irma broucher 2008

For a Challenging Career in Rural Management

(Brochure)

Post-Graduate Programme in Rural Management (PRM 2008-10)

Contents

1.0 The Institute with a Mission 2 2.0 The Programme in Rural Management (PRM) 2

2.1 Classroom Segment 2.2 Fieldwork Segment 2.3 Organisational Traineeship Segment 2.4 Management Traineeship Segment 2.5 Placement 2.6 Programme Cost 2.7 Scholarships and Educational Loans 2.8 PRM Administration

3.0 PRM Admissions 6 3.1 Eligibility 3.2 Selection 3.3 Sponsored Candidates

4.0 Campus Location and Facilities 8 4.1 Student Accommodation 4.2 Library 4.3 Computer Centre 4.4 Recreation and Cultural Life

Annexure- 1 ACADEMIC CALENDAR 10 Annexure -2 PROGRAMME STRUCTURE 11 Annexure -3 FEE STRUCTURE AND SCHEDULE 12 Annexure -4 BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF CORE COURSES 13 Annexure -5 DECLARATION OF SPONSORSHIP 19

Institute of Rural Management Anand Post Box No. 60, Anand 388001, Gujarat, India

Phone: (02692) 260177, 260181, 260186, 260391, 260246, 261502. Fax: (02692)260188 Gram: IRMA. E.mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www.irma.ac.in

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mailto:[email protected]


1. 0 The Institute with a Mission The Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) was established in 1979 at Anand, Gujarat with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Government of India, the Government of Gujarat, the erstwhile Indian Dairy Corporation and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to provide management education, training, research and consultancy support to co-operatives and rural development organisations in India. Based on the successful experience of the dairy farmers of Gujarat, milk producers in many other states were being organised into dairy co-operatives, known as Anand Pattern Co-operatives (APCs). Over the years, as some of the basic principles of APCs began to be applied to other commodity sectors, such as oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, forestry, and fisheries, IRMA’s clientele and activities also diversified to include other forms of organisations and other sub-sectors. In this process, IRMA has brought within its ambit several non-government development organisations, government development programmes, international development organisations, and funding agencies which address the issues of rural development.

IRMA’s mission is to promote sustainable, eco-friendly and equitable socio-economic development of rural people through professional management of their institutions. The core of IRMA’s operating philosophy is to build and sustain a partnership between rural people and committed professional managers. Through this, IRMA strives to contribute to the processes of promoting sustainable development and social justice in India’s rural society. IRMA strives to achieve this mission by • Educating a new breed of professional rural managers having appropriate values and

ethos to help rural organisations and institutions in professionalising their management and empower rural people through self-sustaining processes;

• Training policy makers, directors, general managers, and those in charge of specific managerial functions in such enterprises and projects;

• Building new rural management knowledge and theories through action-oriented and problem-solving research and consultancy; and

• Influencing public policies through policy oriented research and consultancy.

2.0 The Programme in Rural Management (PRM) IRMA recognises that, given the complex environment in which rural organisations work, there is a far greater need for professional management in these organisations. The Institute attempts to prepare young talented managers through a well-structured two-year Post-Graduate Programme in Rural Management to undertake challenging responsibilities in the rural co-operatives and the development organisations. Towards this end, IRMA has been closely working with its client organisations to integrate their emerging needs into the programme by periodically revising the curriculum. The present programme design is a reflection of this growing partnership.

PRM is a two-year residential programme leading to a Post-Graduate Diploma in Rural Management (PGDRM). This unique programme is designed to offer flexibility to working executives and officers who are sponsored by IRMA’s designated organisations. The sponsored candidates can complete the programme in two years or opt for Certificate in Rural Management (CRM) at the end of the first year. If sponsored again, the CRM holders have the option to rejoin within three years and complete the second year of the programme to obtain PGDRM. Those sponsored candidates who cannot meet the minimum academic norms will only be given a certificate of participation specifically addressed to their employers.

PGDRM 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).

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The programme comprises four different segments - classroom, fieldwork, organisational traineeship and management traineeship. Of these, the first involves an exposure to concepts, skills and knowledge in the classroom, while the second involves an exposure to rural realities in addition to a brief exposure during Induction. The other two components involve first-hand experience of understanding and working in villages and in organisations. About 1/3 of the total programme duration is devoted to opportunities for experiential learning and practical application of knowledge and skills learned in the classroom segments. Evaluation of students’ performance in the Programme is a continuous process, affording opportunity for frequent and regular corrections. All the four segments of the Programme are evaluated and the results reported on students’ grade cards. Students are expected to meet the standards of performance prescribed by the PRM Committee for each segment. The Academic Calendar is given in Annexure-1 and the Programme Structure in Annexure-2.

2.1 Classroom Segment

The classroom segment in the first year comprises three terms, each having 6 credits1. The courses in the first year cover the basics in management and rural context. All the courses in the first year are compulsory. Term I covers the foundation and contextual courses in rural management. Term II and Term III have courses in different functional areas of rural management (Annexure-2). Brief descriptions of core courses are provided in Annexure-4.

The classroom component in the second year has two terms (Terms IV and V) each having 6 credits. Term IV has core courses of four credits and these are compulsory for all PRM participants. Additionally, candidates have to opt for 2 credits of optional courses from among those offered in the term. Term V has two credits of compulsory courses. In addition, students have to choose 4 credits of optional courses out of those announced for the term (see Annexure-2 for the list of optional courses to be offered in Terms IV and V). The optional courses are divided into two broad groups: Rural Development Management and Rural Enterprise Management. A student has to take a minimum of two credits from each group. The PRM curriculum is based on the recommendations of PRM Committee 2004.

2.2 Fieldwork Segment The ten-week long Fieldwork Segment after the first term of classroom segment exposes the students to the realities of the lives of the rural people. It attempts to develop in them sensitivity to the concerns of the rural people; helps them in appreciating constraints and possibilities for development; and gives them a flavour of community work at the grassroots level. For the purpose of fieldwork, the students are divided into small groups and sent to rural areas in different parts of the country. Each group is attached to a local host organisation and the members of the group stay in the identified villages. The students interact directly with the villagers as well as execute a small action-oriented task entrusted by the host organisation. The students are also expected to participate in collaborative research work with faculty members in identifying issues, challenges and strategies for the management of rural organisations.

Fieldwork exposes the students to the diverse problems the rural professionals face in their roles and the ways through which experienced rural managers cope with such problems. Such an exposure enables the students to develop the skills and attitudes required for actions in which they, in their careers as rural managers, will have major stakes. The IRMA faculty closely interacts with students at all the stages of the Fieldwork Segment. They participate with students during a portion of the fieldwork to guide and help them; they work with them in structuring their learning from the field for classroom discussions and presentations, and in writing their field reports. Students’ learning from fieldwork is evaluated on the basis of their presentations and discussions in the seminars, reports submitted at the

1 One course credit is equivalent to 30 contact sessions of 70 minutes each and requires the student to put in at least 80-90 hours of work outside the classroom.

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end of fieldwork, feedback from the host organisations, feedback from the faculty guides and, where necessary, individual interviews.

2.3 Organisational Traineeship Segment The Organisational Traineeship Segment (OTS) is of 10 weeks duration and it is scheduled after Term III that marks the beginning of second year in PRM. This segment is designed to help the students understand the structure and dynamics of an organisation using semi-structured instruments (questionnaires, checklists, schedules, etc.). Students may also work on a small problem in any functional area of management, if the organisation so desires. Faculty involvement in the design of and supervision of this segment is quite substantial. Faculty and students closely interact with the designated organisations and look forward to opportunities for developing cases and other teaching material. Student’s performance in this component is evaluated through reports and presentations.

2.4 Management Traineeship Segment This segment is designed to provide the students with an opportunity to work closely with experienced managers in an organisational setting. It exposes the students to the working and functions of organisations and gives them an opportunity to apply, test and polish the skills acquired in the classroom. Through the Management Traineeship Segment (MTS), the students develop practical skills and realistic assessment of the managerial functions in rural organisations.

The MTS is of 10 weeks duration and is scheduled after Term IV. Specifically, the objective of MTS is to provide the students opportunities to:

• study and demonstrate the role of a professional rural manager in an organisation,

• develop appropriate attitudes, values and skills required of a professional rural manager,

• test the applicability of management concepts and techniques, and

• develop an integrated understanding of functioning of a rural development or producers’ organisation.

The MTS helps the students to develop key abilities which they need on the job: working effectively with others, thinking and acting positively, learning to manage people, and improving written and oral communication. The MTS also imparts flexibility and creativity to the overall design of the programme. At the end of the MTS, students present and discuss their reports, first in the host organisations and later in MTS seminars at IRMA. The MTS reports of students constitute a valuable and useful collection in the IRMA library. Both, the MTS reports and the presentations are evaluated.

2.5 Placement The Campus Placement Programme for each graduating batch ensures that all the students secure meaningful and challenging career opportunities in tune with IRMA’s mission. The one-week long campus recruitment programme organised by the Placement Office is held in January-February of the second year of PRM. The nature of jobs offered to IRMA graduates varies widely. The job offers are in areas such as planning and information systems, production management, marketing, finance, accounts, human resource development, rural development, and natural resources management.

The Institute seeks to ensure that its graduates are offered competitive remuneration. IRMA has enlisted over 650 organisations, which are designated for the purpose of placement of its graduates. The list is ever increasing and attempts are made every year to enlist more organisations. Broadly, these organisations can be categorised as Co-operatives, NGOs, government development agencies, and national and international donors engaged in promoting rural development. Their distinguishing feature is their willingness and ability to make effective use of young and well-trained professional managers.

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Consistent with its objectives, the Institute’s placement support is confined to placing students in the designated organisations only. The Institute desires that its graduates seek employment only in these designated organisations.

It may be noted that the Institute’s placement facility is not open to sponsored candidates.

The participants who completed PRM 2004-06 joined 21 different organisations with an average salary of Rs. 4.82 lakh per annum. The salaries varied from Rs. 1.5 lakh to Rs. 8.20 lakh per annum. The participants who completed PRM 2005-07 joined about the same number of organisations with an average salary of Rs. 6.09 lakh per annum. For this batch, the salaries varied from Rs. 1.66 lakh to Rs. 9.25 lakh per annum.

2.6 Programme Cost The total programme cost over the period of two years (inclusive of board and lodging) is estimated to be around Rs. 2,81,200/-. This includes deposits, tuition and computer fee, room rent and electricity cost, entertainment and estimated expenditure of boarding. The institute has a co-operative mess governed and managed by the students. The students also develop the rules and regulations of the mess. The students share the cost of boarding equally. The fee structure for the PRM 2008-2010 is given in Annexure-3.

2.7 Scholarships and Educational loans IRMA has many scholarships/ fellowships for deserving students. IRMA also facilitates bank loans to needy students. AMUL Fellowships

The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) has instituted 15 AMUL fellowships in the Institute. The objective of the fellowship is to provide financial support to the students pursuing the Post-Graduate Programme in Rural Management and encourages them to work in IRMA’s designated organisations. The total value of the fellowship is Rs.1,00,000 which is awarded during second year of the programme based on merit-cum-means. For the purpose of merit, the students’ performance during the first year is considered. The students receiving this fellowship are required to serve for at least two years in designated organisations after completion of PRM. Scholarships from Sir Ratan Tata Trust Sir Ratan Tata Trust offers about five scholarships every year to second year students based on merit. The scholarship covers a part of fees during second year subject to a ceiling of Rs. 50,000. The number and amount of the scholarship are approved by the Trust on a year to year basis. Scholarships for SC/ST Candidates

• The National Dairy Development Board offers some scholarships to SC/ST candidates during both first and second year.

• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India has allocated 10

scholarships to IRMA for SC students. The amount of the scholarship would cover fees, non-refundable charges, lodging and boarding expenses, and cost of books, stationery and computer (http://socialjustice.nic.in).

• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India, has allocated five scholarships to IRMA

for ST candidates. The amount of the scholarship would cover tuition fees, boarding and lodging expenses, book grant, and a one-time grant for the purchase of a computer (http://tribal.nic.in).

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http://socialjustice.nic.in/

http://tribal.nic.in/


Educational Loans Educational loans are available from various banks. The State Bank of India provides educational loans at a lower interest rate and without any collateral to the candidates enrolling at IRMA.

2.8 PRM Administration The PRM Committee administers the Programme in Rural Management. Faculty members co-ordinating the classroom, fieldwork, organisational traineeship and management traineeship segments, admissions and placement are the members of this committee. The PRM Committee decides on all matters pertaining to the conduct of the Programme. The PRM Co-ordinator is the Convenor of the Committee. The rules and norms governing the Programme are included in the PRM Handbook provided to the students upon joining the programme.

PRM office provides information and support to all activities involved in the Programme in Rural Management right from admission to placement. It consists of three main sections: Admissions Office, Teaching Aids Unit, and Audio-visual Unit. The Admissions Office looks after all matters related to admissions, maintenance of students’ leave records, issue of rail/air travel concession forms, grading, and convocation. The Teaching Aids Unit (TAU) provides facilities for reproduction, binding, and distribution of teaching material. The Audio-Visual Unit takes care of audio-visual aids such as overhead projectors; slide projectors, multi-media video projectors, film projectors, 35mm cameras, video cameras, televisions and videocassette recorders for use of the faculty and the students.

3.0 PRM Admissions For its twenty-ninth Programme in Rural Management commencing June 09, 2008, the Institute has adopted the following criteria and procedures for admission of students.

3.1 Eligibility Any graduate with a minimum of 15 years (10+2+3) of education having 50% (45% for SC/ST/PwD2) aggregate marks at graduation can apply. The percentage of aggregate marks is to be calculated as per the practice followed by the concerned University/Institution. Those who are in the final year and expect to complete all the requirements of graduation before June 09, 2008 can also apply. IRMA strongly encourages employees of its designated organisations to apply with sponsorship from their employers (see 3.3 for eligibility and other provisions for sponsored candidates).

Completed application form along with a Demand Draft for Rs. 750/- (Rs.500/- for SC/ST/ PwD), should reach the Admissions Co-ordinator on or before October 8, 2007. Applications without requisite fees will not be accepted. Demand draft should be drawn in favour of Institute of Rural Management, payable at Anand. All correspondence related to admissions should be addressed to:

Admissions Co-ordinator Institute of Rural Management Anand – 388 001, Gujarat 3.2 Selection All eligible candidates, including sponsored candidates, will have to appear for a Written Test (200 Marks) comprising four sections: Analytical Reasoning (50 Marks), Quantitative Ability (50 Marks), English Comprehension (40 Marks), and Issues of Social Concern (60 Marks).The Test will be conducted on Sunday, November 11, 2007 (9.15 AM – 12.15 PM) at 27 centres across India. These centres are3

2 Persons with Disability. 3 However, IRMA reserves the right to cancel any of the Test Centres.

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1. Anand 6. Chennai 11. Hyderabad 16. Mumbai 21. Raipur 26. Varanasi 2. Bangalore 7. Coimbatore 12. Jaipur 17. Nagpur 22. Rajkot 27. Vijayawada3. Bhopal 8. Dehradun 13. Kochi 18. Pantnagar 23. Ranchi 4. Bhubaneswar 9. Delhi 14. Kolkata 19. Patna 24. Thiruvananthapuram 5. Chandigarh 10. Guwahati 15. Lucknow 20. Pune 25. Udaipur Based on performance in the Written Test, the candidates will be selected to attend Personal Interview (PI) and Group Discussion (GD) to be conducted at IRMA during February 2008. The cut-off marks used for selecting candidates to attend PI and GD last year are shown below. Normally, the ratio of candidates called for PI and GD to the number of seats available is 4:1.

PRM 2007-09 Particulars General SC/ST Sponsored

Section-wise Cut-off Marks (%) -Analytical Reasoning - Quantitative Ability - English Comprehension - Issues of Social Concern

22.00 36.00 40.00 21.67

18.00 30.00 32.50 18.33

14.00 22.00 25.00 13.33

Overall Cut-off Marks (%) 38.00 35.00 20.50 Final selection will be done on the basis of overall performance in Written Test, PI and GD. The marks obtained in PI and GD will be normalised across evaluating panels. The marks obtained in the Written Test and the normalised marks obtained in PI and GD will be reduced to equivalent marks out of 50, 40 and 10 marks, respectively. An overall merit list will be prepared based on total marks obtained out of these 100 marks. Such listing will be done separately for different categories of the applicants and the required number of candidates will be selected from different categories in their order of merit. The cut off marks used for final selection of candidates during last two years are shown below. The number of applications received for PRM 2006-08 and PRM 2007-09 were 6685 and 7883, respectively.

Category PRM 2006-08 PRM 2007-09 1. General 49% 53% 2. SC/ST 44% 48% 3. Sponsored 44% 48%

The total seats available for PRM 2008-10 are about 90. The programme will begin on June 09, 2008. All selected candidates will be required to report at IRMA by this date.

3.3 Sponsored Candidates IRMA’s designated organisations can sponsor their employees (executives/officers) for CRM or PRM. A few seats are reserved for such sponsored candidates provided they fulfil the required conditions. At present there are about 650 organisations that have been designated by IRMA. These organisations include: • Federations and Unions of rural producers’ co-operatives; • State and district level co-operative banks; • National and state level agricultural and rural development banks; • National level organisations/institutions promoting co-operatives and rural development

institutions; • Non-government organisations engaged in rural development;

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• Departments of Central Government and State Governments engaged in rural development; and

• National and International donors engaged in promoting rural development. The organisations that belong to above categories and are interested in seeking designation may write to Director, IRMA with copies of annual reports and audited balance sheets for the last three years. The sponsored candidates need to fulfil the following conditions for admission to IRMA: • The candidate holds a Bachelor’s Degree, in any discipline, from a recognised

university/institution, or its equivalent; • The candidate should have worked with the sponsoring organisation for a minimum

period of two years on a continuous basis as a full time, regular employee; • The sponsoring organisation should be willing to grant uninterrupted leave to the

candidate (if selected) for the period of study at IRMA; • The sponsoring organisation should undertake to make arrangements for payment of

fees and other dues of the candidate to IRMA; • The candidate applies to the Institute in the prescribed form along with a demand draft

of requisite fee; • The candidate appears for the written test, group discussion and interview; • The candidate scores above the minimum cut-off point set for admissions, and

• The candidate produces evidence of sponsorship from the organisation.

Essential for Sponsored Candidates: Sponsored candidates should attach a certificate as per Annexure-5 from their employer stating that they will be sponsored, if selected, along with the application form. The application will be treated at par with others if the sponsorship certificate is not enclosed. The sponsoring organisations will have to clearly specify the duration of sponsorship and other details as per Annexure-5. Employers willing to sponsor may directly write to the Admissions Co-ordinator for clarification, if any.

4.0 Campus Location and Facilities Anand is situated about 36 kms. north of Vadodara and 65 kms south of Ahmedabad on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad main rail line and National Highway No. 8 connecting Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Adjacent to Anand is Vallabh Vidyanagar, the educational township and seat of Sardar Patel University. It is conveniently placed in terms of accessibility to a large number of academic and development institutions; the more important of these are the NDDB, the GCMMF, the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited (Amul), the Tribhuvandas Foundation, the Anand Agricultural University and the Sardar Patel University. The Institute’s campus is spread over a landscaped sixty-acre site adjacent to the Anand Agricultural University. 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.

4.1 Student Accommodation The PRM is a fully residential programme. There are nine blocks in the hostel, each with 24 furnished single rooms. Each floor of eight rooms has a furnished common reading room, which is also used for receiving guests of students. The hostel has a boarding facility managed by an elected student body.

4.2 Library The Library is housed in a spacious three-storied building. It supports the teaching and research programmes of the Institute. The present collection includes 43096 books, 417 videocassettes, 42 CD-ROMS, 919 microforms, 1787 MTS reports, 109 OTS reports and 309 Fieldwork reports. The Library has subscribed to 431 periodicals including professional

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journals, newspapers and popular magazines. In addition to this, the library has also subscribed to three electronic databases, namely, Prowess (CMIE, Mumbai), Indiastat.com (Datanet India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi), and ABI/Inform (Proquest; Informatics, Bangalore). The Library is fully automated and offers services of photocopying, reference, inter-library-loan, and bibliographical search assistance to the users. It is equipped with facilities such as OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) and Multimedia.

4.3 Computer Centre The Institute through its campus wide network provides connectivity to its resources such as Library information, printing and file access, Internet and Mail Services. Each hostel room in the campus is equipped with network access points that enable the student to have access to all these resources. However, a student is expected to possess a network enabled PC to gain such access.

4.4 Recreations and Cultural Life A wide range of facilities for pursuing recreational and extra-curricular activities are provided through the Student Activity Centre. Besides, the Institute has infrastructure facilities for sports such as football, cricket, badminton and table tennis. The air-conditioned 400-seat auditorium has excellent audiovisual projection system that is regularly used by the student community and the Institute for holding a variety of programmes. While the Institute extends support for extra-curricular activities, the initiative for their organisation normally comes from the students. The IRMA Staff Club organises various cultural programmes, entertainment and sports activities, and film shows at the Institute. All the PRM students are associate members of the IRMA Staff Club. The PRM students represent a substantial pool of talent in music, drama and dance. The students organise several cultural programmes, with Jatra, the seven-day festival of students being the grand finale. Under the SPIC-MACAY of which many students, staff and faculty are members, several concerts and recitals by eminent artistes are organised every year. The students use Terra Firma, their biannual magazine, to share with the alumni and the community the experiences of studying at IRMA.

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Annexure - 1

ACADEMIC CALENDAR for PRM 2008-2010

First Academic Year

ACTIVITY STARTING DATE ENDING DATE WEEKS

1 Remedial Classes Monday, June 02, 2008 Saturday, June 07, 2008 1

2 Induction and Orientation Monday, June 09, 2008 Saturday, June 21, 2008 2

3 Classroom Segment Term I Monday, June 23, 2008 Saturday, Sept 06, 2008 11

4 Fieldwork Preparation Monday, Sept 08, 2008 Friday, Sept 12, 2008 1

5 Vacation Saturday, Sept 13, 2008 Friday, Sept 26, 2008 2

6 Fieldwork Monday, Sept.29, 2008 Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 8

7 Fieldwork Presentation & Submission Monday, Nov 24, 2008 Saturday, Nov.29, 2008 1

8 Classroom Segment Term II Monday, Dec 01, 2008 Saturday Feb 21, 2009 12

9 Classroom Segment Term III Monday, Feb 23, 2009 Saturday May 09, 2009 11

Total 49

Second Academic Year

10 OTS Preparation Monday, May 11, 2009 Friday, May 15, 2009 1

11 Vacation Saturday, May 16, 2009 Friday, May 29, 2009 2

12 Organisational Traineeship Monday, Jun 01, 2009 Saturday, Jul 25, 2009 8

13 OTS Presentation & Submission Monday, Jul 27, 2009 Saturday, Aug 01, 2009 1

14 Classroom Segment Term IV Monday, Aug 03, 2009 Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 11

15 MTS Preparation & Consultation Monday, Oct 19, 2009 Saturday, Oct 24, 2009 1

16 Management Traineeship Monday, Oct 26, 2009 Saturday, Dec 19, 2009 8

17 MTS Presentation & Submission Monday, Dec 21, 2009 Saturday, Dec 26, 2009 1

18 Classroom Segment Term V Monday, Dec 28, 2009 &

Monday, Feb 15, 2010

Saturday Feb 06, 2010 &

Saturday, Mar 27, 2010 12

19 Placement Sunday, Feb 07, 2010 Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 1

20 Convocation Middle of April 2010

Total 46

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Annexure-2

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

FIRST YEAR SECOND YEAR

TERM I (6.0 credits) TERM II (6.0 credits) TERM III (6.0 Credits) TERM IV (6.0 credits)

Individual and Group Behaviour (1.0 Credit)

Collective Action and Co-operation (1.0 Credit)

Development Theories and Practices (1.0 Credit)

Rural Development Interventions (1.0 Credit)

Economic Analysis for Rural Management – I (1.0 Credit)

Economic Analysis for Rural Management - II (1.0 Credit)

Managing Co-operatives (1.0 Credit)

Strategic Management (1.0 Credit)

Financial Accounting (1.0 Credit)

Financial Management (1.0 Credit) Marketing Management (1.0 Credit)

Project Management (1.0 Credit)

Quantitative Analysis for Rural Management (1.0 Credit)

Understanding Organisations (1.0 Credit)

Management Information Systems (1.0 Credit)

Marketing Research (0.5 Credit)

Rural Society and Polity (0.5 Credit)

Production and Operations Management (1.0 Credit)

Costing and Management Planning (1.0 Credit)

Social Entrepreneurship and Ethical Leadership (0.5 Credit)

Rural Research Methods (0.5 Credit)

Computer Applications for Rural Management (0.5 Credit)

Human Resources Management (1.0 Credit)

Managerial Analysis & Communication (0.5 Credit)

Gender and Development (0.5 Credit)

Rural Livelihood Systems (0.5 Credit)

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*Optional Courses (Term IV) *Optional Courses (Term V)

Rural Development Management Group Rural Development Management Group Rural Enterprise Man

Natural Resources Management Rural Finance Commodity Trading an

Sectoral Issues in Development Geo-informatics for Rural Management Rural Marketing

Rural Enterprise Management Group Governance and Sustainable Livelihoods Supply Chain Managem

Sales and Distribution Management Management of Change Product Policy in Marke

Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management Development and Rural Communication E-business for Rural Ent

* The list of optional courses may vary depending on needs of the students and recommendation of the PRM Committee.

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Annexure -3

PRM 2008-2010 FEE STRUCTURE AND SCHEDULE

First Year1 Second Year Total Sl. No.

Particulars Term I Term II Term III Term IV Term V

Due date for payment of fee 04-06-07 10-12-07 03-03-08 11-08-08 05-01-09

A. Deposits (Refundable) Rs. Rs. Rs Rs. Rs. Rs.

1 Caution 2, 000 -- -- -- -- 2, 000

2 Mess 3,000 -- -- -- -- 3,000

3 Books 5,000 -- -- 2, 000 -- 7,000

Total (A) 10,000 2, 000 12,000

B. Tuition Fee

4 Course 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 1,50, 000

5 Fieldwork Segment 10, 000 -- -- -- 10,000

6 OTS -- -- 20,000 -- -- 20,000

7 MTS -- -- -- 20,000 -- 20,000

Total (B) 30,000 40,000 50,000 50,000 30,000 2,00,000

C. Service Fee

8 Computer Services2 3, 000 -- -- 3,000 -- 6,000

9 Internet Services 3,000 -- -- 3,000 -- 6,000

10 Room rent & Electricity 3, 000 3, 000 3, 000 3, 000 3,000 15,000

11 Student Activities Fund 1, 000 -- -- 1,000 -- 2, 000

Total (C) 10,000 3,000 3, 000 10, 000 3,000 29,000

D. Entertainment & Other Activities

12 Associate Membership of IRMA Club

250 -- -- 250 -- 500

13 SPIC MACAY 100 -- -- 100 -- 200

14 Alumni Association Membership

-- -- -- 1,000 -- 1,000

15 Medical expenses3 500 -- -- 500 -- 1,000

Total (D) 850 -- -- 1850 2,700

E. Boarding and Personal Expenses

16 Board at Hostel4 4, 500 4500 4500 4500 4,500 22,500

17 Estimated Personal expenses during Field work, OTS & MTS -- -- -- -- -- 15,000

Total (E) 4, 500 4500 4500 4500 4,500 37,500

Grand Total 55, 350 47,500 57,500 68,350 37,500 2,81,200 1. The fee structure of Certificate in Rural Management (CRM) is equivalent to the fee

structure of First Academic Year. 2. In addition, each student is expected to possess a PC that may cost about Rs.20, 000/-. 3. Please note that medical expenses are to meet only the cost of services provided by the

campus doctor. Any other expenses have to be borne by the student. IRMA is in the process of negotiating with Insurance Company for group medical insurance coverage during the two-year study. This amount will be borne by the students.

4. These figures are only indicative. Expenses are subject to change depending on the actual costs. Payment for board is on a monthly basis.

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Annexure -4

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF CORE COURSES

FIRST YEAR Term I (6.0 credits) Individual and Group Behaviour (1.0 credit) The course attempts to develop and enable students to understand human behaviour and its different dimensions. In this process, it is envisaged that they would be able to recognize the importance of, and difficulty in, understanding another person's point of view. In the process of doing so, the need for identifying one's own feelings, perceptions and assumptions that intervene in one's interaction with others will be made evident. The final objective is to enable students to become better managers of people, without losing their respect for human dignity. The course includes understanding of individual, interpersonal, and group behaviour. It covers perceptual process including sensitisation to perceptual errors and individual decision making, the nature of attitudes, origins and development of attitudes and attitude change process, theories of motivation and human performance, human inference process, self concept, interpersonal communication, active listening and feedback, small group behaviour, leadership and power - theories and applications, team building, managing conflicts, and management of stress. The pedagogy of this course would involve an ad-mixture of interactive lectures, case discussions, exercises, and demonstration.

Economic Analysis for Rural Management - I (1.0 credit) Basic economic concepts, principles and theories; applications in decision-making in the context of rural people and their organisations; tools and techniques of economic analysis; consumer behaviour and demand analysis; production, cost and breakeven analysis; market structures; economic efficiency and welfare; economic theory of co-operative firms; pricing methods; impact of government interventions – taxes, subsidies and price controls; long term planning decisions – capital budgeting and cost-benefit analysis.

Financial Accounting (1.0 credit) The primary objective of this course is to help the students to appreciate accounting as a language of business and accordingly develop their ability to understand, analyse and interpret the data contained in the financial statements for improved decision-making. The course covers the framework of Accounting Concepts, Standards, and Policies that govern the mechanism of accounting. It takes the students through the entire process of accounting - starting with recording of transactions, followed by preparation of the statements, and ending with analysis and interpretation of the statements. The students also learn to use accounting software through project work. Thus, the emphasis is essentially managerial and not legal.

Quantitative Analysis for Rural Management (1.0 credit) This course focuses on quantitative data analysis and problem solving through logical reasoning; descriptive statistics and graphical presentation of data; basic probability concepts; standard probability distributions; sampling and sampling distributions; confidence intervals; Basic Elements of Scientific Method of Enquiry: Concepts and Hypothesis; Research Design and Hypothesis Testing; introduction to tests of hypotheses; regression analysis; and time-series analysis.

Rural Society and Polity (0.5 credit) IRMA specifically aims at promoting equitable and sustainable rural development through preparing professional managers to cater to the needs of rural producer organisations, enterprises, projects and the people. Obviously, the managers intended to work for the rural sector need to understand the rural social and political scenario, which would facilitate tackle the management related problems and challenges coming their way. The objective of this

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course is to provide a general overview of the socio-political scenario with a focus on the main features of the structure, dynamics and changes of rural society and polity in India in the post-independence period.

Rural Research Methods (0.5 credit) Introduction to research methods and methodology; variables; indicators; methods of measurement and scaling; questionnaire design; quantitative and qualitative methods for understanding rural society; Micro and Macro Approaches to understand Rural Changes; Case and Village Study approaches including field research methods; Practical application and experiential learning of participatory research methods for diagnostic studies will be done as a part of the preparatory module before field work.

Managerial Analysis and Communication (0.5 credit) Students learn about case method of learning, sharpen their analytical skills, and learn to use systematic frameworks for managerial decision-making. They also practice written analysis and communication.

Rural Livelihood Systems (0.5 credit) This course provides a holistic and multidisciplinary exposure to the understanding of concepts, processes and relationships among agro-climatic and natural resources, production systems and livelihoods of rural people. The rural resources include land, soil, climate, water and forests; the production systems contain agriculture, horticulture, sericulture, forestry, animal husbandry and dairying, fisheries along with the non-farm activities that contribute to the livelihoods of rural people. The livelihoods of people are dependent on the production systems they have developed subject to the constraints imposed by the quality of natural resources. To improve the quality of rural resources, make production systems more sustainable and improve the quality of life in rural areas, in general, it calls for integrated intervention at either agro-climatic zone or watershed levels.

Term II (6.0 credits) Collective Action and Co-operation (1.0 credit) Students learn about market failures, government failures, and the need for collective action. They acquaint themselves with reasons for absence and/or failures of collectives; methods and strategies for collective action, illustrative cases from farmers’ movements, co-operatives and other sectors. Students also get exposed to theories of leadership and the role played by it in making collective efforts succeed. They also learn about institutional economic theory of co-operation, agency theory; theory of contracts, transaction cost economics, game theory and robustness of reciprocity; and welfare economics and co-operatives.

Economic Analysis for Rural Management - II (1.0 credit) Concepts of macroeconomics and macroeconomic aggregates, inter relationship between target and instrument variables, national income accounting, growth and development, conceptualisation of inflation, unemployment and poverty as central endogenous macroeconomic variables, fiscal and monetary policies, understanding of government budgets, economic reform and structural adjustment programmes, implications of the policies of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation as parts of economic reform, global environment and perspectives in economic analysis including WTO agenda.

Financial Management (1.0 credit) The primary focus of the course is on financial decision making in organisations. The course covers concepts and methods related to financial analysis; financial planning, working capital assessment and management; capital investment analysis/capital budgeting techniques; concepts of risk and return, valuation of securities, cost of capital and capital structure. Concept of time value of money and annuities and concepts of operating, financial and total leverage also form the topics under this course.

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Understanding Organisations (1.0 credit) This course attempts to provide students with the fundamental concepts and tools of organisation theory and organisational analysis to help them understand organisations. An attempt is made to understand organisations as human artefacts. The course has two distinct parts: (a) organisation theories, organisational structure, and organisational design issues, and (b) organisational dynamics, growth, development and change. A few sessions are also devoted to cover latest developments in organisation theory that have significant implications for Indian organisations. The topics will include nature of organisations, the evolution of organisation theory, dimensions of organisation structure and determinants of structure (strategy, size technology, environment, etc.), power and control, and organisational design options in the first part. The second part will include organisations and environment, organisational culture, managing organisational change, organisational conflict, managing organisational growth and evolution, organisational development, organisational effectiveness, designs for managing quality, and learning organisations. The course will wrap up with a discussion on Indian management thoughts. The sessions will be conducted through discussions on readings/cases, presentations, small group work, and lectures.

Production and Operations Management (1.0 credit) Role of production function; types of production systems; work measurement; methods improvement; location and layout; capacity planning; materials management; planning and scheduling; and managing quality and reliability form the major topics under this course. Several OR techniques like linear programming and its variants like transportation problems and assignment problems, queuing theory/waiting-line models, integer programming, goal programming, will be covered. This course will also sensitise the students to the applications of OR techniques to issues connected with rural development, such as selection of projects under conditions of conflicting objectives, optimal selection of products and projects under resource constrains, determination of the optimal number of service centres, etc and also the rudiments of simulation.

Computer Applications for Rural Management (0.5 credit)

The objective of the course is to expose the participants to introductory concepts of information technology and its managerial applications, which are required for the effective functioning of a rural manager. It exposes the participants to end-user desk-top application packages relevant for a rural manager like electronic spreadsheet (Excel), DBMS (Access), SPSS, GIS (ArcGIS) besides introducing the concept of Internet and web page design. Emphasis is given to the practical aspects in the course. After successful completion of the course, the participants get oriented to work with the above desk-top application packages for managerial applications.

Gender and Development (credit 0.5)

The main objective of this course is to broaden students’ conceptual clarity about institutional structures, which determine the construction of gender relations and, in turn, affect the status of women and men in rural India. The course would attempt to develop an understanding of perspectives on gender and development, discuss in detail the gender question in selected development sectors and globalisation and familiarise with the different tools and techniques for gender planning, analysis and evaluation in the development sector. The course has three modules covering these three aspects of gender and development.

Term III (6.0 credits)

Development Theories and Practices (1.0 credit) The broad objective of the course is to provide an overview of the major strands of development theory and practice in the last fifty years. It will give the salient features of different strands of theories and approaches with its influence on policy and programmes.

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The course also intends to provide an analytical handle to understand policies in the light of underlying theories that shape it. The course will have two modules. Module I will focus on understanding the major theories and the recent approaches to development. Module II will focus on understanding the development perspectives and practices adopted in India after Independence.

Managing Co-operatives (1.0 credit) The course attempts to enable the students to learn concepts unique to co-operatives as well as apply concepts from other functional areas to develop understanding that is required for successful management of co-operatives. The course tries to capture both uniqueness and competitiveness through different modules, viz., introduction to managing co-operatives, emergence, endurance, and growth of co-operatives, salient and unique management challenges in co-operatives, the design issues in co-operatives and the leadership issues in co-operatives. The topics include; the logic of co-operatives and its evolution, technology: production and marketing, agri-business co-operatives, coordination strategy, enabling and disabling conditions, co-operative principles, issues in establishing agricultural co-operatives – (problems of multiple objectives equitable sharing, ensuring compliance, & mobilizing capital), democratic governance in co-operatives, co-operative principles & economic rationality, excellence and enduring performance, energetic farmers organisation, design of Anand pattern – the federal structure, causes of sickness, leadership in co-operatives, and managing boards. The course will conclude with sharing of real life experiences of co-operative leaders. Pedagogy for the course will include interactive-lectures, case discussions, and conceptual learning through class projects.

Marketing Management (1.0 credit) Brief overview of history of marketing, introduction to managerial action frameworks vis-a-vis marketing concept, 4Ps and 4Cs. Detailed coverage of marketing components, namely, product, price, promotion, and distribution through related illustrations, viewpoints, and caselets. Course integration through concepts like positioning, segmentation, branding, and advertising campaigns.

Management Information System (1.0 credit) Concept of management information is at the core of this course. Concepts like data and information; systems analysis and design, structured programming etc., will be covered. Skills in using database management and networking software will be imparted. Stages of information technology adoption in an organisation, strategies and management of information technology resources will also be covered.

Costing and Management Planning (1.0 credit) This course covers the concepts, tools and techniques for determining costs of products, processes and services, cost concepts for managerial decisions, flexible budgeting, standard costing and analysis of variances, responsibility centres, performance measurement and transfer pricing. Module on Management Planning includes development of general framework of management planning and control functions and application of the same for non-profit service and development organisations as well.

Human Resource Management (1.0 credit) This course aims at helping the participants to develop a perspective on Human Resource Management (HRM). HRM is contextual in nature, and therefore it is essential to understand the context of various HRM decision-making situations that occur in a typical organisation. The course will cover different aspects that include the contextual aspect, the functional aspect and the legal aspect of human resource management. In the functional aspect, the focus is on what is the function of HRM in an organisation, and thus the discussion is on HR planning, job analysis, recruitment & selection, training & development, motivation & employee compensation. The topics included in the legal issues are; grievance management, managing employee discipline, industrial relations, industrial disputes, contract labour/ apprentice, trade unionism, collective bargaining, and safety and health. The

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course will culminate with a discussion on strategic human resource management. The outcome of the course should be an internalisation of the fact that successful HRM requires correct use of HR concepts, tools and techniques as the situation demands.

SECOND YEAR

Term IV (6.0 credits) Rural Development Interventions (1.0 credit) Concept, measures and determinants of rural development; Critique of major rural development approaches and strategies; growth v/s equity oriented approach, area v/s group based approach, top down v/s participatory and people entered approaches to development planning; Contemporary growth and poverty alleviation programmes; different interventions for rural social and infrastructure development; Role of Institutions in Rural Development - PRIs, NGOs, Co-operatives and CBOs; Success and sustainability of rural development interventions; targeting, financing, design, monitoring and evaluation of interventions.

Strategic Management (1.0 credit) Basic concepts of strategy and strategic management, strategy development processes, strategy analysis through an understanding of business environment, organisational resources and stakeholders, strategy choices at corporate and business unit level, including alternative directions and methods of strategy development, strategy implementation encompassing organisation structure and design, resource allocation and control, and managing change, special issues of strategic importance with reference to quality and technology; and turn around management.

Project Management (1.0 credit) The concept of the project life cycle; peculiarities of agribusiness and development projects and their differences form core of this course. Diverse skills needed in project management; project selection, design, appraisal, execution including resource management, monitoring and control; network techniques like PERT; and appreciation of project management software will be imparted through this course. The course also brings out the differences in approach to management between commercial projects and social development programmes. The specific aspects covered in this course include: identification, formulation, appraisal including social-cost benefit analysis, need for participatory approach and tools for such an approach (like LFA), monitoring and evaluation, and issues associated with large-scale replication of a successful pilot project.

Marketing Research (0.5 credit)

This course is specifically devoted to marketing research problem formulation, design issues in marketing research, sampling and measurement, analysis of information and qualitative research. Topics include customer satisfaction, brand equity measurement, industrial marketing, media and advertising research.

Social Entrepreneurship and Ethical Leadership (0.5 credit)

The theoretical issues in defining the social good and assessing the role of market forces, philanthropy and government are examined. Practical issues like developing an organisational mission, recognising specific opportunities for social improvement, forming an enterprise that responds to those opportunities, developing organisational and funding strategies, evaluating performance, managing the enterprise, and creating sustained positive impact and social value are also covered. Specifically, this course includes the concepts, practices, and challenges of social entrepreneurship, frameworks and tools that will help social entrepreneurial pursuits. The course will have interactive sessions with eminent individuals who played social entrepreneurial and leadership roles by initiating large-scale changes to derive inspiration from them.

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Term V (6.0 credits) Legal Environment and Cooperative Law (1.0 credit)

Functional use of various legal documents like acts, rules, notifications and executive orders for managerial purposes will be part of this course. In addition, students get exposed to salient features of commercial and regulatory laws of general interest and laws related to organisational forms and recent developments in alternative dispute settlement mechanisms. The course will have a specific module on evolution of co-operative laws; trends in co-operative legislation; laws relating to multi-state co-operatives and producer companies; laws of mutually aided co-operatives, and other state co-operative acts; and aspects relating to internal regulation of co-operative enterprises are covered in this course.

Strategic Issues in Development Organisation (1.0 credit)

The broad objective of the course is to understand various strategic issues faced by (non-profit) development organisations. The first module includes placing the organisation within the development field (debates on the state, civil society & market), analysis of the NGO environment, evaluation of stakeholders and resources to align the organisational strategies in line with the mission and vision and to understand the strategy development process. The second module includes strategy choices available like collaboration, networking and advocacy to influence the scope of the organisation (scaling-up and transcendence) and make structural changes in the society including movements. The third module strategy implementation includes organisational design, resource allocation and control (monitoring, evaluation, transparency and accountability) culminating in change management.

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Important Dates

October 8, 2007 Last date for receipt of completed applications.

November 11, 2007 Written Test (9.15 AM – 12.15 PM)

Candidates are requested to read the instructions given along with the Application Form, before filling the form.

For further information, contact: Admissions Coordinator Institute of Rural Management Anand Anand –388 001, Gujarat

Phone: Fax: E-mail: Website:

(02692) 260177, 260181, 260186, 260391, 260264, 261502 (02692) 260188 [email protected] http://www.irma.ac.in

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mailto:[email protected]


Annexure-5

DECLARATION OF SPONSORSHIP

Our organisation is a designated organisation of IRMA.

We hereby sponsor

Mr. /Ms. _____________________________________

Designation: _________________________________

For the following programme (please tick one):

One-year Certificate in Rural Management (CRM)

Two-year Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Management (PRM) We confirm that:

• He/She is a full time and regular employee of our organisation. • He/She will have continuous work experience of minimum two years with our

organisation as on 31st May 2008. • He/She joined us on ______ (date) _______ (month) _______ (year). • His/Her present total monthly salary is Rs. _______. • He/She will be granted uninterrupted leave for the entire period of his/her study, if

selected by IRMA. • We shall make arrangements for payment of fees and other dues of the candidate if

selected to IRMA.

Name and Address of the Employer __________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Pin: ____________Phone: __________________ Fax:____________

Signature of the Employer

Office Seal

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IRMA Board of Governors

Dr. Y.K. Alagh Chairman Institute of Rural Management, Anand

Dr. Amrita Patel Chairman National Dairy Development Board, Anand

Shri Subas Pani

Secretary (RD) Department of Rural Development & Land Revenue Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India New Delhi

Shri Raj Gopal Commissioner and Secretary (Rural Development) Rural Development Department, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar

Shri Y S P Thorat Chairman National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development Mumbai

Shri B.M. Vyas Managing Director Gujarat Co-op. Milk Marketing Federation Ltd., Anand

Prof Rama Baru Centre for Social Medicine & community Health Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi

Dr. Bakul H. Dholkia Director Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad

Shri V. Ramachandran Chairman Centre for Management Development Trivandrum

Shri Hasmukh Shah 15, Dhanushya Society Vadodara

Shri Vijay Mahajan Chairman BASIX, Hyderabad

Shri V Vivekanandan Chief Executive South Indian Federation Fishermen Societies Trivandrum

Shri S Sivakumar Chief Executive Agri-Business Division, ITC Limited Secunderabad

Ms Neelima Khetan Chief Executive Sevamandir,Udaipur

Prof. Arvind Gupta Professor Institute of Rural Management Anand

Prof. Ila Patel Professor Institute of Rural Management Anand

Dr. Vivek Bhandari Member-Sectretary

Director Institute of Rural Management Anand

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Director Vivek Bhandari Ph.D. (Pennsylvania)

Faculty Rakesh Saxena Ph.D. (IIT, Kanpur)

Debiprasad Mishra Fellow (IIMA)

B.N. Hiremath Ph.D. (Kentucky)

Ila Patel Ph.D. (Stanford)

Shiladitya Roy B.E. (Mech.), AICWA

Arvind Gupta Fellow (IIMA)

K.V. Raju PGDRM (IRMA)

H.S. Shyledra Ph.D. (ISEC, Bangalore)

Harekrishna Misra Ph.D. (Utkal Univ.)

Jayant Negi Ph.D.(Indore)

Madhavi Mehta Fellow (XLRI-AHRD)

Nivedita Kothiyal Ph.D. (Nirma Univ.)

Pramod Kumar Singh Ph.D. (JNU)

M.V.Durga Prasad Ph.D. (I.I.T., Delhi)

Anand Venkatesh Ph.D. (Mumbai)

S.R.Asokan Ph.D. (Gujarat)

Preeti Priya PGDRM (IRMA), POMR Visiting Fellows Maitreyi Kollegal FPM, (IIMA)

Raghav Rajagopalan PGDRM (IRMA)

Jayapadma R.V PGDRM (IRMA)

Arun S. Nathan PGDRM (IRMA)

Visiting Faculty B.M. Vyas B.E. (SP University) G. Krishnamurthi PGDM (IIMB) Joel Evans B.Com, LLB, CS Paresh Bhatt M.Com, AICWA

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irma broucher 2008

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