IRMA Opens PGDM (Rural Management - Executive) 2023 Admission 2023: 15-month Full-time Residential PGDM (RM-X) program; Check USPs, Fee, Placements, Selection Process

Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), a highly ranked and pioneering management institute in India is now open with its application process for admission to its 5^th batch of 15 months PGDM (RM-X) 2023.

Founded in 1979, by Dr. Verghese Kurien, known as the ‘Father of the White Revolution in India’, with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), the Government of India, Government of Gujarat, the erstwhile Indian Dairy Corporation and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), IRMA has grown to become a premier institution of professional learning offering Management programmes with a focus on understanding real management problems and socio-economic realities of under-served communities through intensive fieldwork.

IRMA PGDM (RM - X) is an AICTE approved program intended specifically for executives with five years post-qualification full-time work experience in Managerial / Supervisory position. The person should have completed five years of full-time work in the prescribed capacity and who wish to enhance their skills and knowledge in order to advance to managerial positions. IRMA’s PGDM (RM-X) is approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). Currently in its fourth year, the PGDM (RM-X) is inviting applications for its fifth cohort, which will embark on the IRMA’s journey in May 2023.

Sharing the rationale for the programs, Dr. Umakant Dash, Director, IRMA says, “PGDM RM-X at IRMA is a residential, full-time program designed to meet the career advancement needs of Working Professionals. The program seeks to cultivate transformational and accountable managers who can navigate complex, ever-changing business environments, with an emphasis on the rural domain.”

Speaking about the target group for the program, Prof. Shyam Singh, Associate Dean of PGDM (RM-X), IRMA says “IRMA’s PGDM (RM - X) offers an excellent opportunity for working professionals looking towards augmenting their skills and climbing up the institutional ladder. The PGDM (RM-X) also opens the door for those working professionals who are interested in changing rural lives by promoting sustainable, ecologically-friendly, and equitable growth at the grassroots level.”

Read this article to know the key IRMA Highlights & USPs, PGDM (RM-X) Fees, Placements, Eligibility criteria, Selection process among other details

Table of Contents

1. IRMA Anand: Key Highlights & USPs
2. Programmes Offered at IRMA
3. IRMA PGDM (Rural Management- Executive): Key Highlights
4. IRMA Faculty: Highly Qualified and Experienced
5. IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Fees
6. IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Placements
7. IRMA Anand PGDM (RM-X) Batch Profile
8. IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Students Feedback
9. IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Admission Eligibility Criteria 2023
10. How to Apply for IRMA PGDM (RM-X) 2023
11. IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Admission Process
12. IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Admission 2023: Important Dates

1. IRMA Anand: Key Highlights & USPs

• 1.1 Highly Ranked: IRMA is ranked #58 in GoI MHRD NIRF Ranking 2022 among top 125 management institutes in India and is ranked #28 in MBAUniverse.com B-School Rankings 2023
• 1.2 Four Decades of Excellence: Four decades of fostering transformative management education for creating pro-poor, inclusive and sustainable businesses in 60 acres of picturesque and serene campus.
• 1.3 Three distinct learning segments: IRMA has three distinct yet mutually supporting learning segments - Classrooms, Village Field Work, and Project Work Module which help students win national and international competitions in the management education space while studying at IRMA and thus preparing them for their professional journey as an IRMAn.
• 1.4 Opportunities for Industry Connect: IRMA offers opportunities to learn from Industry stalwarts through Industry Connect (ICON) Talks. Over 34 sessions were held during 2021-22.
• 1.5 Strong Alumni Network: IRMA offers a strong connection with close to 4000 alumni working across many sectors driving pro-social change. Close to 1/4th of them are holding CXO positions.
• 1.6 Entrepreneurial spirit: IRMA focusses on development of entrepreneurial spirit at the I-SEED incubator of IRMA.
• 1.7 Unique Pedagogic Approach: PGDM(RM-X) uses a well-rounded methodology that incorporates classroom instruction and hands-on learning opportunities such as rural immersion, live projects, and organizational internships.
• 1.8 IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Fees: IRMA PGDM (RM-X) fees Rs.10.10 lakhs
• 1.9 IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Placements & Top Recruiters: IRMA PGDM (RM-X) has a consistent high placement record. The average package offered to the batch is Rs.13.67 LPA with some of the best organizations like Samunnati Financial Services Limited, ITC Limited, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF), TVS Srinivasan Service Trust, Kaira District Co-Operative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd. (Amul Dairy), Jai Kisan among others.
• 1.10 Campus & Infrastructure: IRMA offers world-class infrastructure for learning at its 60-acre-green campus. IRMA’s synergy with Government and Non-Government Institutions as well as International Development Organizations provides the students with an ideal ecosystem for learning, research as well as implementation experience of real on-the-ground projects.
• 1.11 Centres of Excellence at IRMA: The institute has established number of Centres of Excellence including Centre for Sustainable Livelihoods (CSL), Centre for Rural Infrastructure & Corporate Social Responsibility (CRI&CSR), Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Enterprises (CSEE), Centre for Public Policy and Governance (CPPG), Verghese Kurien Centre of Excellence (VKCoE), Verghese Kurien Policy Lab (VKPL) and Water Centre to focus and enhance learning experience, community services among others  

2. Programmes Offered at IRMA
IRMA offers three fully residential long-term academic programs:

• The 15-month Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Rural Management-Executive) – PGDM (RM-X):
• The two-year Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Rural Management) - PGDM (RM):
• The Fellow Program in Management (Rural Management) – FPM (RM).

3. IRMA PGDM (Rural Management- Executive): Key Highlights
Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Rural Management - Executive), PGDM (RM-X) is designed for executives working in specific functional areas of their organizations such as finance, accounting, marketing, human resource management, operations, and projects, aspiring to enhance their skills and knowledge to move into managerial roles. The program aims to give them a deeper and a hands-on experience in the challenges faced by organizations serving under-served segments of the economy. For executives, entrepreneurs, and educationalists that are keen to work in this sector, it provides an ideal platform to enhance management acumen through a rigorous management curriculum, enriched with deep in-field learning and garnering first-hand insights.

4. IRMA Faculty: Highly Qualified and Experienced

• IRMA has 33 faculty members in its full-time role including 2 adjunct faculty members. 7 out of every 10 faculty members come with industry or teaching experience prior to joining IRMA. The majority of the faculty members are PhDs/Fellows from top national and international institutes and universities.
• During the last three years, IRMA faculty have published 106 papers in peer-reviewed national /International journals. 10 case studies, 51 opinion pieces in newspapers/magazines, 18 book chapters, 10 case studies, and 6 books.
• IRMA faculty has conducted training programs for 800 executives from 105 organizations during 2021-22. IRMA faculty also provide their research and consulting services to organizations of national and international repute from the public sector, private sector, and civil society.
• IRMA has its interdisciplinary International Journal of Rural Management published by Sage publications. To date, IJRM has brought out 244 original research articles on subjects related to Rural Management.

4.1 IRMA Faculty Conducted MDPs for Top Companies
Management Development Programmes (MDPs) are one of the means via which IRMA fosters industry engagement. IRMA leads this engagement by delivering high-quality training programmes with a primary focus on the actualization of capacity-building skills that help executives and managers in a variety of industries and business types.

Some of the customized MDPs conducted in 2021-2022 were for Aditya Birla Group, ChildFund India, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited, HDFC Bank, IDFC First Bank, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Reliance Foundation, Tata Trusts

5. IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Fees
IRMA PGDM (RM-X) fees for 2023-24 batch is Rs. 10.10 lakhs

6. IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Placements
The Campus Placement Program at IRMA for each graduating batch aims to provide meaningful and challenging opportunities. The institute has enlisted over 800 partner organizations, which it invites for placements purposes. These organizations represent a wide range of sectors, organizational forms, and orientations. The nature of jobs offered to IRMA graduates varies widely. They occur in areas as diverse as agribusiness, rural marketing, consulting and technology, supply chain management, banking and finance, microfinance, rural development, project management, information systems, human resource development, natural resources management, livelihood promotions, education, and health.

6.1 IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Placements: Key Highlights
The placements process for the self-sponsored participants of the second batch of the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Rural Management Executive) - the PGDM(RMX) - is a success with participants receiving offers from several reputed organizations. Key Highlights are

• Average Package offered to the batch is Rs.13.67 LPA
• Top Recruiters: Some of the best organizations like Samunnati Financial Services Limited, ITC Limited, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF), TVS Srinivasan Service Trust, Kaira District Co-Operative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd. (Amul Dairy), and Jai Kisan, recruit at IRMA

6.2 IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Batch Recruitment
Details of some of the students from PGDM (RM-X) batch recruited are as below

Sr. No.	Name of the Participant	Placement Organization	Designation
1	Aman Rakeshkumar Verma	Samunnati Financial Services Limited	Projects - Manager
2	Deepak Kumar Patra	Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF)	Senior Executive - Sales & Marketing
3	Koushik Prasad P	TVS Srinivasan Service Trust	Deputy Manager - CSR
4	Reema Kirtikumar Thakkar	Kaira District Co-Operative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd. (Amul Dairy)	Executive - IT
5	Shankar Sharma	Samunnati Financial Services Limited	Projects - Manager
6	Ripul Jain	Jai Kisan	Account Manager
7	Amit Kumar	ITC Limited	Associate Manager Operations
8	Sachin Bedi	Ambuja Cement Foundation	Project Coordinator
9	Rajeev Srivastava	Jai Kisan	Account Manager
10	Sarojanand Upadhyay	Mulukanoor Women's Cooperative Dairy	Marketing Manager
11	Ravi Ranjan	Sunblaze	Country Operation Head
12	Jignesh Patel	Banas Dairy	Senior Executive

7. IRMA Anand PGDM (RM-X) Batch Profile
IRMA has diverse present batch as below:

• Gender Diversity: Male students are 78% while female students are 22%
• Academic Diversity: 70.26% students are from Agriculture & Allied Disciplines, while 10.81% are from Engineering background; 13.51% are Commerce & Business Administration graduates; 2.71% are from Science back ground and 2.71% are from other academic streams

8. IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Students Feedback
Talking about her experience, Rajeshwari (PRMX04) batch, Deputy Director, Karnataka Milk Federation, says, “IRMA’s PGDM (RM-X) provides Lifelong Learning benefits. It is so tailored to my work. I am getting exposed to useful tools, techniques, tactics, and resources along with frameworks that prepare us to evaluate difficult situations and take better decisions. The best thing about this program is the cross-culture interaction between participants from various parts of the country. The program structure is well-organized, interactive, fast-paced, and easy to navigate. The spacious lustrous green campus makes life at IRMA bright and light”

Gaurav Sachdeva PGDM (RM-X) 03 batch said,  “The Programme not only enabled me to toggle between foundational and functional courses but also provided me with the right environment to challenge myself both academically and physically. I enrolled in the PGDM (RM-X) program to gain a better understanding of management theory and strategic planning to complement my technical experience.”

Dr. Saikat Samanta PGDM (RM-X) – 03 Manager, NDDB said, “ The course curriculum has definitely enhanced my managerial skills to a great extent. I am very fortunate to have spent quality time learning alongside some very talented professionals from diverse fields and backgrounds. The course engagement with my batchmate has provided me with a lot of fresh perspectives & gives me different ways of thinking and approaches to problem-solving. I am sure that the learnings from the course would add value to my future assignment in NDDB and hopefully bring more to the table from a strategic perspective. Last but not the least, the course also helped me to strengthen my time and stress management which has been beneficial to my professional and personal life.”

Dr. Sandip Patel PGDM (RM-X) - 03, Senior Research Associate, AMUL, said, “I finished my PGDM (RM-X) program at IRMA and I loved it! The faculties are all experts in their field, and you get a personal mentor when you enter the program. You can learn any business skill that you want, and they have lots of resources to help you in your career.”

9. IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Admission Eligibility Criteria 2023
Following key points form the IRMA eligibility criteria 2023 for PGDM (RM-X) Admission 2023.

Those who meet the following norms are eligible to apply for admission to the programme:

• A Graduate from any discipline, with a minimum of 15 years of education and 50% or above (45% or above for SC/ST/OBC (NC)/General (EWS)/ Person with Disability) aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA at the graduation level is eligible to apply for IRMA’s PGDM (RM-X) programme.
• The percentage of aggregate marks is to be calculated as per the practice followed by the concerned university or institution. If the university/institution does not have a scheme for converting CGPA into equivalent marks, IRMA will establish the equivalence by dividing obtained CGPA with the maximum possible CGPA and multiplying the resultant with 100.
• Minimum Work Experience: At least five years post-qualification full-time work experience in Managerial/Supervisory position. The person should have completed five years of full-time work in the prescribed capacity.

10. How to Apply for IRMA PGDM (RM-X) 2023

• IRMA Online Admissions Portal provides detailed instructions to facilitate your online application. An application form is available on the website.
• IRMA's designated organizations can sponsor their employees for the program. Admission and Selection Criteria and Processes are the same for sponsored as well as self-sponsored applicants.
• Total of 60 seats are available for the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Rural Management - Executive), or the “PGDM (RM-X)”, 2023, a full-time residential program.
• Application Form Fee is: Rs. 2,500/-

11. IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Admission Process
Dr. Preeti Priya, Associate Dean (Admissions), IRMA says, “We launched the PGDM (RM-X) in 2019 with generous support from National Dairy Development Board and its partner institutions. Working executives from a variety of industries, including dairy, FMCG, agribusiness, aviation, oil & gas, power, CSR, nonprofits, etc., have expressed satisfaction with the course. While the program has accelerated the career paths of sponsored participants inside their individual firms, non-sponsored participants have greatly benefited from the program and given their professional lives a new direction.”

Entrance Exam Accepted
Candidates should appear any of the following entrance test:

Sl. No.	Name of Entrance Test	Validity of the scores of tests conducted in following years
1	CAT	2020, 2021 and 2022
2	XAT	2021, 2022 and 2023
3	GMAT	From 1-Jan-2021 till 15-Jan-2023
4	CMAT	2022

Personal Interview:

• Shortlisted candidates will be called for Personal Interviews. Personal interviews will be conducted in offline mode on IRMA campus only
• Candidates have to upload documents and score card/s of entrance exam/s on IRMA portal.
• IRMA encourages participants from diverse educational streams to apply. There is no management quota for admission to the program.

Final Selection: Weightage of selection components
Component	Weightage
Score of the Entrance Test	35%
Academic Performance (AP)	10%
Exotic Careers	5%
Personal Interview	40%
Extra-curricular Activities and Sports	5%
Gender diversity	5%
Total	100%

12. IRMA PGDM (RM-X) Admission 2023: Important Dates

Online Admissions application opens	5th September, 2022
Last date for receipt of completed applications	2nd February 2023
Intimation for Personal Interview	3rd February 2023
Personal Interview	10th February 2023
Announcement of final results	24th February 2023
Last date for submitting acceptance form	3rd March 2023
Last date to deposit the first instalment fee	24th March 2023
Induction Programme	22 – 26 May 2023
Beginning of First Term	29th May 2023

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. 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 has been working closely with its client organisations to integrate their emerging needs into its academic programme by periodically revising the curricula. Admission 2023 application at IRMA is open - Apply Now.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on Institute of Rural Management IRMA, Anand