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Managerial brigade

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Pradipta Mukherjee Kolkata
B-SCHOOL: The Army Institute of Management in Kolkata is attracting the big boys of India Inc.
 
Living out of a suitcase and exposure to different types of experiences and new places every other year, does make managers more flexible, more open to take on new challenges and ready to work in any place. This is what K K Choudhuri, director of Army Institute of Management at Kolkata (AIMK) is convinced of.
 
"Army wards are used to shuttling between one city and another right from junior school. So by the time they start looking for a job, it doesn't matter where they get posted," says Chaudhuri.
 
This is the reason why they make competent managers and have the ability to adjust to any work situation, adds Choudhuri.
 
AIMK, established in July 1997 and affiliated to the West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) and approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), aims to cash in on this, by grooming and training the children of army officers and also helping the families of servicemen cope with civilian life. It is managed by the Indian Army under the aegis of Army Welfare Education Society (AWES), New Delhi.
 
AIMK offers only one programme "� the full-time residential MBA. With 90 students per batch, 80 per cent seats are reserved for army wards and 20 per cent for the general category. Spread over 10 acres, AIMK was initially christened National Institute of Management Calcutta.
 
"But AICTE has it that an institute cannot be termed 'national' unless it is a government-run institute. So the change in name, used February 2005 onwards," said Soma Sur, teacher at AIMK.
 
Classes start every year in July but the admission procedure takes about a year to finalise. Admission is done through Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management. Followed by group discussion and personal interview.
 
The minimum qualification for admission to AIMK is a Bachelor's degree in any discipline from any University recognised by the Association of Indian Universities. Curriculum is laid down according to WBUT guidelines. With wards of Gallantry Award Winners and War Widows preferred for admission to IIMK, a Rs 73,810 course fee inclusive of hostel accommodation is charged.
 
General candidates have to pay Rs 90,950, inclusive of hostel charges. For the present academic session, Uttar Pradesh saw 15 army wards, the highest from any one state making it to AIMK, whereas for the general category there were 12 out of 18 students who made it from West Bengal. The average age of students this year at AIMK is 26 years.
 
The institute has 16 core faculty and 40 visiting faculty that include people from higher education departments, Army personnel, principals and professors of regional as well as overseas universities, and managers of international organisations.
 
"For the last three years, we have provided 100 per cent placement to our students," said Choudhuri. Thirty companies all over India participated in the placement programme 2005, and students secured placements in AC Nielsen, Anand Rathi group, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, Berger Paints, e-force, e-Serve International, Haldia Petrochemicals, HCL Infosystems, Hindustan Latex, ICICI Bank, Indiabulls, to name a few.
 
The highest salary offered to the batch of 2004-2006, the last batch, was Rs 4.69 lakh per annum with average salary Rs 2.45 lakh per annum. "We will soon be able to increase our seats to 120 from the present 90," added Choudhuri. The ratio of army wards to general candidates would still remain 80:20.
 
The AIMK model has since been replicated elsewhere in the country. Greater Noida now has an Army Institute of Management and Technology (AIMT) but unlike AIMK, admission to AIMT is open only to army wards.

 
 

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First Published: Jul 26 2006 | 12:00 AM IST

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