Bhubaneswar, Oct. 2: Xavier School of Rural Management recently organised Gramotsava, an annual event on the institute's calendar, to let students explore the rural market through experimental learning.

The MBA students of the rural management school, which is affiliated to Xavier University, Bhubaneswar, organised the two-day event.

Gramotsava had begun its journey in 2006. This year's event was formally launched on September 21 at XIMB Auditorium with unveiling of the mascot - an olive ridley turtle named Boney Bhaina. The mascot signifies and reminds the rural managers to be associated with the grassroots.

On the same day, the students also launched the fifth edition of Dhwani, the annual rural management magazine.

This year, Gramotsava was organised at Nimapada block of Puri district on September 23 and 24. The theme this time was 'Smart villages - A road to smarter India'.

The focus was on creating social awareness through skit, exploring the rural market and organising fairs while working with the local people and administration. The skit used traditional stories to explain to the people the importance of digital banking, modern farming techniques and cleanliness.

The event offered the students a platform to test their organisational skills, promotional skills and explore the uniqueness of the rural market and consumers, said a professor of the management institute.

Additionally, he said, the participating organisations used the platform to test their products keeping in mind the expectations of rural consumers.