IIM Raipur Successfully conducts second edition of PRAYAAS

IIM Raipur successfully organized the second edition of its flagship Marathon event Prayaas 2.0 on 19^th November 2017. The event kicked off from the environs of Marine Drive, Telibandha with more than 2500 registered runners .The theme for the run this year was ‘Beti Bachao,Beti Padhao’ with the objective to create awareness regarding the importance of equal rights and opportunities for the girl child.

Bus arrangements were made to pick up participants from all points of the city to ensure the adherence to the schedule.Kits including t-shirts and caps were distributed to the registered participants.Ambulance, health check, route markers and volunteers were all in place apart from water and glucose before the start of the event and spot registrations continued smoothly at the multiple registration points.

The chief guests included popular Bollywood actress Mugdha Godse, widely known for her role in the National award winning movie Fashion,ace archers Rahul Banerjee ,Commonwealth gold medalist (2010) and his sister Dola Banerjee, the second woman archer to be honored with the Arjuna award and Prof. Bharat Bhasker, Director of IIM Raipur. The chief guests were felicitated at 6.30 am after which the flagship 11 km run was flagged off amidst a thunderous applause. Twenty minutes later, the 5 km run was also flagged off,an unprecedented number of 1900 registered participants ran in this group. This was followed by a special Divyang run conducted this year in 2 categories-one for the visually challenged and the second for other specially abled category ,both of which saw enthusiastic participation and appreciation from the crowd and chief guests.

Mr. Pintu Kumar Yadav walked away with the first prize for men in the 11km event whileMs. Chandravati Raswade won the women’s event. Both won cash prizes worth INR 50,000 as well as goodies worth INR 5000. 5 km event winners were Mr.Babkutudu and MsBhuneshwari Nishad for men and women respectively walking away with prizes of INR 10,000 and goodies worth INR 5000 each. Mr. Balram Singh was declared the winner in the Special Divyang run while Mr. Tikeshwar was declared the winner in the visually challenged category.Prizes were also given to the top 6 finishers (men and women) in the 11 km event, runners up in the 5km event and top 6 finishers in the Divyang run event for total prize money of INR 2.5 lakhs apart from goodies.

Various dignitaries graced the occasion including Mayor Shri Pramod Dubey; Shri Om Prakash Choudhary,Collector & DM;Shrimati Ramshila Sahu,Minister for Women and Child Welfare and Shri Sanjay Alung, IAS officer.

The event also saw several Cultural performances including dance performance by Columbia Global School, Zumba performances and Folk dance performance.This was followed by enlightening speeches of the dignitaries.The center of attraction, Bollywood star Mugdha Godse was very happy to be a part of IIM Raipur’s Prayaas 2.0 marathon. After the prize distribution, the Director of IIM Raipur, Profesor Bharat Bhaskar congratulated the team for pulling out a successful run. He emphasized on taking more effective steps towards betterment of the girls. The guests were pleased to see the crowd turning up in huge number. They appreciated all the team members, volunteers and participants for making the marathon a grand success. The entire amount raised from this marathon shall be used for supporting the PG Umathe Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School to support them in fulfilling the objective of educating the girl child. The marathon concluded with a message ,”Winning is only half of it, having fun is the other half.”

IIM Raipur celebrates Chhatisgarh Foundation Day

November 1^st, 2000 witnessed the birth of Chhattisgarh, the 26^th state of India which was carved out of Madhya Pradesh. Chhattisgarh, a resource-rich state is also known for its achievers who have excelled in various fields. From freedom fighters to sports personalities, artists to business tycoons, Chhattisgarh has been a birth place for a plethora of talents. To celebrate the success of these talents and to spread awareness about social issues prevailing in the nation, Prayaas – the marathon team of Indian Institute of Management Raipur celebrated Chhattisgarh Foundation Day on 01-11-2017 in their campus.

The event started with a prayer song. The event witnessed dignitaries from all walks of life who have made tremendous achievements in their fields. Their commitment to the work and stupendous contributions have added pride to the state of Chhattisgarh. The event was graced by Dr. Sanjay Alung, Director Social Welfare Department, Govt. of Chhattisgarh,Mr Sharad Jha, General Manager of NABARD,Mrs Sadhana Sharma - Women Achiever, India 2016,Mr Pramod Sahu – Painter and Sand Artist, Mr Satish Bhuwalke & Sachin Bhuwalke – Founders of Bunch of Fools and Mr Priyank Patel – Founder of Teafe Nukkad.

The event was centered around the theme 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' which is also the theme of Prayaas - a marathon of national significance organized by IIM Raipur which will be conducted in the heart of Raipur on Sunday, 19th November 2017. The guests addressed the gathering and shared their success stories.

Dr. Sanjay Alung explained about the accessibility of education and the inclusion of society among all the various levels which have to be critically analyzed for the better well-being of the nation. ‘Sex ratio can be handled only when inclusiveness has been taken up by everyone as a citizen of this nation’.

Mr.Sharad Jha spoke about the grave issues faced by women in India while also highlighting the importance of educating a girl child, women rights in India and women empowerment.

Mr.Priyank Patel inspired everyone by sharing his experiences about the Nukkad Cafe where he asserted that it is Asia's first cafe to be open for transgenders as part of its workforce and also mentioned ‘Compassion is the way forward’ for the betterment of humanity.

Today’s modern India offers a lot of opportunities to women. This is one side of progressing India where on the other side if one looks at gender decline in the sex ratio, the dark side of Indian society comes in front which was spoken in detail by the dignitaries present in the hall.

The event concluded by distributing mementos to the dignitaries.

This celebration of the incredible spirit of our Chhattisgarh Achievers was a huge success and an inspiring event for everyone present.