The Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) a pioneering academic institution in rural management education and research is a preferred MBA destination for CAT 2016 aspirants. Today, IRMA is recognized not only as an institution of excellence in teaching and research but also for having successfully created the new discipline of rural management. Its path-breaking approach is being emulated by other institutions in India and abroad. As a premier institution of professional education and development IRMA has evolved unique curricula for its various programmes.
IRMA's Programme in Rural Management prepares talented young managers to assume challenge-filled responsibilities in rural cooperatives and development organisations. This two-year residential programme leading to a Post-Graduate Diploma in Rural Management (PGDRM) has been recognised as equivalent to a Master's degree by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The participants of this programme are highly valued in local, national and international cooperatives, NGOs, development organisations, and funding agencies. All participants are suitably placed in different organisations through the IRMA Campus Placement programme.
The ideal candidates that IRMA mainly looks for are youngsters with a sense of dissonance with the Socio-Politico-Economic status quo and the urge to contribute to change.
IRMA will use CAT 2016 / XAT 2017 scores for admission to Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management 2017- 19 (PGDRM 2017-19). All applicants for IRMA Admissions have to additionally appear for "Issues of Social Concern" test (online) on February 12, 2017.
The PGDRM 2017-19 admission application process at IRMA is open till December 23, 2016 for hard copies and December 30, 2016 for online. https://www.irma.ac.in/
IRMA PRM graduates are highly valued by cooperatives, NGOs, government development agencies, and national and international donors engaged in promoting rural development. The distinguishing feature of all these bodies is their willingness and ability to make effective use of young and well-trained professional managers.
Key Strengths of IRMA Anand
High Placements
Placement 2016 at IRMA has recorded 100 placement. IRMA graduates have succeeded not only in choosing meaningful jobs but have also received decent salaries. The placement week for the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) was scheduled during February 22-28, 2016. For the batch size of almost 200, placements at the institute for the graduating batch of its Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management (PGDRM) has been 100%.
Over 350 jobs offers were received from about 100 recruiters for the batch. While 13 participants accepted the pre-placement offers made to them during their internship phase, one was a sponsored candidate and four opted out of the placement programme this year.
The largest number of jobs offered by a single company was by the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), as it did last year as well. Cooperatives/Producers Collectives as a sector offered job to one fourth of the batch. The other single largest recruiter this year was HDFC Bank in the agifinance-microfinance sector with 11 selections. This was followed by ICICI-Lombard and National Payments Corporation of India, taking 10 and 9 students respectively.
The average salary of the current batch was Rs. 8.56 lakh per annum, and the median stood at 8.4 Lakh per annum. The maximum salary for the batch stood at 27.39 lakhs.
Like placement 2015, the amplified emphasis on financial inclusion and revival of the Micro Finance sector continued to reflect in the placements at IRMA with Agri-finance and Microfinance sector emerging as the biggest recruiters with about 1/3rd of the graduating batch joining the sector.
Interest in Social entrepreneurship sector continued to increase amongst the graduating batch with six of them recruiting 14 participants.
A total of 25 students chose to take up offers made by Non-Government Development Organizations and Government Development Organizations. These included organizations such as Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, PRADAN, Gramin Shiksha Kendra. Arghyam is a new entrant to the list. In the Government Develoipment organizations/missions Rajasthan Grameen Ajeevika Parishad was joined by MP State Rural Livelihoods Mission as well as the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society and Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) Andhra Pradesh.
Some participants prefer to join grassroot organisations, even though these offer relatively low salaries, over other high-paying jobs because they are attracted by the greater challenges, innovative experiments, and greater autonomy offered by these positions. There is also a provision of IRMA fellowships for the students who join low paying but highly relevant jobs in the rural development sector.
5 Centers of Excellence
IRMA has set up 5 Centres of Excellence approved by Government of India. These centres create an enabling climate for knowledge enhancement in tandem with the Think Tank Initiative and RBI Endowment Unit, both floated with the idea of encouraging policy-oriented research.
Following are the 5 centres of excellence
- Center for Sustainable growth
- Center for Rural Infrastructure and Corporate Social Responsibility
- Center for Social Entrepreneurship and Enterprises
- Center for Public policy and Governance
- Centre for Rural-Urban Dynamics
Innovative Curriculum & Pedagogy
IRMA is noted for pedagogic innovations. According to IRMA the core values are “To pursue the highest standards of excellence and relevance in all our activities namely teaching, research, consulting, and mid-career/ continuing education and to remain transparent and accountable in our core functions through processes of self-evaluation, reflection, and continuous improvement.”
There are five classroom terms, which focus on concepts, skills, and knowledge pertaining to rural development and management, using modern pedagogical techniques and concentrating on experiential learning. The village fieldwork segment exposes students to the realities of rural life. The development internship segment helps students understand the nature of organisational dynamics. The management traineeship segment offers students an opportunity to apply, test, and polish the skills acquired in the classroom. About thirty percent of the total duration of the programme is devoted to experiential learning and practical application of the knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom segments. The faculty is involved to a substantial degree in the design and supervision of all field-based segments.
PGDRM is recognised as equivalent to Master’s degree in Rural Management by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and is approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
IRMA strives to make continuous and significant contributions to the transformation of rural India through leadership in cutting-edge knowledge creation, innovations in education, pursuance of the ethical imperative of sustainability, and policy-oriented research.
IRMA’s PRM integrates the two streams and equips talented men and women with both development perspectives and business acumen. IRMA recognises that institutions working for rural development operate in a complex environment, in which there is a far greater need for professional management. IRMA trains talented men and women through a well-structured two-year Postgraduate Programme in Rural Management, in order to undertake challenging responsibilities in development and producers’ organisations with the right ethical values. IRMA has been working closely with its client organisations to integrate their emerging needs into its academic programme by periodically revising the curricula. The present PRM design is a reflection of this growing partnership.
Admission process with low CAT Cut offs
IRMA will use CAT 2016 / XAT 2017 scores for admission to Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management 2017- 19 (PRM 2017-19). IRMA recognizes and considers other qualities of the applicants apart from scores in written examination. The institute does not require high CAT scores like IIMs and you can expect to be shortlisted by IRMA at 85-90 percentiles in CAT 2016 or XAT 2017.
However, all applicants for IRMA Admissions have to additionally appear for "Issues of Social Concern" test (online) on February 12, 2017. Those applicants, who expect to fulfil the eligibility requirements before May 22, 2017 may also apply.
PRM participants are selected on the basis of the above mentioned Admissions Test, Group Activity, and Personal Interview. It is compulsory for applicants to appear for CAT 2016 / XAT 2017 and "Issues of Social Concern (ISC)" test of IRMA. https://www.irma.ac.in/
CAT 2016/XAT 2017 will play an important role in the selection process at IRMA. The final selection is based on the overall performance of the applicant in IRMA admission process that includes IRMA test on issues of social concern, Group Activity, Personal Interview and Profile.
Programme offered & Intake
The flagship PGDRM 2017-19 batch at IRMA will have an intake of 180. Fifteen percent of the approved intake is allocated for admission to Foreign Nationals / Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) / Children of Indian Workers in Gulf Countries and Sons & Daughters of Non Resident Indian(s).
PGDRM is a two-year fully residential programme leading to a Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Management (PGDRM). The programme comprises four different segments—classroom, village fieldwork, development internship, and management traineeship.
Last date to apply
Applicants seeking admission to PGDRM 2017-19 at IRMA, must complete and submit the application form in hard copy or online before the last date on December 23 and December 30, 2016 respectively. Application fee is Rs. 1200/- for applicants making online payments and Rs. 1275/- making payment by DD/cash.
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