SAMBALPUR: Sambalpur University is likely to discontinue the MBA in Rural Management course from 2020-21 academic session due to cold response from students.The department of Business Administration has already applied to the university authorities for discontinuation of the course.
The PG course in Rural Management was introduced in a self-financing mode with a capacity of 40 seats in 2012. Initially, the course was started under the aegis Sociology department. However, it was transferred to Business Administration department in 2014 after failing to find any takers in the first two years. Though a few applications were received for the programme in the following years, it was not enough to start a batch.
Course coordinator Sumant Kerketta said at least 10 students are needed to start a batch as it requires around Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh for running the self-financing course. It is not feasible to run the programme with lesser students "Though the course fee is very less compared to other institutes offering the programme, we still could not receive the desired response from students," he said. The course fee for the two-year MBA course here is Rs 90,000, which is one of the lowest in the country.
While only two applications were received for the course in 2017-18, no students evinced interest in the last two academic sessions following which the department took the decision to discontinue the programme. Though the course is successfully running at a few universities in the State Capital, the fees are not affordable for a larger group of students.
Kerketta said, “"Lack of awareness about the prospects of the course is one of the reasons why students are not applying for it. Considering the scope of work in rural pockets of this region, the course has great potential but the students seem less interested to work in this sector." A course in Rural Management will provide job opportunities in NGOs, micro-finance, livelihood management, Agri-business and banking sectors.
An administrative official of the university said the course could not be advertised and promoted in a proper manner. Many students are still unaware about such a course being offered by the university since the last seven years. "Though the department has applied for discontinuation of the course, we may reconsider the decision," he added.