Graduation in any discipline from a recognized University. Students who are in the final year and expect to complete all the requirements of graduation before 1st August, 2010 may also apply/Some seats are reserved for the Indian in-service candidates and international students sponsored by regional development organizations such as AARDO, CIRDAP, SAARC and South American Organizations. In-service candidates should possess with at least two years of work experience in rural development and allied sectors and they are required to apply through their employers. The international candidates should apply through the secretariats of the respective regional organisations viz., AARDO, CIRDAP etc., if they want funding support from them. They may however, send an advance application. Self-financed international students may apply directly. In-service Indian candidates are required to appear for the Entrance Test along with the general students. The eligibility parameters for international students are placed on the NIRD's website.
Selection Process: Selection of candidates will be made through a process of All-India Entrance Test which will test the verbal, quantitative and analytical competencies of the students. Group Discussion and Personal Interviews will be conducted for the short-listed students. TOTAL NO. OF SEATS: 60 (may undergo some changes depending upon infrastructural contingencies. Of these, up to 10 seats may be allotted to the in-service national and international candidates).
Programme Duration: (One year) August, 2010 to July, 2011
Course Fee: Indian Students Rs. 1.40 lakh; International Students: US $ 6000
Board and Lodging: The annual board and lodging expenses will be approximately Rs.90,000 for Indian students and US $ 4000 for international students. Accommodation will be given to the students in the NIRD campus.
Caution Deposit: A refundable Caution Deposit of Rs. 10,000 for Indian and US $ 200 for International students (Mess Deposit, Library Deposit and Hostel Deposit) is a requirement.
Seat Reservation Fee: Upon selection, a non-refundable Seat Reservation Fee of Rs. 14,000 for Indian students and US $ 600 for international students should be paid.
Scholarships: Merit and need based scholarships will be made available to deserving Indian students. The North Eastern Council, Shillong, has fully funded the North Eastern students selected for the PGDRDM in 2008-09. Similar financial support to the admitted students domiciled in the North Eastern region is likely for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 subject to a maximum of two students from each of the eight North Eastern states. Bank loans will also be facilitated by the NIRD for needy Indian students.
Reservation: Reservations for the students of the SC/ST/ OBC (Non-creamy layer) and Persons with Disability (PWD) will be made as per Government of India's policies.
ENTRANCE TEST: The Entrance Test will be conducted on 24.01.2010 at the following centres: Agartala, Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Imphal, Indore, Itanagar, Jaipur, Jammu, KolkataJ&jhima.Kanpur, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Pune, Rajkot, Raipur, Ranchi, Shillong, SiligurL/Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Udaipur and Vishajtffapatanam. The NIRD reserves the right to cancel any of tha'centres for any administrative reasons and assign any other /centre to the applicants.
Placement: NIRD will endeavour to make placements on successful completion of the PGDRDM, but does not guarantee. However, all the students of the first batch of the PGDRDM were placed with state and central government agencies, public sector banks and non-governmental organizations. The same trend is expected this year as well.