Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Sambalpur, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (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 Prof. Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, IIM Sambalpur and Shri. Subham Saxena, District Collector.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, IIM Sambalpur, 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 dedicated towards the development and betterment of Sambalpur, Odisha and the Nation at large.”

The MoU will focus on areas such as:

(i) Embark effective citizen engagement and efficient health infrastructure supply chain management to deal with the COVID 19 pandemic

(ii) Enabling research and solution frameworks for Governance such as impact evaluation;

(iii) 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 areas like, (a) Development of Tourism in and around Sambalpur, (b) Public Health, (c) Handloom and Handicraft development, (d) Mission Shakti, (d) Indigenous Knowledge documentation, (e) To study scope and scalability of food processing units in Sambalpur, (f) Financial Inclusion through skill development and livelihoods, (g) Urban Governance & Transformation, (h) Smart Sambalpur with “Education Hub” as the core.

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