Fresh campus, courses, curriculum – IRMA enters a new era

In April, the Indian government set up the “Tribhuvan” Sahkari University on a foundation laid by the famed Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) in Gujarat. Now, IRMA is a school within the fledgling central university which, in its inaugural year, has launched three programmes. Saswata Biswas, director, IRMA and dean, School of Cooperative Management, speaks to Sheena Sachdeva about the transition, curriculum, expanding beyond Gujarat, broad vision and more. Edited excerpts:

- Sheena Sachdeva

Q. Why was IRMA chosen for conversion into a university?

A. There are many reasons. IRMA has been there for 46 years. It was established to cater to two sectors: cooperative and dairy. The vision was to develop the managerial resources required for cooperative trading. Slowly, over the years, this also included many social organisations and government development agencies. Our bigger mandate is to serve the cooperative sector.

While the university mandate came in this year, the process started long ago. For many outsiders, it may be sudden or new. But for those of us on the inside, the whole process started long back.

However, in 1992, during one of the biggest conferences on the cooperative industry, the idea of IRMA becoming a university someday was seeded. But many other issues came up over the years. However, after the establishment of the ministry of cooperation, we saw the light of the day and realised that it is now a possibility. We are thankful to the ministry for transforming the seed into a reality in 2025.

The government continues to have great expectations, and adding more students and faculty is part of it. Now, this is where the ministry thought we could expand and have a bigger campus and more resources for infrastructure. All this became possible after we got converted into a university.

Q. The university is also recognised as an Institution of National Importance (INI) with Rs 500 crore earmarked for it. How do you plan to utilise it?

A. These funds have been given primarily for our infrastructure. The government has given us a new piece of land – 125 acres – 5 km from IRMA’s campus. Most of this money will go into building physical and IT infrastructure.

Q. What does having the ‘INI’ tag change? It puts IRMA in the same leagues as IIMs, IITS