SHIMLA-23 August, 2026-Governor Kavinder Gupta today called upon the Indian Institute of Management Jammu (IIM Jammu) to emerge as a leading centre of management education, research, innovation and entrepreneurship, with a special focus on the development challenges and opportunities of Jammu and Kashmir and the wider Himalayan region.

Addressing the 10^th anniversary celebrations of IIM Jammu, the Governor congratulated the institute’s faculty, students, alumni, staff and governing body, describing its decade-long journey as “truly inspiring”. He highlighted the institution’s remarkable growth from its first batch of 56 students in 2016 to more than 1,400 students today, reflecting its expanding academic stature and the growing opportunities for young people in management education. He said the growth of institutions such as IIM Jammu also reflects the importance accorded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to strengthening India’s higher education ecosystem and building institutions capable of contributing to the nation’s development.

Emphasizing the changing nature of leadership and management, Kavinder Gupta said that the contemporary challenges could no longer be addressed within the boundaries of a single discipline. Referring to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Governor said India’s higher education ecosystem is being transformed towards greater interdisciplinary, research, innovation and creativity.

“Education must not merely create successful professionals; it must create responsible leaders,” he said, underscoring the importance of values and character in management education.

Kavinder Gupta said that the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence, automation, data and emerging technologies is transforming business and employment. In this changing environment, technical knowledge alone would not be sufficient. Creativity, curiosity, leadership, sound judgement, courage, sensitivity and ethical decision-making would increasingly determine the quality of future leadership.

He urged students to regard their degrees not as the culmination of education but as the beginning of a lifelong learning journey.

Kavinder Gupta urged the institute to undertake more research on the unique challenges of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and the wider Himalayan region and develop policy and management solutions that could be replicated across other mountain regions of the country.

Chairman of Board of Governors, IIM Jammu Dr. Milind Kamble, Member of Parliament Jugal Kishore Sharma, Chairperson of Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission Raj Kumar Chaudhary, Director IIM Jammu Prof. B. S. Sahay and members of the Board of Governors; faculty members, officials, staff, alumni and students were present on the occasion.