RID 3233, IIT-Madras form partnership
To mentor Rotary districts and clubs in design, development and implementation of humanitarian global grants and CSR India grant projects, an IITM Rotary Centre for Social Development was formed in the presence of IIT-Madras director Prof V Kamakoti.
An MoU was signed between the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT-M and RCs Madras Mid Town and Madras Central Aadithya, RID 3233, in October, under which this IIT will help Rotary districts across South India to implement service projects related to the UNDP’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To begin with, the IITM Rotary Centre will create a dashboard of information related to the 17 SDGs aligned to Rotary’s seven focus areas. This will be “helpful in economic and policy analysis through various publications including peer-reviewed journals, monographs, working papers, white papers, seminars and conferences,” said M Ambalavanan, public image chair, RID 3233.
The new centre will involve faculty and students to create a database on Rotary’s seven focus areas, and become a resource hub for assessing, designing and implementing need-based SDG projects in the southern states. “The IITM Rotary Centre will also provide impact assessment reports on the ongoing social projects after analysing the results and outcome of such projects, especially those funded by long-term CSR grants,” said Ambalavanan. The centre will be offering short-term certificate courses on SDGs aligned with Rotary’s focus areas and environment, sustainability and governance (ESG) norms.
Presiding over the soft launch of the collaborative centre, Prof Kamakoti urged the joint initiative to “give priority to rural India, create job opportunities and livelihood for rural women.” He urged the centre to build an integrated Smart Village which will have all basic needs — education, health, jobs and skill development — for a holistic, sustainable environment.
From the IIT-M, Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research Dean Prof Manu Santhanam, School of Sustainability head Prof Rajnish Kumar, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences faculty led by Prof Santosh Kumar Sahu were present. Ambalavanan, along with Rtns Yadav Sankaran, Kamal Narendra and Dr Vasudha Rajasekar, represented Rotary.
