The International Management Institute(IMI), New Delhi has announced the Sustainability and Social Impact Programme(SSI) for sustainable management practice as well as management that is socially responsible. As such, the program offered opportunities for students to interact with the poorest communities and effect projects on key societal concerns.
The SSI program, thus, focuses on social impact in real life by catering to three main areas that are primary education, rural development, and empowering the disadvantaged. The hands-on experience will be delivered through collaborations with the primary schools of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, NGOs, and village development initiatives under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan. This process is expected to create an environment of empathy, social consciousness, and a sense of community responsibility among students.
"The SSI programme is a natural extension of IMI’s mission to nurture leaders who are not only skilled in business but also committed to creating positive societal change. By involving students in direct engagement with communities, we’re helping them become proactive agents of change”, said Himadri Das, Director General of IMI New Delhi.
Structured around three core pillars—Primary Education, Rural Development, and Empowerment of the Underprivileged—the programme immerses students in experiential learning. Sonu Goyal, Dean Academics, IMI, remarked, "SSI broadens the curriculum to instill values, encouraging students to engage meaningfully with social and economic challenges".
In each of the focus areas, the students actively contribute to better educational outcomes at the MCD primary schools, in rural development within adopted villages under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan and in collaboration with NGOs for meaningful change towards marginalized communities. Priya Chaudhary, Chair of the SSI Programme, said, "The SSI programme equips students to be the agents of change, illustrating how even small efforts could result in a huge change within local communities".