At the 43rd Convocation Ceremony of Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) held on June 7, 303 students received degrees. 265 students received PGDM(RM) degrees while the remaining 37 were conferred with PGDM (RM-Executive) degrees. Additionally, one student received a degree for the Fellow Programme in Management – RM.
Venkaiah Naidu, Former Vice President of India graced the ceremony as the Chief Guest at the TK Patel Auditorium, NDDB Campus, Anand. He was joined by Dr. Meenesh Shah, Chairman, IRMA & NDDB and Dr Umakant Dash, Director, IRMA. A total of 303 students were conferred with degrees during the ceremony.
During the ceremony, the prestigious Kuchibhotla Vasanthi Gold Medal for academic excellence was awarded to Ms. Anupama D, a graduate of the 2022-24 batch of PGDM (RM). This highly esteemed recognition was established 27 years ago in honour of the Late Ms Kuchibhotla Vasanthi, an alumnus of PGDM-RM programme who tragically passed away in 1997. Mr. Sandeep Hirpara was awarded the IRMA Gold Medal for academic excellence in the PGDM (RM-X) programme.
Working in rural areas gives IRMA’s students a unique exposure to the heartland of the country. Such exposure is central to IRMA’s philosophy of nurturing management professionals who are empathetic and conversant with development issues at the grassroots. Two PGDM(RM) students from the graduating batch of 2022-24, Mr. Shubham Tayal and Mr. Reuben Papang, were honoured with the ‘Best Village Fieldwork Segment Award’.
Sh Naidu congratulated the graduating class of 2024 on its remarkable achievements and wished that as they left the hallowed halls of IRMA and ventured into the world beyond, they continue to uphold the values of excellence, integrity, and service that define the esteemed institution that is IRMA.
In his convocational address, he remembered Dr. Verghese Kurien, Founder Chairman, IRMA by calling his impact on the nation as profound. Dr. Kurien’s impact, the former Vice-president added, reverberated through institutions like the National Dairy Development Board, IRMA, and many others, that have shaped the future of our nation. With their unwavering commitment to rural development and management, these institutions have laid the foundation for the Bharat of the future.
He urged the graduating batches of IRMA to remain committed to lifelong learning and personal growth. The world, he said, was evolving at a rapid pace, and it was necessary for the students to evolve their skills and knowledge accordingly.
Dr. Meenesh Shah stated that the vision towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, ‘Make in India’, ‘White Revolution 2.0’ etc. have opened up more avenues for rural management professionals. He further stated that ‘Rural Bharat’ or ‘Grameen Bharat’ is today on a transformative path giving ample opportunities to work towards food security, women empowerment, technological innovations, enterprise and entrepreneurial development and we have to embrace technology and it is our role as rural management professionals to use it innovatively across the value chain be it production, procurement, processing, storage, marketing or even financing.
Dr. Umakant Dash, Director, IRMA, said that IRMA is more than just an institute that awards academic degrees; it creates leaders who have empathy for rural communities and strive to build ecosystems that are both profitable and socially beneficial. Our past is marked by numerous success stories in which our students have spearheaded sustainable change and positively impacted many lives.
Students from the 43rd batch of IRMA have been placed in organisations of repute with an average package of ₹ 14.14 lakh per annum and a median package of ₹ 15 lakh per annum. Over 63 organisations participated in the campus placements offering 325 job offers to the students. The highest package of ₹ 31.15 lakh per annum was offered by Wipro with some of the other top recruiters being NDDB, AMUL, Adani Wilmar, Cipla Health, Ernst & Young, PwC, Deloitte, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank, Axis Bank, McDonald’s, Mother Dairy, NPCI, Piramal Pharma Limited, IndusInd Bank, among others.
Ahead of the Convocation ceremony, the Former Vice President of India also inaugurated a newly constructed 126-room hostel block built by NDDB on technical consultancy basis, with modern facilities for the students’ comfort and well-being. Later, he took a tour of the IRMA campus with Dr. Meenesh Shah and Dr. Umakant Dash.
