Campus calling: Suchana Bhavan on Kanke Road in Ranchi, the temporary address of IIM-Ranchi

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Central University of Jharkhand (CUJ) and National University for Study and Research in Law (NUSRL) — 2010 was a new dawn for education in Jharkhand. And 2011 holds more promises, as these three prestigious cradles are expected to zero in on plots for setting up their campuses.

As IIM-Ranchi director M.J. Xavier put it: “2011 will be the year of growth for us. The students will get summer placements in the first year of the course, a three-year postgraduate diploma course will be launched for working executives, the campus will shift to Khelgaon and the student strength for the full-time course will be increased.”

Deprived of quality institutes and facing a brain drain, Jharkhand started catching up with its more educated cousins when IIM-Ranchi came calling. It dropped anchor in July by enrolling 44 students for its maiden full-time postgraduate diploma in management course.

It has more plans up its sleeve — a centre for inclusive growth for jointly running programmes with NGOs and private players and dialogues with Heavy Engineering Corporation and SAIL for offering management tips.

Although late, NUSRL staged a debut in December by admitting 48 students for a five-year BA-LLB course. Vice chancellor A.K. Koul said they would not only aggressively pursue a plot for a permanent campus, but would also launch centres of learning.

On the other hand, CUJ, which began academic activities in 2009, introduced four new programmes this year. Functioning from a state panchayati raj department building in Brambey at present, CUJ is also eyeing land.

The varsity is in the process of collaborating with renowned institutes across the country for imparting world-class education.

Recently, it entered into a tie-up with Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, for specialised courses like nano-technology.