A postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM) is one of the most sought-after courses for freshers and working professionals. Every year thousands of students apply in the top business schools in Kolkata or elsewhere with an aim to build a successful career in the management industry. With the advent of technological advancements, institutes are continually striving to update the curriculum to meet the demands of the ever-changing industry. Extracurricular activities like student outbound programmes, industrial visits, seminars and rural immersion programmes have become a significant part of the PGDM curriculum.

The rural immersion programme is one such activity that institutes have started conducting to make emerging business leaders sensitive towards rural development policies and programs. The programme enables students to gain the right character, competence and interest to contribute to the society effectively and build a better community. The integration of rural immersion programmes in the PGDM curriculum envisages a more substantial future with empowered leaders who recognise the significance of empowering other individuals.

Set in motion to apprise, educate and stimulate managers and future entrepreneurs about the numerous schemes undertaken by the government, the rural immersion programme offers students a chance to visit villages and apply their classroom lessons in a real-time environment. Students identify the execution errors and lack of opportunities in these villages through the investigation of rural markets. The programme aims at instilling empathy within students towards prevailing social issues and understand the mounting need to produce new solutions.

There are several determinants which make the rural immersion programme an indispensable component of management education. Students get a prospective chance to study various schemes like Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Food For Work Programme, etc. This enables students to focus on issues like famine, unemployment, cleanliness, lack of education, lack of basic amenities and many more. With a better comprehension of these schemes, students acquire vital knowledge about societal issues and the challenges in the existing solutions. This programme also empowers students to understand the functions of economic activity. Students can obtain extensive knowledge about the processes by communicating and collaborating with relevant authorities and visiting organizations like NGOs, Panchayats, etc.

Rural immersion programmes must unquestionably be a segment of all management curriculum because students pursuing these degrees hold power to impact society significantly. Through these programmes, students gain useful insights into the real-time issues and knowledge about the methods crucial to make the world a better place. The programme teaches modesty within future leaders and fosters the idea of serving the society for the welfare of humankind. Rural development insinuates a revolutionary social transformation and the collective economic betterment of the citizens. Institutes understand the importance of these programmes since half the population in India resides in rural areas, and the development of these areas is of utmost importance. To enhance the vision of bettering the rural life of the nation for holistic development, students in top b schools in Kolkata or other cities should become aware of these issues and partake in rural immersion programmes as a part of their management syllabus.