National Research Conference 2022 Report
Microfinance – A Path towards Future Sustainability
12th March 2022
Maratha Mandir’s Babasaheb Gawde Institute of Management Studies organised National Conference on the topic of “Microfinance – A Path towards Future Sustainability”. The conference was held on 12th March 2022 in Hybrid mode.
The session was indurated by Dr. Ajit Singh Thethi – the President of AIMS (Association of Indian Management Schools). He began the session with what insights must be adopted by B-Schools in the post pandemic business environment. His speech was inspirational. He spoke briefly about functions and future activities lined up and AIMS Award in its annual convention in August 2022.
The Judges for the conference were young stalwarts from Microfinance and Banking industry. The online paper judging was done by Mr. CP Mohan is former Chief General Manager of NABARD and Managing Director of NABFINS. He is a development finance expert and a well-known academician. His presently in the Boards of ESAF Small Finance Bank which is significant player in the social banking segment, Satya Microcapital which is one of the fastest growing microfinance institution focussing on women entrepreneurship. And, Mr. Abhijit Deshmukh who is a Chartered Accountant by profession, he is a partner in Sanjay Rane & Associates since April 2008. He has served India Infoline Ltd as Compliance Manager 2006 – 2008. Abhijeet is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad of an Executive program in Management & Finance. He is a senior member of BGIMS Management Committee.
The offline judging was done Mr. Ashish Chandak who works as the Chief Compliance Officer at YES Bank Ltd, Mumbai. Ashish is a gold medallist at his engineering and management courses, he has worked with various organisations like Thermax, L&T Finance, IDFC, and ICICI Venture and is for the last 12+ years with YES Bank. As a compliance officer he he acts as the face of the Bank with the various Regulators and is responsible to ensure that the Bank carries out its business in a regulatory compliant manner. Along with Ashish, Mr.Sagar Oak was also judging papers. Sagar is a chartered accountant in 2005 and worked with Deloitte in its audit and assurance practice. He completed has the MBA-equivalent post graduate program from the Indian School of Business in 2008. He has worked with KPMG’s Mergers & Acquisitions team in Mumbai, joining as an Associate and rose to the position of Director. Currently he works as the Vice President of Corporate Development & Strategy for a pharmaceutical company.
Total 20 research papers were presented by academicians and research scholars from across India. Out of the 20 research papers 10 were presented online and 10 offline. Participants from Mumbai and rest of the Maharashtra were called for the physical presentations. There were participants from six other states namely Karnataka, Telangana, Delhi, Kerala, West Bengal and Bihar. The researchers presented their papers on variety of parameters of Microfinance and its overall impact on small, micro, cottage and agriculture industries.
The conference started at 10:00 am with the recitation of Maratha Mandir prayer and welcome speech by the Director, Dr. Vidya Hattangadi. She introduced the AIMS President and judges to the gathering.
After the welcome address and Dr.Singh’s speech the presentations in online and offline mode started simultaneously. The researchers received detailed feedback from judges on their individual papers. The judges appreciated all researchers for the choice of topics and lauded the institute’s efforts in throwing much needed light into the Microfinance sector. The judges also appreciated all participants for their efforts and their approach towards their research topics. They also motivated students to participate more in such events in the future.
Winners of 1st, 2nd and 3rd priced money prizes: Ms. Shalini from Patna, Bihar won the first prize Rs.5,000/- for her paper “Role Microfinance on livelihood on rural population” Ms. Sonam Gawde from Mumbai won the second prize of Rs.3,000 for her paper” How Microfinance Could Empower Street Food Vendors in Mumbai” Ms. Farrida Daruwalla from Mumbai won the 3rd prize of Rs.2,000/- for her paper “Constraints Faced by Self-help Groups in India” respectively.
The conference ended with a vote of thanks from the Director as well as the organizing committee.
Publishing of papers: Post conference the papers are being published in UGC Care listed journal ‘Bengal Past & Present’ ISSN Number 00058807. The papers will be selected by the editorial board of the journal. Non-selected papers will be published in peer reviewed ISSN journal named ‘Ajantha’.