Design thinking @IIM-A for supporting Make-In-India campaign

Some of may have seen the following article. Design thinking and entrepreneurship programmes are being converted into compulsory courses at IIM Ahmedabad. The review committee's recommendations are partly in line with the views mentioned in my blogpost titled "Design thinking necessary @IIM-A" written in January 2013.

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IndiaToday.in  New Delhi, April 23, 2015 | UPDATED 16:55 IST

IIM Ahmedabad to change 2015 curriculum to cater to Make in India initiative

IIM Ahmedabad is set to change the curriculum for its Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) from the coming 2015-17 session. Now, instead of elective subjects the students will have compulsory courses. This decision has been taken in sync with the government's 'Make in India' campaign, to boost Indian entrepreneurship amongst the students.

The changes have been implemented by a Review Committee at the institution. It had sought advice from all concerned parties, which included the current students, faculty, alumni, firms and faculty of other business schools. The decision has been taken to discontinue the standard elective courses and replace those with courses which will help promote the Make in India strategy.
This will help students focus on innovation and incline their thinking towards entrepreneurship. The programmes such as marketing, finance and operations will be scrapped, and in their place programmes concentrating on human resources are set to be introduced.
These modifications are being introduced because in the recent years a majority of IIM students have chosen careers abroad after graduation. And this move should enable them to learn a indigenous way of problem solving, encouraging them to explore job opportunities in India.
The institute will now offer courses in environment sustainability, managing global organisations, design thinking, entrepreneurship programme and government systems and processes. Out of these, design thinking and entrepreneurship programme, which were electives will be converted to compulsory courses. These will supposedly be most helpful in enhancing the Make in India campaign.

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While this is a positive change, some feel design thinking needs a deeper introspection.  Though we have been articulating these ideas from Odisha we have not been able to exploit the benefits of design thinking yet for larger common good.