Top IIT, IIM students to intern at Jagannath Rath Yatra 2025 to manage logistics

In a unique blend of culture, civic engagement, and real-time logistics and supply chain management, students from India’s top institutes including IITs, IIMs, and major public policy schools will head to Puri, Odisha for an intensive on-ground internship during the Jagannath Rath Yatra 2025.

But instead of being mere spectators or pilgrims, these students will be part of a Public Systems and Infrastructure Internship, gaining direct exposure to one of India’s largest and most complex cultural events. The initiative is being led by the Puri District Administration to immerse students in real-time logistics planning, crowd management, and civic infrastructure.

Over a 10–15 day period, selected students will work on live projects that include sanitation logistics, demand forecasting in logistics, emergency response coordination, logistics chain management, and digital citizen services. They'll contribute to logistics planning software implementation and help manage logistics and distribution operations that handle millions of visitors.

According to Puri Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain (IAS), the yatra represents “an exercise in scale, devotion, and coordination.” He emphasized that it’s essential for future leaders to witness “nation-building in motion.”

Students will help design best logistics strategies for businesses and civic bodies operating under extreme pressure.

This includes optimizing logistic services like seva stalls and medical aid, enhancing logistic packaging for mass food distribution, and studying behavioral patterns to inform real-time logistics planning.

Their insights and recommendations will be used to fine-tune operations for future Rath Yatra editions and similar large-scale events across India.

This programme is rooted in the concept of "Seva through System Building," where service is not limited to volunteering but extends to creating and improving systems that directly benefit the public. Interns will actively contribute to core fieldwork while understanding the intricacies of logistics and supply chain trends in the Indian context.