Kozhikode, Sep 5, 2026: When a sitting Chief Minister and his entire Council of Ministers voluntarily sign up for a two-day residential classroom programme, it says as much about the institution running it as it does about the government attending it. That’s precisely what unfolded this week at IIM Kozhikode, where the ‘Reimagining Keralam’ leadership retreat brought the state’s 21-member Cabinet led by Hon. Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan, onto campus for a rare experiment in “Cabinet to Class” learning.
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By the time the retreat concluded on Saturday, Ministers weren’t just sitting through sessions, they were asking for more of them.
From Governance Files to Case Studies: What the Retreat Actually Covered
IIM Kozhikode’s approach was less lecture hall, more strategy room.
Day 1 tackled transformational leadership, healthcare and wellness, climate resilience, disaster preparedness, and the mechanics of effective governance.
Day 2 widened the lens further in higher education, the silver economy, entrepreneurship, sustainable growth, and how Keralam positions itself on the global stage.
A few sessions stood out for how directly they translated classroom frameworks into policy-relevant questions:
- “Towards Excellence in Higher Education: Building Keralam as a Destination” led by Professors Satish Krishnan, Sreejesh S, Devaprasad M, Ankur Jain and Silpa Satheesh – pushed past the usual “vacant seats” narrative to ask a sharper question: what would make talented young people actively choose Keralam for education and career, not just tolerate it.
- “The Care Ledger”, a management simulation on Kerala’s ageing population led by Professors Priya Nair and Deepa Sethi, had Ministers working through real geriatric-care scenarios, weighing infrastructure, workforce, technology and who ultimately foots the bill: the state, families, a contributory fund, or the market.
- “Prosperity with a Purpose,” helmed by Professors Venkataraman S, Mridul Saggar and Vipin Veetil, mapped out a growth strategy built on Kerala’s genuine strengths : education, agroforestry, wellness tourism while exploring financing routes beyond the usual budget-line constraints.
- A session on jobs and entrepreneurship, led by Professors Arqum Mateen, Ashutosh Sarkar and Nycil George, named the paradox bluntly: Kerala exports talent while importing labour, and closing that gap needs different interventions for graduates, returning technocrats, and rural entrepreneurs alike.
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The retreat closed with Professors Rajesh Upadhyayula, Gladys S and Aishwarya Ramasundaram, asking the Cabinet a deceptively simple question: what should “Puthuyuga Keralam” actually stand for, to residents, investors, tourists and the diaspora alike. IIM Kozhikode Director Prof. Debashis Chatterjee closed the discussion with a metaphor that’s likely to outlive the retreat itself, a spectrum of colours, all converging from a single source of light, as a picture of a unified Keralam with a distinct identity.
“Their Enthusiasm Left Us Energised”: Inside IIM Kozhikode’s Read on the Retreat
For an institution used to teaching CEOs and civil servants, hosting an entire state Cabinet is a different proposition altogether and Prof. Debashis Chatterjee didn’t undersell it.
“The two days of leadership learning on the theme of Reimagining Keralam have been immensely energising. The Honourable Chief Minister and the entire Cabinet participated with remarkable enthusiasm, responding positively and creatively to the questions and challenges discussed.”
He credited the discussions, spanning the blue and silver economies, Gen Z migration, higher education, health and wellness with staying anchored to a single test: could ideas translate into policy and performance. “We are proud that IIM Kozhikode could support Kerala’s leadership in this collective endeavour for the larger public good,” he added.
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The Real Story: Ministers Are Asking to Come Back
Retreats like this often risk being one-off photo opportunities. What makes IIM Kozhikode’s ‘Reimagining Keralam’ programme notable is what happened after the case studies ended — several Ministers reportedly asked for continued engagement with the institute, not just a closing certificate.
That’s a meaningful signal. Ministers pointed specifically to the sessions on disaster management, eldercare, entrepreneurship, and international governance benchmarks as the ones worth revisiting. The retreat’s format was team-building exercises, live case discussions, and space to think beyond the daily administrative grind that appeared to have done what classroom theory alone rarely does: earn a request for a sequel from people who run a state for a living.
Why This Matters Beyond Kerala
Business schools courting corporate boardrooms is old news. A B-school’s classroom becoming the venue where a state Cabinet stress-tests its governance ideas is a different, and rarer, marker of institutional credibility. For IIM Kozhikode, which has been steadily building out its public policy and governance engagement, ‘Reimagining Keralam’ adds a concrete case study to that portfolio of a full state Cabinet, led by its Chief Minister, choosing the institute’s classrooms over a standard administrative offsite.
As Prof. Chatterjee put it, the ambition extends well past a two-day retreat: for Keralam to make “a civilisational leap into the global space — not merely as a destination to visit, but as a place to stay, learn, innovate and contribute.”
What is ‘Reimagining Keralam’ ?
The concept ‘Reimagining Keralam’ retreat at IIM Kozhikode, was a two-day residential leadership retreat organised by IIM Kozhikode for the Kerala Council of Ministers, covering governance, healthcare, higher education, the silver economy, and Kerala’s global positioning.
Who led the Kerala Cabinet at the IIM Kozhikode retreat?
The retreat was attended by the entire 21-member Kerala Council of Ministers, led by Hon. Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan.
What topics were covered in the IIM Kozhikode Kerala Cabinet retreat?
Topics included transformational leadership, healthcare and disaster preparedness, higher education, the silver economy, entrepreneurship and employment, and sustainable growth. Ministers were awarded a certificate of participation from IIM Kozhikode for completing the retreat.
