Institute Of Rural Management Anand (IRMA): Enhancing Management Education For Nation-Building
Dr. Umakant Dash, Director Institute Of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)
Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) has been a premier institution of learning since its establishment in 1979 by Dr. Verghese Kurien, the Father of the White Revolution. The institute has been nurturing professional managers and grooming them for a role in nation-building. With a range of programs, including the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Rural Management), Fellow Programme in Management (Rural Management), and Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Rural Management-Executive), IRMA has been contributing towards the enhancement of management education. IRMAs sprawling 60-acre lush green campus is equipped with world-class infrastructure, a fully computerized classroom complex, 24x7 internet connectivity, and modern teaching aids. The campus is fully residential, and students have access to student hostels, mess, lecture halls, seminar rooms, faculty and administrative offices, an auditorium, an Executive Training and Development Centre, faculty and staff housing, a dispensary, and other support facilities. IRMAs Ravi J. Matthai Library is the countrys most comprehensive and resourceful library in the area of rural management, with over 50,000 books, 20,000 bound volumes, subscriptions to over 15,000 print and e-journals, and over 8000 reports from IRMA participants.
Practical Exposure through the Village Fieldwork Segment (VFS)
One of the most fundamental parts of the curriculum of all of IRMAs programs is the Village Fieldwork Segment (VFS), which places students in real rural settings and undertaking several tasks. The VFS provides practical exposure to students, which augments their classroom learning and enhances their knowledge experience. This also puts them in situations where theyre required to employ out-of-the-box thinking and come up with innovative solutions to solving problems. The VFS is a defining experience for the students and prepares them for challenges in the real world.
Preparing Students for Industry Challenges
IRMA aims to nurture leaders and professionals for the sustainable and equitable development of rural India. The institutes commitment to academic excellence, research, and innovation is evident through its faculty, infrastructure, and scholarship opportunities. Preparing students for the industry is a challenge for higher education institutes across the country. At IRMA, the intensive summer training and the encouraging learning environment make students proficient in the basic as well as specialized fields of relevance, says Dr. Umakant Dash, Director, IRMA. IRMA continues to cater to interventionist as well as facilitative approaches toward serving the underserved. This is amply demonstrated every year by a variety of organizations across the spectrum, from corporate to development sectors, participating in the placements process. IRMAs programs provide students with the necessary skills and knowledge to face challenges that lie ahead of them in the industry and corporate world.
"The uniqueness of the programs at IRMA lies in their ability to integrate management concepts with human values such as empathy and honesty"
Equipped with the Best
IRMAs faculty members are experts in their respective fields and bring diverse perspectives to the classroom. The institute ensures that its faculty members maintain a consistent level of excellence through their research, publications, consultancy, and Management Development Programmes. IRMAs faculty members regularly publish in reputed journals, which translates into richer and more vivid classroom interactions. The faculty also offers elective courses that are unique to IRMA and focus on domains such as livelihoods, rural economy, agri-business marketing, social marketing, business intelligence, and brand management, among others. These aspects make IRMAs programs more robust and practical.
Scholarship Opportunities
IRMA understands that scholarships enable students from different backgrounds to study in a diverse and challenging environment. The institute provides financial assistance to deserving candidates through various schemes and scholarships. Some of the scholarship opportunities provided by IRMA include IRMA Scholarships, Mirae Asset Foundation (MAF) Scholarships, SC scholarships, ST scholarships, PM-YASASVI for the welfare of OBC, EBC, and DNT students, IDFC First Bank MBA Scholarships, and the Tuition Fee Waiver (TFW) Scheme. IRMA Scholarships are merit-based and offer 20 scholarships worth INR 1.17 crore to students of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Rural Management). MAF provides six scholarships in a year worth almost INR 5 lakh. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India allocates four scholarships to IRMA for SC students, and one scholarship is allocated for ST students by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India. The PM-YASASVI scheme offers 40 scholarships at IRMA for the welfare of OBC, EBC, and DNT students. Selected students also receive IDFC First Bank MBA Scholarships, which provide INR 1 lakh per annum to select students. IRMA also follows the Tuition Fee Waiver Scheme, as per the AICTE rules.
Integrating Management Concepts with Human Values
The uniqueness of the programs at IRMA lies in their ability to integrate management concepts with human values such as empathy and honesty. The classroom and field-based segments in each program are intertwined in a manner such that they lead to holistic learning for the students and help them prepare for managerial positions upon the completion of these programs. The classroom discussions, peer-to-peer learning, as well as faculty-student exchanges are all solution-oriented and focused on drilling down to the core of complex problems and providing managerial solutions.
IRMAs contribution towards the enhancement of the quality of management education is evident through its programs that provide practical exposure, prepare students for industry challenges, and integrate management concepts with human values. The institutes emphasis on nation-building and serving the underserved makes it a unique institution of learning. IRMAs commitment to excellence and holistic learning prepares students to become changemakers in the real world.
Dr. Umakant Dash, Director, Institute Of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)
Dr. Umakant Dash is the Director of the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). Prior to joining IRMA, he was a Professor & Head of the Department of H&SS, at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and an Adjunct Professor, at the Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli.
He holds a DHS in Health System Management from Tulane University, USA, and a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He has nearly two decades of experience in academia and research with institutes of national and international repute like the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Utara University of Malaysia, and Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani in areas such as Macro Economics, Financial Economics, Health Economics, Financial Management, Energy Economics, and Derivative Markets.
Practical Exposure through the Village Fieldwork Segment (VFS)
One of the most fundamental parts of the curriculum of all of IRMAs programs is the Village Fieldwork Segment (VFS), which places students in real rural settings and undertaking several tasks. The VFS provides practical exposure to students, which augments their classroom learning and enhances their knowledge experience. This also puts them in situations where theyre required to employ out-of-the-box thinking and come up with innovative solutions to solving problems. The VFS is a defining experience for the students and prepares them for challenges in the real world.
Preparing Students for Industry Challenges
IRMA aims to nurture leaders and professionals for the sustainable and equitable development of rural India. The institutes commitment to academic excellence, research, and innovation is evident through its faculty, infrastructure, and scholarship opportunities. Preparing students for the industry is a challenge for higher education institutes across the country. At IRMA, the intensive summer training and the encouraging learning environment make students proficient in the basic as well as specialized fields of relevance, says Dr. Umakant Dash, Director, IRMA. IRMA continues to cater to interventionist as well as facilitative approaches toward serving the underserved. This is amply demonstrated every year by a variety of organizations across the spectrum, from corporate to development sectors, participating in the placements process. IRMAs programs provide students with the necessary skills and knowledge to face challenges that lie ahead of them in the industry and corporate world.
"The uniqueness of the programs at IRMA lies in their ability to integrate management concepts with human values such as empathy and honesty"
Equipped with the Best
IRMAs faculty members are experts in their respective fields and bring diverse perspectives to the classroom. The institute ensures that its faculty members maintain a consistent level of excellence through their research, publications, consultancy, and Management Development Programmes. IRMAs faculty members regularly publish in reputed journals, which translates into richer and more vivid classroom interactions. The faculty also offers elective courses that are unique to IRMA and focus on domains such as livelihoods, rural economy, agri-business marketing, social marketing, business intelligence, and brand management, among others. These aspects make IRMAs programs more robust and practical.
Scholarship Opportunities
IRMA understands that scholarships enable students from different backgrounds to study in a diverse and challenging environment. The institute provides financial assistance to deserving candidates through various schemes and scholarships. Some of the scholarship opportunities provided by IRMA include IRMA Scholarships, Mirae Asset Foundation (MAF) Scholarships, SC scholarships, ST scholarships, PM-YASASVI for the welfare of OBC, EBC, and DNT students, IDFC First Bank MBA Scholarships, and the Tuition Fee Waiver (TFW) Scheme. IRMA Scholarships are merit-based and offer 20 scholarships worth INR 1.17 crore to students of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Rural Management). MAF provides six scholarships in a year worth almost INR 5 lakh. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India allocates four scholarships to IRMA for SC students, and one scholarship is allocated for ST students by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India. The PM-YASASVI scheme offers 40 scholarships at IRMA for the welfare of OBC, EBC, and DNT students. Selected students also receive IDFC First Bank MBA Scholarships, which provide INR 1 lakh per annum to select students. IRMA also follows the Tuition Fee Waiver Scheme, as per the AICTE rules.
Integrating Management Concepts with Human Values
The uniqueness of the programs at IRMA lies in their ability to integrate management concepts with human values such as empathy and honesty. The classroom and field-based segments in each program are intertwined in a manner such that they lead to holistic learning for the students and help them prepare for managerial positions upon the completion of these programs. The classroom discussions, peer-to-peer learning, as well as faculty-student exchanges are all solution-oriented and focused on drilling down to the core of complex problems and providing managerial solutions.
IRMAs contribution towards the enhancement of the quality of management education is evident through its programs that provide practical exposure, prepare students for industry challenges, and integrate management concepts with human values. The institutes emphasis on nation-building and serving the underserved makes it a unique institution of learning. IRMAs commitment to excellence and holistic learning prepares students to become changemakers in the real world.
Dr. Umakant Dash, Director, Institute Of Rural Management Anand (IRMA)
Dr. Umakant Dash is the Director of the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). Prior to joining IRMA, he was a Professor & Head of the Department of H&SS, at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and an Adjunct Professor, at the Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli.
He holds a DHS in Health System Management from Tulane University, USA, and a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He has nearly two decades of experience in academia and research with institutes of national and international repute like the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Utara University of Malaysia, and Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani in areas such as Macro Economics, Financial Economics, Health Economics, Financial Management, Energy Economics, and Derivative Markets.
