Xavier School of Rural Management in association with the Rural Managers’ Association of XSRM(RMAX), of Xavier University, Bhubaneswar, organized its three-day flagship Annual Rural Marketing Fair – Gramotsava’18, from 28th – 30th September 2018. Gramotsava first started in the year 2006, and this year marked the 13th edition of the fair, partnered by MCL, the title sponsor. The location for the event was Tangi High school Field, Tangi, Khordha, Odisha. The theme for this year was "Start-up Village".
The event comprised of three phases: Adi Parva (Pre-fair phase), Madhya Parva (Fair day), and Iti Parva (Post fair phase). The main objectives of the fair was the promotion and sale of products and concepts among rural masses in partnership with business and social organizations.
The first day marked the grand launch of Gramotsava’18, in front of a full packed auditorium. Prof. Kajri Mishra, Dean, along with other professors of XSRM lighted the ceremonial lamp and inaugurated the event. From unveiling of the mascot, ‘Boney Bhaina’, the colorful dance acts, the phenomenal musical medley to an extraordinary skit performance, the evening was filled with outstanding performances from the batch of 2018-20.
The second day started with the inauguration of all the stalls by our Chief Guests – Mr. Bhaskar Rout, Block Development Officer, Tangi, Mr. Upadhyay, Inspector-In-Charge, Police Dept of Tangi, Mr. Vijay Kumar Jena, Block Chairman, Tangi, Mr. Ashok Patra, Sarpanch, Tangi, and Prof. S.S. Singh, Faculty Co-ordinator and one of the founders of XSRM. Mr. Bhaskar Rout quoted “Gramotsava is a brilliant intiative and it will instill a sense of brotherhood, by bridging the gap between the rural-urban divide”. Mr. Upadhyay spoke, “The art of convincing customers is both difficult yet important to master as it will help the budding managers to hone their marketing and sales skills.” Mr. Patra expressed his jubilation and wished the students good luck for their future endeavors. Mr. Vijay Kumar Jena, then inaugurated Super CARRY LCV, a commercial vehicle by Maruti Suzuki. The students then handled their designated stalls and attracted the crowd. As the day proceeded, Father E.A. Augustine, S.J. , Registrar of XUB, and other esteemed professors of XSRM, Prof. Sagarika Mishra, Prof. P.K Mishra, Prof. Satyendra Nath Mishra, and Prof. Kushankur Dey, too visited the Gramotsava stalls.
On the third day, Mrs. Rishna Mandhata, Zila Parishad of Tangi, paid a visit to the fair. She expressed gratitude to the students for organizing such an event and helping in creating awareness among the crowd. Prof. Kajri Mishra, along with some other professors of XSRM, Prof. Gautam Prateek, Prof. T Kumar, and Prof. Sujit Jagdale visited the stalls. Both the second and the third day, provided an exposure to the rural market in the villages and recorded a footfall of around 15,000 people.
The fair gave the institute an opportunity to associate with the esteemed corporate and social entities like Jyotee Motors, Spandana Spoothy, DDU-GKY by Balaram Panda Trust, Hathi Masala, Sai Garments, DISH NGO, Newton Science College, PGL Agritech, Coast-Kings, Axis Bank, JIO and Birla TMT. These companies show mutual interest in sponsoring for this event so that they can penetrate deeper into the rural market and promote their companies’ services and products among the rural consumers. There were stalls put up by RM - Alcom, the Alumni Committee of XSRM and a free dental check-up stall by Social Responsibility Cell (SRC) of XUB. The active participation of these companies provided insights to the students about the actual functioning of their organizations.
The students of both the batches organized the entire event with great zeal and energy. They learned many skills like overcoming the language barriers, negotiating, attracting people to respective stalls, finding out innovative taglines, and promotional dialogues. Nukkad Natak was also performed by students for better branding and promotion of Gramotsava. Some stalls also organized lucky draws and gave attractive offers.
Like every year, this chapter of Gramotsava also aimed at providing extensive opportunities to delve into the rural market. The event has always been a success and a legacy of Xavier School of Rural Management.
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