The Governor of Orissa, Rameshwar Thakur today inaugurated the programme at XIMB. Mr Thakur commended the effort of XIMB and said, “I appreciate the efforts of NACO, UNDP, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to produce efficient leaders in the society to address the root cause of the disease.”

It is anticipated that countries having higher numbers of HIV positive people are unlikely to achieve Millennium Development Goals primarily because of the menace of HIV/AIDS. Mr Thakur further added, “Recent media reports show rise in the incidence of this disease in the state. The government alone cannot be expected to control this menace, therefore I welcome every innovative intervention with focus on awareness to prevent spread of HIV in the country as it concerns our economic health and social life.”

During this occasion, Fr E Abraham, Director XIMB said, “XIMB is the first management institute in the country having both business management and rural management in the same campus. We have also emerged as a unique institute in the country having amalgamation of diverse programmes.”

About 15 XIMB professors from five disciplines of management as well as a couple of doctors UNDP officers are likely to be involved in this programme. “XIMB is perhaps the first management institutes in the world to launch a programme for HIV positive people,” said Dr S Peppin, XIMB professor who is also the coordinator of PGPRM.

Ms Alka Narang, Head – HIV and Development Unit, UNDP said that even though she is not an economist but the prevalence of this disease is going to seriously affect the economy of the nation in the days to come.

According to HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2006, India has an estimated 5.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, which is the highest in the world. The idea of this programme is to provide them managerial skills. The program will address leadership skills at national, state and district levels.

“The pedagogy for this course includes interactive sessions, powerpoint presentations, group discussions, case analysis, psychometric tests, business games and simulation exercises. The basic of every teaching module is learning with fun,” elaborated Prof Peppin.