Edu-leaders

Expansion drive of the newly created Indian Institute of Management-Ranchi (IIM-R) has been caught in the campus row.

Convinced at chief minister Arjun Munda’s assurance for sparing a section of the State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD) for its campus, the IIM-R management had planned enhanced intake of students for the second batch. Accordingly, it has launched joint admission process with other IIMs.

However, the recent stand of the rural development department, under whose jurisdiction the SIRD functions, that it might not able to share the campus has compelled the IIM authorities to look for another space to locate its additional infrastructure.

“We are now thinking of offering a portion of the National Games venue as temporary arrangement to start the second batch,” said an officer of the state human resource development department, adding that the government was committed to provide IIM-R a new campus to start the second batch.

“It is an internal matter and would be shorted out very shortly,” said rural development secretary SK Satpati.

Presently, IIM-R is functioning at the Soochna Bhawan building owned by the public relations department. As many as 44 students have been admitted for post graduate diploma in management course for the current academic session. For the next session, IIM-R has planned enrolling about 70 students, the process of which is on.

A senior officer of the HRD said that locating the IIM-R in the mega sports complex after the National Games are over had been into the government’s consideration. However, as the game schedule had to be deferred, the plans of shifting the IIM-R campus also got delayed, he added.

IIM-R director M. Joseph Xavier along with other senior officials of the IIM-Kolkata recently visited Jhiri area of Kanke block, where the state government has allotted 40-acre land for the construction of campus for the management school. A portion of the site was being used for dumping solid waste generated in Ranchi.