The Community Immersion programme (CIP) is a student volunteering programme of GRGSMS envisaged to sensitize students on their responsibility towards community. The CIP is implemented through fieldwork in the villages adopted by the institution.
Coimbatore: The GRG School of Management Studies (Department of Management, PSGRKCW) inaugurated its first Community Immersion Programme (CIP) at Navakkarai, Coimbatore on September 24.
The Chief Guest of the programme was Balakumar Thangavelu, India Head-Outreach, Cognizant Foundation.
The inaugural event had an august gathering from GRGSMS, Navakkarai Village and Namma-Navakkarai, an NGO based out of the Navakkarai village.
The dignitaries included Dr P Sadhasivam, Director of GRGSMS, Prof. S Balasubramanian, Director, GRGCAS, N S Maheshwaran, President – Namma Navakkarai and Gomathi Senthil Kumar, President, Mavuthampathy Panchayat. Dr. Savitha Nair, Dean, GRGSMS welcomed the gathering and enlightened them on the purpose of the Community Immersion Programme.
Dr P Sadhasivam also gave an overview of the Community Immersion Programme. He highlighted the need for a systematic design of the programme by keeping the village’s needs at the centre while enhancing student learning. He also spoke about scaling the programme to bring about long-term and sustainable changes in the community.
In his inaugural address, Balakumar Thangavelu enlightened the students about the meaning of volunteering. He spoke on bringing about change by stepping forward and taking up small initiatives. Balakumar also highlighted the need for empathy and compassion that could bring about transformational changes in people around us. He led the students through his own inspiring volunteering journey and his ability to ‘connect the dots, essentially building a network that symbiotically come together in times of need.
Prof. S Balasubramanian shed light on the importance of giving back to society. He highlighted the strength of volunteering over donation or charity in achieving the various sustainable development goals. N S Maheshwaran honoured the dignitaries and spoke about 'Namma Navakkarai' - the NGO that he founded. He highlighted work of Namma Navakkarai in achieving environmental and social goals by undertaking projects on waste management, reforestation, cleaning and maintaining water bodies as well as sanitation and education. Maheshwaran expressed his gratitude towards GRGSMS for initiating the CIP programme at Navakkarai village.
Gomathi Senthil Kumar also acknowledged the efforts of GRGSMS and wished that the CIP programme would impact the Panchayat in a big way. Dr. R Initha Rina, CIP coordinator proposed the vote of thanks.
The Community Immersion programme (CIP) is a student volunteering programme of GRGSMS envisaged to sensitize students on their responsibility towards community. The CIP is implemented through fieldwork in the villages adopted by the institution. Mavuthampathy Panchayat is situated at a distance of about 28 kms from Coimbatore. The Panchayat has a population size of around 6000 and comprises of nine villages that include Murganpathy, Navakkarai, Mavuthammpathy, Puthupathy and Chinnampathy.