Keeping with its tradition of attracting students from diverse background, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) will see a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer learning the nuances of management under the Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPX).

Rajesh Nirwan, a 39-year old Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) with CBI, is one of the selected 78 candidates for the course this year. PGPX is a full time residential programme for executives with substantial work experience leading to a One Year Post-Graduate Diploma in Management for Executives. The programme is designed for executives with 6 to 7 years of post qualification, full time work experience.

An IPS officer of Rajasthan cadre, Nirwan served as a Superintendent of Police in four districts including Jharawad, Tonk, Sawai Madhopur and Kota spanning eight years, before joining CBI's Economic Offence Wing as a DIG in 2004.

"After working for CBI on deputation for three and a half years, both me and my department felt a need to understand the management concepts of the contemporary world for optimum utilisation of resources for our police force," said Nirwan. A professional chartered accountant, Nirwan has also worked with Pricewaterhouse Coopers for nearly two years before appearing for IPS. Although on sabatical from work for one year, Nirwan is keeping his options open of joining the corporate sector after the programme.

The batch of 2007-08 had 80 participants for which the institute had received 800 applications. This year the institute has received 1347 applications. The average GMAT score is 724 this year. The average work experience was 10 years with around three years of international work experience as compared to this year's average of around 13 years work experience in India and 9 years abroad.

Arvind Sahay, Chairperson of PGPX, said that there are high number of participants from the IT sector this year.