Institute of Rural Management Anand

Institute of Rural Management Anand

File:Irmalogo.png
Motto	That which liberates is education
Type	Autonomous
Established	1979
Chairman	Prof Y. K. Alagh
Director	Mr. Vivek Bhandari
Location	Anand , Gujarat , India
Campus	Urban, 60 acres (240,000 m2)
Website	www.irma.ac.in

Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) (founded 1979) is an autonomous institution located at Anand in Gujarat, India with the mandate of contributing to the professional management of rural organisations. It was founded at the initiative of the National Dairy Development Board and the support of Government of India, Government of Gujarat and Swiss Development Co-operation. IRMA works closely with co-operatives, NGOs, governments, Indian national and international agencies.

The Institute

IRMA was established in 1979 at Anand, Gujarat with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), the Government of India, the Government of Gujarat, erstwhile Indian Dairy Corporation and the National Dairy Development Board to provide management education, training, research and consultancy support to co-operatives and rural development organisations in India.

IRMA is founded with the belief, borne out by Dr. Kurien’s work in the dairy co-operatives which revolutionised the dairy industry in the country, that the key for effective rural development is professional management. Professionalising the management of rural organisations calls for matching the specific but unmet needs of the sector with the formal techniques and skills of management professionals. Linking the two are the ‘rural managers’ prepared by IRMA through its two-years diploma (PRM) in rural management.

IRMA has become a frontrunner in professionalising the development of India’s rural sector. Over the years it has provided management training, support and research facilities to students committed to rural development and in this process it has brought within its ambit several co-operatives, non-government organisations, government development agencies, international development organisations and funding agencies.

History

IRMA was set up in 1979 with a mandate to professionalise management of rural producers’ organisations and create a body of knowledge in the field of rural management. In a short span IRMA has come to be recognised as a premier centre of teaching and research in rural management and has successfully created a new discipline of rural management which is being replicated by many other institutes.

Beginning with co-operatives, IRMA has reached out to the rural sector through development organisations engaged with varied issues of rural life such as natural resource management, especially water and forests, rural health, local governance institution, livelihoods and migration, deploying IT for rural areas, and so on. IRMA’s vision to work for the rural people was vindicated in the early years when a variety of rural organisations—from co-operatives, NGOs, government and business sectors—began to make demands on IRMA. Except the business sector IRMA openly welcomes all these organisations. The argument being that business organisations are served by over 800 business schools in India but there is only one IRMA to serve the co-operatives, NGOs, and people’s organisations, and therefore, IRMA has chosen to direct its energies and output to these designated sectors. Ever since, the focus of IRMA has been on strengthening the management capacities in organisations which are controlled by users of their services rather than capital centred, and organisations which are controlled by users of their services rather than by capital suppliers. It this commitment which defines IRMA and gives it the identity unique among the management institutes.

Mission

IRMA’s mission is to promote sustainable, eco-friendly and equitable socio-economic development of rural people through professional management of their institutions.

Academic programs

Program in Rural Management

This Programme prepares young talented managers to undertake challenging responsibilities in the rural sector and the development organizations. It is a two-year residential programme leading to a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM). The participants of this programme are highly valued in local, national and international co-operatives, NGOs, corporates, development organizations, and funding agencies.

Fellow Program in Rural Management

This is a doctoral level residential programme for the people who need specialized knowledge, skills and attitudes for positions requiring conceptual and visioning skills in the co-operatives and development organizations. Each participant of the programme receives a fellowship and contingency grant.

CRM

This is a one year course for professionals working in cooperatives, development organizations and in other rural sector organizations.

Certificate Programme in Dairy Management (CPDM)

A Certificate Programme in Dairy Management (CPDM) of one year duration is offered starting with the first programme in Nov 2008. IRMA and the sponsoring organisation GCMMF selected the candidates jointly. The programme will be open to all other cooperative dairy federations and unions; other milk producers organisations and dairy development promotional organisations form the next batch onwards.

Programme will be managed by a committee of 5 faculty members from IRMA, who will also be responsible for curriculum development, engagement of faculty from external and internal sources apart from developing such rules, regulations, norms and guidelines for effective conduct of the programme

Programs

Doctoral level Programme titled the Fellow Programme in Rural Management (FPRM) for students and professionals seeking careers in Research, Teaching and specialised knowledge-based positions in Cooperatives and Development Organisations.

Post-Graduate Programme in Rural Management (PRM) for those who wish to undertake challenging managerial responsibilities in the rural co-operative sector and development organisations. PRM is recognised as equivalent to a Master’s Degree by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and is approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

Management Development Programmes for in-service managers/ officers working with co-operatives, NGOs, and government and semi-government organisations engaged in rural development.

Research and Consultancy for enriching the quality and content of teaching and training activities as well as helping IRMA’s clientele identify and resolve their management problems.

Campus Facilities

The campus is fully residential equipped with students’ hostels, mess, lecture halls, seminar rooms, library, faculty and administrative offices, auditorium, executive training and development centre, faculty and staff housing, dispensary, and other support facilities. The IRMA staff co-operative store caters to the residents’ daily necessities. Faculty and Staff live in the campus quarters provided, thereby providing facilities for interaction with the participants even beyond formal class rooms.

Ravi J Mathai Library supports the mission of IRMA through the provision of information resources and services. In this role, the library plays an integral part in the learning process by providing the entire academic community with access to information for fulfilling research requirements, course work assignments, professional development and intellectual growth. This is achieved through collection development, networking, electronic information retrieval, instruction in search strategy and assisted access to an array of resources and data. Using current technologies, the library seeks to identify and implement innovative means for broadening access to information beyond immediate holdings while continuing to build and maintain an exemplary body of on-site resources.

Executive Training and Development Centre (ETDC) where the executive training programs and seminars are held, has 35 single occupancy Air Conditioned rooms, four suites, a dining hall, a lounge, conference and syndicate rooms with audio-visual equipment and an exclusive computer laboratory which is networked with the Institutes's main computer center. This facility is available for executive training programmes and conferences planned by the faculty.

IRMA Auditorium which has a seating capacity of 400 is used for all major events of the Institute and for entertainment. Movies are screened regularly for both the participants of programs and the residents of the campus. It is also used for musical concerts hosted by the Society for Promotion of Indian Culture and Music amongst Youth (SPIC-MACAY) and the cultural programs hosted by the students.

Students Activities Center (SAC) has a gym-cum-sports complex, with facilities for a regular work-out, badminton and table-tennis courts.

A co-operative store on the campus is open in the evenings - 6 days a week and provides all the essential items required by the residents on the campus. It is well stocked with provisions and stationery required for the residents.

Campus dispensary is readily accessible for any basic medication necessary. The Honorary Medical Officer visits the campus for an hour every day and a staff nurse resides on the campus to attend to any medical emergencies.

Notable alumni

Marketing

Shivkumar, CEO ITC IBD

Sanjeev Asthana, President- Reliance Retail-Agribusiness

R S Sodhi, Incharge MD GCMMF

Sanjay Panigrahi, Chief Sales & Marketing, Consumer Products Pidilite

Sanjay Sinha, CEO, Mother Dairy India Ltd.

Saurabh Chadha, Pantaloon Retail

Lalitha Rajagopalan, Senior Director, Solutions Marketing, SAP, California, USA

Finance

Dinshaw Irani , Head Portfolio Management Services, Sharekhan

Journalism

Narisetti Raju, Editor-The Mint (WSJ and HT JV) , ExEditor- Wall Street Journal- Europe

High Tech

Satish Babu Head InApp Solutions, started in SIFFS

Rajvinder Kohli Head of an IT startup, started in NDDB

Thamizhanambi, Head of Systems in Ramco Industries, started in NDDB

Bharath Rayasam Ph.D.,PMP - JC Penney, University of Dallas- Texas

Rupa Pisupati, Google

Entrepreneurs

Rahul Barkataky, MITRA Foundation/ CFM

Shiv and Raghu,Catalyst Management Services, Bangalore

Dr. Ajay Gupta,Founder and CEO ruralnaukri.com

Social Development

V Vivekanandan, CEO, SIFFS

Neelima Khaitan, CEO, Seva Mandir and Acting Director (IRMA)

Late Sanjay Ghosh, Founder URMUL Trust

Late Oona Mansingh, Founder, Aarohi

Apoorva Oza, CEO Aga Khan Rural Support Program

Rupa Mukherji Head of Intercooperation India

Narender Kande Top management in DHAN Foundation

Arumugam Gurunathan , CEO DHAN Vayalagam (Tank) Foundation

Soumen Biswas, CEO, PRADAN

Meenu Vadera, Head of Agaz Foundation

Chittaroopa Palit (Silvy), Narmada Bachao Andolan

Gouthami, Executive Director KMVS

Sachin Sachdeva, former Executive Director of ARAVALI, Jaipur

Sandeep Desai, Chief Executive, Charutar Arogya Mandal

G Raju, Chief Executive, Gram Mooligai Co. Ltd.

Academia

Prof. Ganesh Prabhu, Professor at IIM-B, started in NDDB

Prof M S Sriram, IRMA/ IIMA/ Visiting Fac IIMB

Nitya Rao, SEWA/ FES/ ASPBAE/ Univ of East Anglia

Mangala Subramaniam, KMF/ Purdue University

Praveen Aggarwal, University of Minnesota Duluth, USA

Sanjay Patro, XLRI, Jamshedpur

Manoj Thomas, XLRI, Jamshedpur

Debasis Pradhan, XLRI, Jamshedpur

Avantika Singh, TERI University, New Delhi

Rajesh Aithal, IIML, Lucknow

Smriti Das, ISEC, Banglore

G. Sridhar, IIMK, Kozhikode

Others

Sandeep Dikshit, Member Parliament of East Delhi

Ashok Gopal, Head of Gallup in Singapore

Shankar Narayanan AKF, World Bank

Tejinder Bhogal, OD expert

Mamta Murthy, freelance film maker

Ayushmani Tiwari, IPS

Manish Ranjan, IAS

Agricultural Diversification/Food Security/Rural Development Missions

Alok Gupta, Technical Expert (Agriculture), Diversified Agricultural Support Project.

Donor agencies

Girish Menon, Water Aid, UK (Regional Rep South Asia)

Depinder Kapur,Country Rep Water Aid

Arunesh Singh, Country head Scojo Foundation

External links

• Official website of IRMA
• IRMA Alumni Association website