VADODARA/ANAND: Country's premier rural management institute the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), for the first time in its history is all set to expand its wings by starting new schools and centres of excellence.
While IRMA will continue leveraging upon its core strength and brand image to serve its classic audience the co-operatives, these new schools will create knowledge base for newer areas, including producer companies, public private partnerships and Panchayati Raj institutions, while the centres will come up in areas of food security, nutrition and rural poverty.
Plans regarding these new schools and centres were discussed during the two-day consultation that the institute had organised with 30 experts from diversified areas on "The Challenges of Negotiating India's Rural Transformation: Evolving strategies for IRMA's Response." It was the same discussion in which All IndiaCongress Committeegeneral secretaryRahul Gandhi had sprung a surprise with his presence recently.
"We have envisaged an expansion plan to establish number of schools and centres. In next five years, the institute will have nearly five schools, which in turn will have one or two centres attached to it," IRMA chairman and eminent economistY K Alagh told TOI on Friday. "The conceptual plan is that these schools and centres will train people in newer fields which are important in emerging rural economy. For instance, a centre dedicated to the new generation co-operatives can train people and take up consulting programmes in that area."
After its founder Verghese Kurien stepped down from chairmanship, the institute had witnessed a downslide in its faculty strength. "Now, the faculty strength has stabilised and number of aspirants has also increased. The new centres will come up with courses in newer areas of rural economy, including those on self-financing institutions, sustainable use of land and water," Alagh said.
"Even during the two-day consultation, number of experts suggested that IRMA should take up issues related to problems of common land, rural poverty, migration and displacement. But IRMA, which runs a flagship programme like programme in rural management (PRM), cannot take up these issues with its present strength. Hence, the idea of setting such centres has been mooted," a board member said.
While consultation was initiated by the board during its meeting on July 13, the results of this consultation will be placed before the board in October.
Times of India 13th August, 2010