The Institutional Visit is one of the core elements of the Programme of Rural Management where students visit institutes or organisations that are constantly contributing to the development of society. Owing to this the Rural Management students of batch 2023-25 visited Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) at their three major working areas which included Angara, Khunti and Bero on 29September 2023. 

The main objective of this visit, was to gain a comprehensive understanding of the livelihood initiatives implemented by JSLPS within these blocks. The visit gave students an opportunity to closely understand the effectiveness of their programs, see the first-hand impact on local communities, evaluating the sustainability of the initiatives, and identifying any areas for potential improvement or expansion.

During the visit, students also interacted with key stakeholders, such as project beneficiaries, local leaders, and JSLPS representatives, to gather information about the successes and challenges faced by the programs. The visit was made more efficient and successful under the coordination of Professors, RM Programme Dr K.K. Bhagat, and Dr Niranjan Sahoo and Assistant Professor, Dr Raj Shree Verma.

The first-year students learnt in detail about grafting cultivation, varieties of animal husbandry practiced, lift irrigation using solar panels, visit to nursery, use of poly houses to cultivate vegetables, and drip irrigation. All these facilities have together improved agricultural productivity and have improved the lives of people, especially women. Every group also witnessed the Cluster Level Forum (CLF) Members meeting, which gave them an insight into the value of Self-Help Group (SHG) in women empowerment. In wholesome, the visit was a great success in terms of learning and exposure.

Rural Management students successfully complete Urban Field Exposure

The first trimester of Urban Field Exposure (UFE) was completed by students of the Rural Management Programme. The students were divided into eight groups namely Pragati, Vikas, Asha, Samvedna, Jyoti, Karuna, Prayatna, and Pravah, and were assigned eight slum areas in Ranchi town. The objectives of this exposure were to acquaint the students with real-life slum situations, to understand the urban slums-people, their lifestyle, their socio-economic conditions and culture and value system. The objectives were met by using skills of observation, interaction, and situational analysis as it helps in bringing about an attitudinal and behavioral change in them.

Earlier, the students were introduced to slums, and they built a good rapport with the community which strengthened their base for carrying out all plans and activities. It helped them to learn that sympathy can be easily felt at once, but empathy can only be developed by living with the people or in similar situations to devise a remedy. Teaching the children living in these slums was a wonderful experience which helped the students to develop a better relationship with the community as children made their reach to the community easy and helped them spread their messages around the community.

Students developed the community profile with specific details, conducted a socio-economic survey through the KOBO Toolbox, and identified the community issues and the resources available in the community to devise methods to solve the problems. It also helped them to learn professional approaches and skills in community problem-solving.