Bjs Rampuria Jain College Ims Jay Narayan Vyas Colony Bikaner Institute - My Institution Building Experiences

1. IMS BIKANER
- MY
INSTITUTION
BUILDING
EXPERIENCES
By :
Dr. Trilok Kumar Jain
Management Consultant and Career Advisor
Afterschool Career Guidance Trust
Sivakamu Veterinary Hospital Road,Baginada
Bikaner 334001, Rajasthan, India
Mobile : 9414430763, 0151-2544275
Jain.tk@gmail.com, www.afterschool.tk

2. At IMS Bikaner, we were blessed with guidance from many eminent
personalities of that time, that included the following : -
Prof. V.S. Vyas, Ex-Director of IIMA
Prof. Azhar Kazmi
Prof. Ravi Tikku, Principal of BJS Rampuria Jain College Bikaner
Prof. M.L. Mishra
Prof. Udai Pareek, Ex-professor of IIMA
With their guidance, we were able to prepare a roadmap for the
progress of IMS Bikaner. We had following roadmap in our mind : -
To form strong alumni network
To emphasize on research and publications
To form strong network with industry and corporates
To provide rigorous education
To encourage comprehensive summer training to the students
To have daily seminars – with focus on high quality in content and delivery
To invite best visiting faculties for updation on latest themes in management education

3. A roadmap helps and it worked in IMS Bikaner also. I remember the
great contribution of Prof. S.S. Surana, Dr. Om Kuvera, Dr. N.S.
Rathore, Dr. Mukta Arora, Dr. Aruna, Dr. G.M. Saxena, Dr. M.R. Khatri,
Dr. Ved Sharma, Dr. S.D. Dave,Dr. Pant, Dr. Amod Bhardwaj, Dr.
Meenakshi Handa, Dr. Sanjeev Prasher, Dr. D.K. Khatri, Dr. Neeraj
Anand, Mr. Atmaram, Mr. Anil Lata, Ms. Shiran Mukerjee, Mr. Jugraj
Sethia (who was the Secretary of the Managing Committee), Mr. U.C.
Kochar (who later became Secretary of the Managing Committee),
Mr. Bhanu Prakash Purohit, Mr. Mangilal, Mr. Moolsingh, Mr. Narsingh
Das Maru (he was a very devoted class IV employee, he died in an
accident, we had started Antakshri Competitions in his memory) and
others.
Students from Bikaner used to be hesitant in English speaking. I used
to give particular attention to this aspect and used to conduct
special classes for the students in English communication. I recall the
great contribution of Dr. M.R. Khatri in this regard. I appreciate his
contribution.
We used to induct students in every activity of the institution. There
were active students empanelled in every committee of the student.
We had students working in academic committee, visiting faculty
committee, placement committee, industrial tour committee etc. The
students were actually our main workers. They used to work and
learn. I remember that when I was compiling database of alumni
and trying to contact them, Mr. Ali Menon (who was a student of
MBA at that time) used to offer great support. The contacts with
alumni helped us in getting their support in many forms – including
support in summer training, support in arranging industrial tours and
support in placements of our students.

4. Focus on Research and Publications - When we started the
newsletters (FCD Summary) and the journal (Bikaner Journal of
Management), we found that there were many supporters who we
had ignored. I recall that for the first few issues of the journal, we
didn’t face any problem. There were many donors willing to help us
in publication of journal and other such materials. We used to work
with the mission of establishing IMS Bikaner as a strong brand and
we were successful in our ventures. We were excited when Business
India ranked our institute as A+ institute and ranked us as 35 ranked
business school in the country.

5. Student groups - We had many active student groups, where
students used to devote lot of time for preparation on some themes.
There was a spiritual discussion group called SOUL, where we used to
have some or other spiritual discussions. We also had a group on
marketing – which used to formulate marketing related plans and
projects. We used to have regular reading of economic times in FCD
Club. We used to have a research club – where students used to
discuss about research issues. There were many students activities,
which were of very high quality. Many of these activities didn’t have
any faculty involvement. It used to be purely students organized
programme. Mind your Mind was one such programme – where
students used to invite some spiritual trainer to train the students in
Yoga, Meditation and Self Control. The students used to extensively
participate in many social development activities. I remember, that
the students gave their full support to many social and cultural
organizations. I remember that students like Manoj Nagpal
organized surveys of Harizan Basti in Bikaner and recommended
course of action for their development. There were some student
groups, which prepared marketing plans for Indian Oil, BPCL and
other companies in Bikaner. The students also prepared marketing
strategies for other institutions – for example – one group of student
prepared marketing strategies for some schools in Bikaner.

6. Seminars – the most memorable moments - Students had to present
their seminars almost every day. The seminar could be a
presentation on some contemporary issue or it could be summer
training report. We used to give very high emphasis on quality of
summer training. If a student couldn’t give convincing presentation
of his summer training – he would be asked to undertake summer
training again. We had established a very rigorous system of summer
training. The student had to take prior permission regarding his topc
of study and get it approved through a synopsis. His research
methodology and research instruments had to be approved. We
used to take regular feedback from the industry project guide also.
There were some enthusiastic students, who used to give more than
one seminar during a sessions. These seminars were an occasion for
their development. Students of final year used to help the students of
first year in preparation of the seminar. There would be one
chairperson and one speaker (out of the students only) for the
seminar. The students used to prepare seminar leads, seminar
synopsis, seminar invitation well in advance and used to circulate it
widely in the campus. The speaker used to take 30 minutes in
presentations, followed by queries / debates / discussions – which
used to take another 30 minutes. The later part – the queries /
debates / discussions used to be more interesting and exciting. The
students had their own informal groups and they used to spend
nights in preparing for seminars. The rival groups used to prepare well
for the seminars also and used to ask tricky questions at the end of
the seminars. We also used to have regional and national seminars.

7. I recall tremendous support that I got from many persons in
organizing national seminars. When I organized National Seminar on
Management of NGOs, I got tremendous support from Dr. Om
Kuvera, Dr. V.N. Singh, Mr. Arvind Ojha, Mr. Yogendra Kumar Rawal,
Mr. Indu Bhushan Goyal, Mr. Deep Chand Sankhla, Mr. Mool Chand,
Mr. M.L. Saini and others. The national semiar was a great success.
Large number of MBA students prepared papers for the seminar and
there were two sessions dominated by the papers presented by the
MBA students. I recall that Mr. Apoorva Dubey and Mr. Ashish
PUgalia (both were MBA students) worked very hard during those
days in organizing seminar. Prof. V.S. Vyas gave full support during
the seminar. He motivated Dr. Sunil Ray and Dr. Jain to participate in
the seminar. Just after this seminar, we had another seminar,
organized by Dr. Om Kuvera.

8. Outstanding staff club - Dr. S.D. Dave had organized a staff club,
which consisted of some fund generated collectively by all the staff.
We used to contribute some amount of money to the staff club every
month. This money was used to providing financial support / loan to
staff members who needed it. Many persons were able to get
funding for their financial needs through this staff club. The staff club
used to offer gifts and mementoes in all important occasions. If there
would be marriage of any staff member or his / her son / daughter,
there would be some gift by our staff club. There used to be one
party hosted by staff club every year, in which we used to have one
meeting and then we used to have lunch. The meeting used to be
presided by the senior most person and Dr. S.D. Dave used to read
out the minutes of the staff club meetings and used to declare the
dividend of the staff club fund. I have not seen any other similar club
working so devotedly for the interests of the staff members. When Mr.
Narsingh Das Maru died, the staff club immediately provided support
to the bereaved family of Mr. Maru and represented his case to the
management. The management agreed to give some financial
support to his family and to provide employment to the son of Mr.
Maru.
Some Important features
We used to organize some programmes regularly and it was a
regular feature. For example, on 9 January every year, we used to
organize a Quiz – in which all the schools and colleges of Bikaner
would participate. On 26 Feb we used to organize pre-budget
discussion, followed by post budget discussions on 2 March every
year. These activities were almost routine activities.

9. Admission Counselling
We used to provide pre-admission counseling and training to the
students. We used to get students through all Rajasthan Entrance Test
– and we used to provide free training and guidance to the students.
The students had to appear for counseling at Jaipur. A few of us used
to go to Jaipur to provide counseling and support to the students.
Participation in FDPs
The institute used to encourage us to participate in FDPs and other
such occasions. Many faculty members participated in many such
events. Many faculty members did refresher courses. Many faculty
members participated in national seminars / conferences.
Considering the fact that it was a self financed institution, it was a
great step to encourage faculty members to participate in such
occasions
Innovative courses and programmes - Our institute was pioneer in
introducing innovative courses and programmes. We were the first in
the district to start courses on computer science, courses on hotel
management, courses on French and German language, courses on
English speaking, courses on vocational skill training, courses on
journalism, courses on entrepreneurship and a lot of other courses.
All these helped us in developing the society and in establishing our
linkages. We conducted many programmes for NGOs and social
development organizations. We conducted studies and research for
NGOs like the Hunger Project, Ajit Foundation etc. All these helped
us in doing our ultimate work – upliftment of society. It was a purely
academic pursuit - many money minded persons of today may not
believe in all such activities.

10. Industry Interactions - We used to have extensive industry
interactions. We got support from Bombay Stock Exchange. Local
entrepreneurs like Mr. Triloki Kalla, Mr. Hemant Daga, Mr. Ashok
Dhariwal, Mr. Sridhar Sharma, Mr. K.B. Gupta, Mr. Mathur, Mr. Pachisia
were always keen for association with us. Our students did many
projects for them. The Rotary Club Bikaner organized a programme
to recognize our contribution, in which all the industrialists gathered
to recognize our institute’s contribution.
Great Academics - Dr. Sanjeev Prasher used to take extra classes
on Sundays to make the students strong in marketing. We used to
give focus on marketing. Some people say – business is marketing –
we also believed in this. Faculty members also used to give seminars
and discuss about their research projects / publications. We always
ensured that students read the best books available for the subject –
even if that book was very high priced. Good books ensured good
inputs and it helped us in developing the students. We used to offer
tremendous support to the students. Whether it was study material /
book / summer training / placement / career guidance / seminar or
any topic – we were always available. Our close association with
students helped us in creating a strong fabric of rigorous academics.