New Delhi: This is the inspiring story of Naveen Krishna Rai, a young professional currently working as Manager, Government Affairs and Business Development at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore. While working as a manager at IIM, Indore, with his natural acumen for problem- solving, a flair for management, and impeccable people and relationship-building skills developed through experience, even without a fancy MBA degree; he has advanced the footprints of the institute in terms of collaborations and partnerships of the institute on various social research and training endeavours.
Collaborations with various state/local authorities, like the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Development Corporation, Indore Municipal Corporation, Department of Urban Development and Housing, M.P., Indore Police, Madhya Pradesh Police and RCVP Naronha Academy of Administration and Management, Bhopal on the contextual issues of public interest and welfare, along with research and training programs, which ideally should have been materialized earlier, were initiated and expedited with his proactive approach.
Other noteworthy and vital projects in the state of Madhya Pradesh, on which he has been instrumental in making partnerships happen, include the strengthening of the Beat Policing System for the Indore Police Department, the conduction of Training on Financial Literacy of the female kins of Police Personnel by the expert faculty of IIM Indore, and the conduction of training program for the School Principals of the Government Schools of Madhya Pradesh, under CM Rise Scheme, the flagship program by the Honorable Chief Minister of the state Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan.
For the state of Uttar Pradesh, he has been working on ensuring impactful partnerships between IIM Indore and various departments/state authorities on various research and welfare initiatives, like the strengthening of the beat Policing System, Training of Dial 112 Police Personnel, the ambitious project for developing the city of Ayodhya as a center of spiritual tourism in India, and the study and consultation provided by seasoned academicians and experts at IIM Indore to the Kanpur Municipal Corporation on Traffic Decongestion and improvement in the cleanliness of the city.
This year, recognizing his outstanding performance, IIM Indore facilitated him with a certificate of appreciation presented by the institute's director, Prof. Himanshu Rai, to the top-performing employees of the organization. MMM University of Technology, Gorakhpur, awarded him with a certificate of appreciation as a notable alumnus of the institution for his efforts and achievements that have brought glory to the university. In 2017, he was also nominated as the brand ambassador for the development of the Naugarh tehsil of Chandauli district, Uttar Pradesh.
Naveen has been enriched with diverse and enlightening learning experiences across the fields of bureaucracy, academia, media, and judiciary and served as a representative to the MLA of the Belthra-Road legislative assembly of Uttar Pradesh State at 24. Working in such diverse areas, he has developed an inclusive and broad perspective, that too at a young age, even below his 30s!
He had to experience struggle very early in his childhood due to his father's untimely demise, who died three months before his birth. But, through his ability, he got noticed for the first time when he conceptualized and instigated a unique solution to tackle the problem of teacher absenteeism, as per which the teachers were mandated to take a selfie with students to mark attendance in UP schools. Later, it was implemented across the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The then-District Magistrate of Chanduali, Kumar Prashant, in his statement of appreciation for Naveen, highlighted the impact of his (Naveen's) efforts and innovative initiatives like the idea of "Attendance with Selfie", which significantly minimized the problem of teacher absenteeism in state run primary and upper primary schools of Chandauli district. He called it a good example of a technology-driven initiative for good governance.
Not only the attendance initiative in 2015, but he also organized a 45 days leadership development program for rural youths with the help of then-District Magistrate of Gorakhpur, IAS Ranjan Kumar, 2015 and adopted a village named Motiram-Adda under the guidance of then- Divisional Commissioner of Gorakhpur, IAS P. Guruprasad, in 2016.
Naveen originally hails from Birpur village situated on the banks of Ganga in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. After elementary education, he completed further studies at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Allahabad. Later, he studied B.Tech at Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur. He is a person whose journey brims with fortitude, advances with a positive mindset and determination and has a strong orientation towards growth; he has come far, driven by a solid motivation to know and explore, breaking the shackles of anxiety and uncertainties about the future.
