Every year, students of Durgadevi Saraf Institute of Management Studies (DSIMS) undergo Rural Immersion. Every rural immersion involves a visit to rural areas of a district for experiential learning about life and economic activities in rural areas, which many students living in urban areas are not acquainted with. Through these immersions, DSIMS students get an opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship, self-employment, micro-finance, functioning of supply chains and environmental sustainability practiced in villages of our country and challenges faced by them.
In February 2020, DSIMS students visited rural areas of Anand district of Gujarat. During the immersion, manufacture of butter and milk powder by Amul, hand-weaving and packaging of spices by members of SEWA (a self-help group), a tobacco co-operative operating successfully since six decades, organic farming of bananas and potatoes and, manufacture of chocolates by Amul. They also learnt about activities of National Dairy Development Board (which has been pivotal in development of co-operatives in various states).
The DSIMS students returned to Mumbai, richer in knowledge and experience about our rural countrymen.