Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) started the academic sessions for its 42nd batch (2021-23) of the flagship Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Rural Management) PGDM (RM) from Monday. The classes will be held online due to the ongoing pandemic situation. The 42nd batch of PGDM (RM) has 252 participants, hailing from 21 States and UTs.
TV Narendran, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Tata Steel Ltd, delivered the commencement speech or “ Shiksha Aarambh Vyakhyan ,” virtually welcoming the new batch on Monday. The classes began after a week of induction and orientation programmes conducted online.
Setting goals
IRMA had begun the classes in a hybrid mode for the 41st batch (2020-22) of the PGDM (RM). The institute hopes to have the same in the near future for the incoming batch (2021-23) as well, the statement said.
Narendran in his address, implored the young minds of IRMA to live up to the vision of Dr Verghese Kurien, who established IRMA 41 years ago with the dream of professionalising rural management. He also stressed the need for more inclusive development and strengthening the trust in the community with regard to development interventions, an official statement said.
Unique curriculum
The 252 participants come from the diverse academic background of Engineering, Commerce, Science, Management, Humanities, and Dairy Engineering. Nearly 27 per cent of the batch has previous work experience, an official statement said. IRMA has equipped eight classrooms with state-of-the-art IT infrastructure to facilitate learning.
Umakant Dash, Director, IRMA, talked about the importance of constant learning and continuous reflection. Pratik Modi, Programme Chair, PGDM (RM) interacted with the new batch and advised them that IRMA’s curriculum not only includes courses that are found in any other reputed management institute but also courses that are unique to IRMA, thereby making it more rigorous and demanding.