V-C clears air about business centre in JNU,says will focus on rural economy

“Normally,when students graduate from an MBA school,they take up jobs in big corporate houses. There is a huge scope for research in the area of small-scale industries,which is seldom focussed upon,” he said. The centre will start with MPhil and PhD programmes and will not offer undergraduate or postgraduate degree courses in the initial years,he added.

A proposal for the centre will be presented before the Academic Council meeting in November. If the proposal is approved,faculty positions will be invited.

The centre will then conduct researches on small-scale businesses,how the the labour force work,family participation and investment patterns,among other aspects.

The aim is to have in-depth knowledge of a sector that constitutes 90 per cent of businesses in the country,to facilitate the formulation of policies for “inclusive growth”.

“Banks in rural areas fail often as there is a dearth of knowledge regarding the way rural economy works. For inclusive growth we need to have specialists in micro economics who can become part of the planning commissions and NGOs that work in rural areas,” Bhattacharya said.

Commenting on the disapproval among a section of the university’s students and faculty,Bhattacharya said,“That is because there is a misconception that the centre will offer MBA degrees.”