Home Newsroom IIM Ahmedabad proposal to close down its two-year PGP FABM course faces opposition

IIM Ahmedabad proposal to close down its two-year PGP FABM course faces opposition

D2C Admin

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IIM Ahmedabad proposal to close down its two-year PGP FABM course faces opposition

0 min read

A proposal to close down the IIM Ahmedabad PGP FABM course was raised in the last few faculty council meetings. The course faculty members, intellectuals, and those interacting with people in the sector strictly opposed it. It is still at a discussion stage and no final decision has been taken yet.

About PGP FABM course of IIM Ahmedabad

It is a sector-specific program. It is rooted in IIM Ahmedabad’s management culture and philosophy. It caters to the need of enterprises in sectors such as agriculture, food, agri-business, rural and allied sectors, domestic and international. It specifically attempts to:

Equip the participants with the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes for managerial decision making and implementation in the unique context of agribusiness
Encourage entrepreneurial capabilities in participants to make them effective change agents in agri-business
Develop participants' capabilities to become leaders and nurture in them a commitment to integrity, ethics, and social purpose

Contributions of the FABM course

IIM Ahmedabad two-year PGP-FABM course has been consistently ranked Number 1 in the world in Agribusiness and Food Industry Management in the world in Agribusiness and Food Industry Management programs by Eduniversal, Paris, France for the years 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

This course has given many experts to the agriculture sector that have contributed significantly to the upliftment of people’s lives and has groomed many start-ups and entrepreneurs. It also broadens the ability of managers to identify problems in the sector and find solutions for them.

Reasons to not close down the FABM course

There are many reasons to prevent the closure of FABM course of IIM Ahmedabad. Some of them are as follows:

The placements in the course have also been good so far. IIM Ahmedabad's audited placement report also provides proof as it states that FABM Student’s Maximum Earning Potential in 2020 was Rs 30,04,569 in the domestic market and $1,04,000 in the overseas job market. A total of 43 students found jobs in the domestic and overseas markets.
The salary of faculty members (FABM course) in the Centre for Management in Agriculture is borne by the central government

What the subject experts have to say regarding the course?

Former deputy MD of NABARD, H R Dave, IIM Ahmedabad alumni with specialization in agriculture said that the agriculture sector is under transformation and this is the time when we need professional intervention and nurturing. He also said that the various Bills have passed recently to bring out an entirely new gamut of participation and opportunities for the private sector i.e. MSMEs. The moment you decide to give farmers electronic trading platforms, you require a trained value chain and collateral management because who will run platforms like electronic platforms if we do not have trained professionals.

GCMMF MD R S Sodhi, a subject expert, and alumnus of IRMA said that all policymakers in India are working to improve rural livelihood. “When we are looking at increasing income of the rural families, it is necessary to have professionals who can manage agricultural produce and inputs. We need well-trained professionals for this,” he said, adding that courses like FABM at a prestigious institute like IIM Ahmedabad give us hope for the future.

Also since the admission process for the FABM course for 2021-22 has already started therefore even if it is closed down, the course can be discontinued only from 2022-23.

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