Meghalaya government, IIM Shillong ink MoU to foster societal impact

The Meghalaya government and the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, on July 17 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aiming to fostering collaboration for societal impact.

The MoU was inked in the presence of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, and Chairman of the BOG, IIM Shillong, Shishir Kumar Bajoria, IIM-Shillong Director D.P Goyal and Secretary Planning, Government of Meghalaya Cyril D Diengdoh.

Chief Minister Sangma, in his opening remarks said, “It is a historic moment to sign this MOU on a day where as a state we mark the death anniversary of a great freedom fighter, U Tirot Sing. This MOU is an agenda where the government is keen on and today marks the beginning of a wonderful journey with IIM, Shillong. This MOU has multiple angles and one of them is the Chief Minister's E-Challenge Business Plan competition which has over 2000 participants every year where about a 100 are selected and supporting them with a seed money of 10 lakh rupees per idea along with 50 lakh interest free loan. However, there is need to create an ecosystem at the college and institution level to bring a culture of entrepreneurship within the state and through the country. With this in mind the govt of Meghalaya is keen to support different entrepreneurship competitions where the Indian Institute of Management could be the hub for such events."

He further said that the state is on its vision to move towards a knowledge-based economy, adding, "Though it is very challenging and unless we don't have innovation in the economy, a government supporting the innovation and the innovation becoming a business plan and a balance among these three where the funds then keep rotating in terms of innovation being funded by government, this innovation becoming into a business idea for businesses, businesses then coming on and paying taxes for the government, so that money will be again put back into the innovation and this balance in the cycle is what a lot of economies are actually working towards and we are trying to emulate some of that."

The chief minister also stressed the need of training and capacity building of state employees and for the Members of the Autonomous District Council.

“Training or capacity building for members of our ADCs is important because the district councils are an important part of our structural system, our land ownership and cultural aspects," he added.