculty and experts on efficient management of health infrastructure supply chain such as hospital beds, doctors, oxygen, medicine etc. and effective Citizen Engagement-Social Communication in the district of Sambalpur to begin with and to be rolled out nationwide based on its success.”
IIM Sambalpur is now working on developing solutions that can help the country combat the second wave of the pandemic and prepare itself for an impending third wave. The institute believes that the pandemic can be overcome by working together towards a common objective, keeping in mind the best interest of the Nation and its citizens.
