THE SHOW MUST GO ON

A PUSH TOWARDS DIGITAL JOURNALISM, NEW COURSES AND STATE-OFTHE-ART FACILITIES HAVE HELPED IIMC, NEW DELHI, RETAIN ITS PRE-EMINENCE AT A TIME WHEN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY IS IN A FLUX

- KAUSHIK DEKA

For the Delhi centre of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), set up in 1965 under the Union ministry of information and broadcasting to train communication professionals, excellence is a habit. The premier institute has remained at the top of the mass communication stream in india today’s Best Colleges survey for the past six years. That’s not without a reason. Though it offers a nine-monthlong post-graduate diploma in six courses, students from IIMC are the most sought-after in the communication industry for the rigorous training they receive in those months.

IIMC’s impressive placement records over the years bear testimony to this. This year, more than 50 media houses, including the Times of India, india today and Business Standard groups, have already registered for the campus recruitment scheduled in July. Individual offers to students have started coming even before they are to sit for the final examination and campus placement. Last year, 324 of the 358 students who had opted for the placement drive, which had over 70 firms participating, got jobs. While the average salary package was Rs 4.5 lakh per annum, 13 students were offered pay packages in the range of Rs 13 lakh per annum.

Professor Pramod Kumar, who heads the placement cell, expects even better numbers this year as more opportunities are coming up in the postpandemic industry. And IIMC has taken all possible steps to prepare students for new-age jobs. For instance, as most students in recent years were getting absorbed by digital platforms, it introduced a new course in digital journalism in three of its centres. Every centre admits 20 students each in this course.