Thumbs up: Students of XISS at the convocation on Thursday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, May 22: It was a time for celebrations at Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS), a premier management institute in the state, and there was more than one reason for it.

At a time when the Centre has proposed an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) for Jharkhand, XISS has decided to scale up its standards. The institute would increase its research activities, especially in the fields of social and rural development.

“We have completed infrastructure upgradation. Now we plan to work on the academic standard of the institute. This has become necessary,” said Father Beni Ekka, the director of the institute.

The IIM is expected to come up either in Ranchi, Dhanbad, Bokaro or Jamshedpur.

Father Ekka was speaking to newsmen during the institute’s annual convocation ceremony. As many as 313 students from personnel management, information management, finance, marketing management and rural development received their certificates.

“Though there are talks of an economic slowdown, I am sure the country will keep growing at around 8 per cent for the next five years,” said Rameshwar Oraon, Union minister of state for tribal affairs while addressing the students and the teachers of the institute.

Oraon, who was the chief guest at the convocation, asked students to make use of the opportunities coming to India. He also gave away medals to outstanding students. While Prashanna Mohan Jha was given the gold medal in personnel management, Madhu Pallavi got the same for rural development. Ruma Kumar and Sweta Saini bagged the gold for information management and finance and marketing courses, respectively. Meanwhile, the institute also released a book Research Methodologies in Action, which has been jointly written by Annirudh Prasad and Father Ekka. The book dwells on latest methodologies to conduct research work in the field of rural development.

Ekka also said the institute would step up its research activities. It would come up with more research-based books in the coming years.

“From the coming month, the institute would start preparing the Jharkhand Encyclopaedia. The book would come out in several volumes and is expected to take several years of research,” Father Ekka said.He said the book would contain information on the art, culture, tradition, industrialisation and mining in the state, from the times of the British till the present.