MGNF Fellows Shine at IIM Lucknow's Valedictory Ceremony

Lucknow: Indian Institute of Management Lucknow celebrated the completion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (MGNF) program at a valedictory ceremony recently, to award its fellows. Durga Shanker Mishra, Chief Secretary of the Government of Uttar Pradesh as a Chief Guest.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship, launched by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), is a flagship program involving collaboration with various IIMs as academic partners. Indian Institute of Management Lucknow was the largest academic partner with 105 fellows spread across four states: 32 in Assam, 11 in Mizoram, 51 in Uttar Pradesh, and 11 in Himachal Pradesh.

Through the efficient and cooperative participation of these fellows, this two-year certificate program in public policy and management seeks to bring development into India’s districts. The fellows were stationed across various districts guided by the MSDE, working on new development projects, enabling industry engagement, and spearheading entrepreneurship development.

During the ceremony, a total of 105 fellows were awarded the Certificate in Public Policy and Management, with 51 students from Uttar Pradesh, 32 from Assam, 11 from Mizoram, and 11 from Himachal Pradesh. Ms. Bhavana Das deployed in the Udalguri district of Assam secured the first position, Ms. Pallavi Dhiman deployed in Kolasib district of Mizoram and Ms. Anuradha Nirwan deployed in the Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh secured second and third positions in the MGNF cohort respectively

In his address, Chief Guest, Durga Shanker Mishra emphasized the instrumental role played by Premier Institutes in the country like IIM Lucknow in nurturing a generation of young changemakers dedicated to driving transformative changes within the country.

Furthermore, he reiterated “Panch Pran”, the clarion call of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narender Modi that talks about strengthening the resolve of developed India; removing any trace of the colonial mindset, taking pride in our legacy; our strength of unity; fulfilling the duties of citizens with honesty and urged all the stakeholders of the program especially the young fellows to work towards a vibrant Bharat.

A significant highlight of the event was the unveiling of a special coffee table book titled ‘Skill Se Samridhhi,’ documenting some of the inspiring initiatives carried out by the fellows during their engagement in this program.

Prof. Archana Shukla, Director of IIM Lucknow shared, “The engagement of fellows at districts complemented with exceptional mentoring support from the Institute has been able to instill a sustained dialogue of skill development at the local level. The bottom-up approach in public policy designing that the fellows have been able to bring in will go a long way in implementing the contextualized programs on the ground. “

Prof. Ajay K. Garg and Prof. Kshitij Awasthi, Program Directors - MGNF at IIM Lucknow shared, “A holistic mentoring approach was followed at IIM Lucknow, keeping the learning and overall development of fellows at the centre of all initiatives. This has equipped our fellows to collaborate effectively with local administrations and implement some of the unique projects on the ground.”