Ayodhya to be world class spiritual destination with IIM-Indore's 'Swachhata makeover'

The sacred city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh is set to get a 'Swachhata' makeover as the Indian Institute of Management-Indore (IIM-I) has decided to elevate it as an international spiritual tourism destination.

The institute has signed a three-year agreement with the Municipal Corporation of Ayodhya (MCA) to come up with an action plan for the civic body that will replicate the Indore model of cleanliness in the holy city of Lord Ram. Indore has been bagging the award of country's cleanest city for a few years now.

IIM-I will also assist the civic body in drafting a plan for implementation of information, education and communication (IEC) under the Swachh Bharat Mission program. It will further help in organizing training and capacity building the civic agency's employees.

“IIM-I is one of the best management institutions in the country with a diverse team of the best management brains, so we approached them for the partnership. We expect that this tie-up will render the transfer of best practices of Indore to Ayodhya, as Indore has been a pioneer in the country in making cleanliness and sanitation a signal achievement with the help of proactive public participation,” MCA commissioner Vishal Singh said in a statement.

A team of management experts from the institute, lead by its director Dr Himanshu Rai, will spearhead the project. It will include Profs Ganesh N (economics), Prashant Salwan (strategy and international business), Dr Shruti Tewari (associate professor and trained social psychologist) and Aditya Deshbandhu.

"We will make a detailed action plan to develop Ayodhya as a clean spiritual tourism world destination. Ingraining the focal points of Indore’s success as India’s cleanest city will form an important part of the exercise,” Dr Rai said.

The team will design a communication specifically for Ayodhya after do a baseline study.