Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) was founded by the ‘Father of the White Revolution in India’, Dr. Verghese Kurien in 1979. It is focused on serving the under-served segments of the economy through professional management. The aim of IRMA is to create management professionals who can bring about sustainable, equitable, and ecologically-friendly growth by applying their management acumen at the grassroots level. Village Fieldwork Segment is part of the curriculum for the PGDM (RM) Program. IRMA organizes the fieldwork to help students learn about real-life problems and execute a strategy with their management skills. It enhances the real experiences of the students in the field of rural areas.

What is Village Fieldwork Segment?

The Village Fieldwork Segment or VFS Program is organized just after the first classroom term. It is one of the most important parts of the PGDM (RM) program curriculum. The program increases the sensitivity of the students towards the rural people and communities concerns. The details about VFS are tabulated below:

Mission To help students participate in research work with IRMA’s faculty to understand the concern of rural people.
Duration 8 weeks
Time period End of the 1st term
Exposure Students execute the action-oriented tasks given to them by Rural Action Component (RAC). Students participate in research work in collaboration with the faculty members
Organizing Partners Local organizations of the concerned area

Village Fieldwork Segment Presentation

During the segment, the faculty members of the IRMA also interact with the students. They guide and work with students in mapping their classroom learning to the ground realities and in developing their detailed Village Development Reports (VDR). Students' learning is then evaluated based on their presentations and discussions in the seminars and the VDRs submitted at the end of village fieldwork. The participants also receive constructive feedback from the host organizations and their faculty guides.

VFS Stories of IRMA PGDM (RM) Students

Many students have performed VFS training in IRMA and have experienced the rural sectors closely. The practical work always makes students ready for real-world challenges and makes it easier for them to strategize their career path in the long run. Here are some real VFS experiences shared by IRMA Students about their learning, struggles and growth throughout their journey: 

“My VFS destination was village Dagadpada. It was located in the Dang district, Gujarat. When I reached the village, I saw the network signals on my mobile vanish. Coming from a city, and being placed in a tribal host family was indeed a little shocking for me without a network. I felt as if I was transported to a completely different world. The host family was extremely warm, relaxing me a little. I was given a wholesome meal and I went to bed. I woke up by the call of cock and opened the window, just to discover that it was hill station, never talked off. More than the journey with odds and different geography; the experience for me was soul-soothing. 

Seeing people worship nature around was indeed spiritual to witness. Hearing the stories of villagers getting social support from each other strengthened my belief in relationships. And to an extent unleashed my reserved social nature and now I socialize freely. I had almost forgotten the phone and the social media life for the 50 days of my stay. I realized that life is in moments and that nothing halts without a mobile. Indeed, I missed witnessing nature and its miracles by not seeing it with eyes as I was mostly on the phone. I could see people live happily with limited resources and that was a choice, not compulsion. Along with the learnings that were expected to be acquired as a part of college's curriculum, I witnessed a journey inwards, in the untouched corners of my soul, I feel alive, happier, and peaceful with equanimity. I wish I carry the experience for my lifetime.”
- Binjan Patel

“The Village Field Segment of IRMA is its most distinctive feature. I was assigned a small village of Uttarakhand under the host organization of FRI, Dehradun. I along with my 6 group members stayed at FRI for the first 5 days. I then headed towards the assigned village Kathooli of Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. Honestly, my first reaction after seeing the condition of the village and the house where we were supposed to live for the next 45 days was not so warm and I was wondering how will I be able to spend days in such a poorly facilitated village. I then started exploring the village, its roads, institutions, resources, and people.

The lesson that I learned is how one can adapt to challenging situations, I can proudly say that VFS has made me more flexible and adaptable, it's not easy to stay for such a long time under such extreme and challenging conditions where you even cannot be able to meet your basic needs but it is the villagers and their struggling stories that give you strength to live with them and then your all problems of life will seem to be minuscule and you will try to bring some piece of happiness in lives of villagers in the span of your VFS stay. In a nutshell, through my VFS experience can say that IRMA through VFS makes its students more empathetic, adaptable, flexible, robust and fill the student with an aspiration to do something for the society which I believe is the aspect that makes IRMA stand apart from other Institutes.”
- Dharampreet Singh

“The last end-term examination of every first-year participant at IRMA is not only marked by a sense of relief but also with a sense of excitement for the upcoming journey they were going to take which many alumni define as “the best 2 months which you’ll remember throughout your life”. With aspirations, high hopes, and broken roads after heavy rainfall, I started my long journey from Dehradun to Pithoragarh. We headed to our host family and were cordially welcomed by them in their adobe. These 50 days have been nothing but a learning experience where each day provided an opportunity to step out of our comfort zones and grasp something new. VFS provides a chance to infiltrate the daily activities of a villager, observe the social intricacies in the area, and be a part of a community. 

One of the few lessons that stayed with me is the disparity that exists between on-ground reality and presumptions we make about rural society. The hardships and struggles faced by people living away from hubs of development can be understood only when you step into their shoes rather than being a mere onlooker. This journey was a myth-buster for me and helped me break through most of my preconceived notions as I interacted with empowered leaders, village elders, and entrepreneurs who were making a difference despite the limited resources.”
- Sarthak Kothiyal

“I always used to wonder how it felt for the butterfly to come out of the cocoon, was it liberating or a forced feeling. On 29th October I realized it's a mix of both. 21 years staying in a cocoon never staying away from home or family, going for VFS was a huge step. Hyderabad to Vadodara covering 1000 km was not just the distance but also a step to test me if I'm ready to face the real world and fly out of the cocoon. Got paired up with a stranger who I had never spoken to. Traveled on a flight alone for the 1st time. This trip has a lot of firsts and I was ready to take them head-on. Boarded the Munni Ashram bus from Vadodara to Popdipura to meet our host family. We were a bit skeptical if we can adjust to the host family, will the host family accept us? But all these questions became null when we were invited in with a big smile and instantly we knew that our 50 days in Popdipura is going to go well. 

Celebrating Diwali with fancy dresses and expensive sweets to making own sweets distributing it in the whole village and celebrating the true homecoming of happiness with the whole village. From full network to no network I have understood the meaning of having conversations with humans than with machines. Life has taken a full 360° arc and the butterfly is out of the cocoon in the real world trying to reach the skies. VFS journey has a long way to go with lots of hurdles and obstacles but at the end of the day there is always warmth and love which I will get from Popdipura and that is something I would take back to the cities.”
- Yukta Doshi 

Village Fieldwork Segment is one of the USPs of the PGDM (RM) Program. The students have always found the VFS experiences truly enriching and the upcoming students look forward to the same. The fieldwork provides a chance to look at the Rural-India closely and gain enlightening lessons in the time span of 3 months. Not only in the management aspect, but IRMA helps students to build communication in the technology-driven world. Enroll in IRMA to experience the inexperienced.

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