Traditionally, industry has been the main focus of management science. Xavier Institute of Management made an innovative departure by emphasizing the need to expand the use of management science to rural sector in the form of creating managers not only for corporate sector but also for the social sector. The basic objective of introducing the two years PGPRM course is to inject professionalism in the field of rural economy. It is now well recognized that professionalism and professional interventions are going to have key place in shaping the future of rural India. The present initiative of PGPRM in XIMB is an exception to the traditional treatment of the management education. This has not only created a special place for the Institute among the galaxy of management Institutes in India, and abroad, but also has fulfilled one of the basic needs of the Indian economy.

Objectives

XIMB's Rural Management programme aims at training professional managers for the rural sector. The course is designed to address the following objectives:

• Blending the managerial knowledge and practices of people with modern management science end techniques.
• Building and strengthening people's organisations.
• Knowledge and skill needed for effective utilisation and management of human and valuable resources.
• Application of technology to analyse factors influencing rural realities.
• Generating an interface between the corporate sector and social development

Today under the new economic reform regime, the corporate houses are also required to initiate special programmes aimed at social development. The symbiotic relationship between business and society has triggered off a growing involvement in the social sector. There is, therefore, a crying need to bridge the corporate sector and rural society. This would not only help in setting up a process for contributing to the needs of the informal sectors objective but also provide a platform for the corporate sector to strengthen business opportunities. As a result, more and more corporate bodies are looking for a special team of rural managers who understand the complex dynamics and behaviour of rural society. This is one of the market segments, which the programme intends to cater to apart from the social development sector comprising of co-operatives, NGOs, government development agencies, and national and international donors engaged in promoting rural development.