The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad(IIMA) welcomed a cohort of 41participants, including 29 male and 12 female participants, from various districts and institutions of Odisha on its campus today, as part of the Yuva Sangam Phase VI programmeunder the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat initiative of the Government of India. IIMA is serving as a nodal institution for the programme in Gujarat and will facilitate an immersive tour of Gujarat for the Odisha cohort till June 6, 2026.
Professor Bharat Bhasker, Director of IIMA; Col. (Dr.) Jagdish C. Joshi (Retd.), Chief Administrative Officer, and Nodal Officer for Yuva Sangam Phase VI at IIMA; and Brig. Dinesh Sharma(Retd.), Advisor – IFM, interacted with the participants during the welcome session.
Professor Bharat Bhasker, Director IIMA, acknowledged the importance of programmes like Yuva Sangam in fostering cultural awareness and harmony, and experiential learning, saying, “In a country like India, which is not only one of the world’s oldest civilisations, but also a birthplace of numerous dialects, food habits, and cultural practices, which change every few hundred kilometres, it would take a lifetime to explore the entire country. And yet, there is a common thread that bind us all together.Yuva Sangam programme acts as a bridge that fosters experiential and deeper understanding about our rich socio-cultural and developmental aspectsamong the youth of the country. With clean slates and fresh perspectives, you are not only visiting a different Indian state as tourists, but as observers and learners who can identify unique strengths and challenges and utilise that knowledge to catalyse change and development of India in future.”
The six-day programme will provide Odisha participants first-hand exposure to Gujarat’s history, culture, traditions, development initiatives, development and governance models, industrial and innovation ecosystem, and local way of life. They will visit and explore various landmarks of Gujarat, including IIM Ahmedabad, Adalaj Stepwell, Gandhi Ashram, Blind People’s Association, Old City area of Ahmedabad, local markets, Science City, GIFT City, Amul factory, and so on. The cohort is also scheduled to visit and interact with Shri Acharya Devvrat, Hon’ble Governor of Gujarat. They will also relish traditional Gujarati cuisine.
Earlier last week, IIMA had also flagged off a cohort of 39 participants, with 27 males and 12 female participants from Gujarat for a six-day immersion programme in Odisha from May 25-30, 2026, where they were hosted by the National Institute of Technology Rourkela. Major General Bimal Monga, SM, VSM, Additional Director General, NCC Directorate of Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, graced the fag-off ceremony as the Chief Guest, and along with IIMA Director Professor Bharat Bhasker, encouraged participants to make the most of this unique opportunity.
Designed to foster national integration and people-to-people connect, Yuva Sangam programme gives college students and off-campus youngsters an opportunity to expand their horizons and develop a more nuanced understanding of India and their countrypeople through immersive inter-state exposure tours. Structured around the themes of Paryatan (Tourism), Parampara (Traditions), Pragati (Development), ParasparSampark (People-to-people connect), and Prodyogiki (Technology), Yuva Sangam strives to give holistic exposure of a state’s social, cultural, developmental, and institutionalstrengths to participants.