Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah informed that the Government has provided a grant-in-aid salary of Rs 168.96 lakh to the Regional Institute of Cooperative Management (RICM) Gandhinagar and Rs 189.75 lakh to RICM Chandigarh in the financial year 2024–25.
He said the PGDM–Agri Business Management (PGDM-ABM) programme, offered by RICM Gandhinagar and RICM Chandigarh, is a self-financed course duly approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
RICMs in Bangalore, Chandigarh, Gandhinagar, Kalyani, and Patna conduct training and capacity-building programmes in rural and semi-urban areas. From 2022–23 to 2024–25, these five institutes organised a total of 3,147 programmes, benefiting 1,97,083 participants.
In 2022–23, 928 programmes were conducted for 51,657 participants. This increased to 1,106 programmes for 62,781 participants in 2023–24, and 1,113 programmes for 82,645 participants in 2024–25.
The Minister added that RICMs collaborate with reputed academic and research institutions to promote knowledge-sharing, entrepreneurship development, and academic enrichment.
Key collaborators include Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICOM), Pune; Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Gandhinagar; International Agribusiness Management Institute, Anand; Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA); and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.