As the Union Ministry for Information & Broadcasting has recently cleared a proposal to provide ‘Deemed University’ status to Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), the premier media training institute is gearing up to emerge as a post graduate institute of higher learning for media in the country. As per the proposal, after upgradation, the institute will offer post graduate degrees in journalism and related streams besides M Phil and PhD in the coming years.
“There is a dearth of trained academicians in media and communication. As media is growing at a phenomenal rate the country needs highly qualified academicians in this field and we aspire to bridge the gap between the demand and supply by providing highly qualified academicians and professionals,” said K G Suresh, Director General of IIMC.
He further added that the campus of IIMC in Delhi has all the infrastructure facilities to start post graduate courses in all the streams of journalism — print, radio and television and advertising. “In the IIMC Delhi campus, we have enough number of classes and required infrastructure to start the PG courses. Gradually, the PG courses will be introduced in our regional and upcoming centers as well,” he said adding they are hopeful to get approval from the UGC very soon.
Giving details of the proposal, Suresh said: “The present post graduate diploma courses will be extended to two years. Those who pursue one year course will be awarded post graduate diploma while those completing two years would be given post graduate degree. There is no immediate plan to start undergraduate courses and we aim to develop IIMC as a centre of higher learning for media.” He further informed that the proposal to construct more hostels is pending with the environment department of the Delhi government.
“The communication with the Delhi government is positive and we are hopeful to sort out the issue,” he added. He contended that IIMC has the best faculty and a dedicated research cell which should be utilised to its fullest to meet the growing need of the country in terms of media and entertainment.
According to a report of FICCI, media and entertainment industry is estimated to grow at 14.2 per cent to reach Rs 1,786 billion by 2018 in India. The total current employment in the sector is estimated at 4.6 lakhs, and is projected to grow at a 13 per cent to 7.5 lakh by 2017.