MARD | MRDP-001 | School of Continuing Education
IGNOU MARD Project (MRDP-001): Who Approves It, What It Must Contain, and How It Is Graded
The IGNOU MARD project is MRDP-001, a 12-credit dissertation built on field work in a rural area. It is the only MARD course with no assignment and no term-end paper. Its research proposal is approved by the supervisor assigned by the study centre, not by IGNOU headquarters.
Why this page exists. Most pages on this topic borrow the approval procedure used by management programmes and attach it to MARD. The Master of Arts (Rural Development) route differs at the approval stage, and the wrong route costs a full evaluation cycle. Every requirement below is traced to a named IGNOU document.
Start here
What is the IGNOU MARD project, and who actually approves it?
The IGNOU MARD project is the course coded MRDP-001, titled Dissertation, in the Master of Arts (Rural Development) programme of the School of Continuing Education at Indira Gandhi National Open University. The MARD Programme Guide records that every MARD course carries six credits except the dissertation, which carries twelve, and places MRDP-001 in the Year I compulsory block alongside MRD-101, MRD-102, MRD-103 and MRD-004. The dissertation rests on empirical field work in a rural area: the learner selects a research problem, conducts original research and reports the outcome as a typed, bound dissertation of not less than 100 pages. Approval of the research proposal rests with the supervisor or academic counsellor assigned by the study centre. The Project Work Handbook instructs learners not to send the proposal to IGNOU headquarters or to a Regional Centre. The approved proposal is then bound into the dissertation itself.
That last sentence is the practical heart of MRDP-001. A learner who follows a generic IGNOU project checklist instead posts a proposal to Maidan Garhi, waits for a reply that never comes, and loses a submission window.
| Course code | MRDP-001 (also written MRDP-1, MRDP-01, MRDP 001) |
|---|---|
| Course title | Dissertation (Project Work) |
| Programme | Master of Arts (Rural Development), programme code MARD |
| School | School of Continuing Education, IGNOU |
| Credits | 12 credits. Every other MARD course carries 6. |
| Placement | Year I compulsory block, with MRD-101, MRD-102, MRD-103 and MRD-004 |
| Notional study time | 360 hours, derived from the Programme Guide rule that one credit equals 30 hours of study |
| Deliverable | One bound dissertation based on field work in a rural area, with the approved proposal bound inside |
| Minimum length | Not less than 100 pages, double spaced, A-4 size (29 x 20 cm) |
| Proposal approved by | Supervisor or academic counsellor assigned by the study centre. Not by IGNOU headquarters or a Regional Centre. |
| Assignment | None. MARD has ten courses but only nine tutor marked assignments. |
| Term-end paper | None. Learners sit nine papers, one for each taught course. |
| Minimum grade | Grade C |
| Project evaluation fee | Rs 500 per course for project work above 4 credits, paid with the term-end examination form. Confirm the current slab before paying. |
| Submission route | Single scanned PDF on the IGNOU online project submission portal. The 2018 Programme Guide still describes a bound copy by registered post. |
| Last date | Fixed by notification each term-end examination cycle. Confirm before planning binding. |
The rule most pages get wrong
Why does the MRDP-001 proposal never go to IGNOU headquarters?
Because the MARD Programme Guide assigns that authority to the study centre. The Guide states that the supervisor or counsellor grants final approval to the project proposal, that the proposal forms part of the dissertation, and that approved proposals need not be sent to the faculty at IGNOU. The Project Work Handbook repeats it from the learner’s side: do not send the proposal to IGNOU headquarters or a Regional Centre, because approval is obtained from the supervisor only.
This is a structural difference, not a drafting quirk. In management and library science programmes the proposal travels to a School or Division for central approval before work begins, which is why those programmes carry a proforma, a guide bio-data attachment and a waiting period. Rural Development localises that whole step: the Study Centre Coordinator assigns a MARD academic counsellor as supervisor, and that person clears the topic, the objectives and the design.
BK Sahni, who has guided 5,00,000 students till date, points out that MARD learners lose more time to this one misunderstanding than to any writing difficulty: they see a generic IGNOU project checklist, assume a central approval stage exists, and hold back their field work while waiting for a letter that the university never sends.
Practical consequence. The approval evidence lives in the document, not in a postal receipt. The original approved proposal is bound into the dissertation, and the supervisor signs a certificate confirming the work was done under supervision.
The document itself
What must an MRDP-001 dissertation physically contain?
The MARD Programme Guide is stricter on form than most learners expect. The dissertation is to be properly typed in double space and bound, running to not less than 100 pages on A-4 paper measured as 29 x 20 cm. Two copies are prepared: one goes to the Student Evaluation Division, the second stays with the learner. Whatever reaches IGNOU is not returned.
Four items have to sit inside the bound volume. A dissertation missing any of them is liable to be rejected or returned for compliance.
| Item | What it states | Who signs |
|---|---|---|
| Declaration | That the work is original and has not been submitted earlier to this University or any other institution for any course of study | The learner |
| Certificate from the Supervisor | That the project work was done under that supervisor and that it is genuine, original work | The supervisor |
| Approved research proposal | The original proposal cleared by the supervisor, bound in before the dissertation goes for final binding | Already approved by the supervisor |
| Identification details | Enrolment number, programme of study, name and address of the learner | The learner |
Specimen formats for the declaration and the supervisor certificate sit in the Project Work Handbook rather than the Programme Guide. Learners who read only the Guide go looking elsewhere and often end up with a management-programme proforma that does not match.
Information gain
Which MRDP-001 figures are official, and which are only circulating?
Search results for this course mix published requirements with numbers that have no traceable official source. The table below separates the two. Where a figure cannot be traced to an IGNOU document, that is stated plainly.
| Point | What IGNOU documents state | What circulates online |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Not less than 100 pages, double spaced, A-4 (29 x 20 cm) | About 20,000 words. No IGNOU MARD document consulted here sets a word count, and sources quoting it disagree on whether references count. |
| Study hours | 12 credits at 30 hours per credit, which works out to 360 notional hours | Around 240 hours. This does not follow from the Programme Guide’s own credit rule. |
| Proposal approval | Supervisor or counsellor at the study centre. Not to be sent to headquarters or a Regional Centre. | Post the proposal to a Project Coordinator at IGNOU headquarters by registered or speed post. |
| Viva-voce | The Programme Guide treats the dissertation as assessed as a single entity and prescribes no viva for MRDP-001. Confirm with your Regional Centre if your study centre says otherwise. | Stated both ways, often on the same page. |
| Marks split | Graded on the five point letter scale A to E, with C as the minimum. No percentage split is published for the dissertation. | Chapter-wise mark allocations, presented as official. |
| Plagiarism threshold | No percentage threshold is published for MARD. The stated rule: a dissertation found copied, repeated or translated from another will be rejected. | A named similarity percentage, usually borrowed from another programme. |
The Project Work Handbook attaches a rarely quoted consequence to that last row: alongside rejection, it warns that a learner can be debarred from continuing the programme of study for a couple of years or even for lifetime. It also asks learners not to pick a topic already chosen by other Master of Arts (Rural Development) students known to them. Those two lines are why topic novelty in MARD is an integrity matter, not a style preference.
Grading
How is the MARD dissertation graded, and why has it no assignment and no exam paper?
MRDP-001 is assessed as a single entity, equivalent to a twelve-credit course, on the five point letter scale A to E. The minimum grade in the dissertation is C, the same floor that applies to every other MARD course in the overall computation.
The absence of an assignment and a written paper is arithmetic. Every other MARD course is assessed 25 per cent by continuous assessment and 75 per cent by a three-hour term-end paper. MRDP-001 has neither. The Programme Guide explains that because the tenth course is a dissertation, it is treated as two complete papers carrying 200 per cent weightage and graded accordingly. That is why MARD has ten courses but only nine tutor marked assignments and nine term-end papers.
Two consequences follow, and both are easy to miss until they matter:
- Re-evaluation is not permissible for projects, practicals and assignments. A learner unhappy with the dissertation grade cannot apply for re-evaluation the way a theory paper allows.
- The improvement-in-division scheme is permissible only in theory papers, so MRDP-001 cannot be repeated to lift a final division either.
The dissertation is therefore the largest graded block in the programme and the one with the fewest second chances. That is the argument for fixing the proposal before field work starts.
Submission
Bound postal copy or a single PDF upload: which route is current?
Both routes appear in IGNOU material, and they belong to different periods. The current route is the online upload.
The MARD Programme Guide, in its November 2018 revision, instructs learners to send a typed and bound copy of the dissertation by registered post to the Registrar, Student Evaluation Division, IGNOU, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi 110068. That instruction is still printed in the Guide that reaches learners with their study material, which is why it keeps being quoted.
Current practice is different. IGNOU now issues session-wise guidelines for submitting final project, dissertation, field work journal, practicum file and internship reports through online mode, covering every programme except DECE04 of the DECE programme. The learner scans the complete original report into a single PDF so the Regional Centre or Student Evaluation Division can download it in one piece, then uploads it on the online project submission portal reached from the alert section of ignou.ac.in. The project evaluation fee is paid with the term-end examination form; the published slab above four credits is Rs 500 per course, the band MRDP-001 falls into at twelve credits.
Last dates move. The June cycle deadline has historically sat near the end of May and has been extended in some sessions; the December deadline has historically sat near the end of November. Treat both as indicative and confirm the current notification before committing to a binding date. Wider submission mechanics are covered on the IGNOU project guide for all programmes, which this page sits under as a programme-specific spoke.
Where the two routes agree. Both expect a complete, signed, bound document. Scanning removes none of the requirements: declaration, supervisor certificate, bound-in approved proposal, enrolment details. Prepare the physical volume first, scan it second.
Process
How does a learner move from a rural development topic to an approved proposal?
The Project Work Handbook sets the sequence; the Programme Guide supplies the timing.
- Finish the theory base. The methodology the proposal is judged against comes from MRD-004, Research Methods in Rural Development, whose blocks cover problem formulation, proposal preparation, sampling, data collection tools and analysis. Drafting before working through that course is the usual source of weak research design.
- Ask the Study Centre Coordinator for a supervisor. Usually a MARD academic counsellor is assigned. The same person approves the proposal, guides the writing and certifies the finished work, so this appointment carries the project.
- Narrow the topic until it is specific. The Handbook’s worked illustration takes a broad area such as an integrated child development service and narrows it to a comparison between blocks or states, between tribal and non-tribal groups, or around the role of one set of workers.
- Check the topic is not already taken. The Handbook asks learners not to select a topic chosen by other Master of Arts (Rural Development) students known to them, and attaches rejection and possible debarment to copied, repeated or translated work.
- Draft the proposal in the prescribed shape. A title that is clear, brief and specific and signals the type and nature of the project. A statement of the problem carrying the analysis, the relevance and the literature gap. Objectives, usually three to four, in serial order. Then the research design, study area, tools and chapter plan.
- Take it to the supervisor and revise. Approval is a conversation, not a submission. Nothing is posted anywhere at this stage.
- Do the field work, then write. The dissertation clarifies the topic and the issue investigated, reviews earlier studies to establish what new area is explored, sets out how the study was carried out, and closes with findings and recommendations.
- Show the final draft before binding. The Programme Guide asks learners to show the dissertation to the supervisor and take guidance before final typing and binding.
Risk points
Where do MARD dissertations get returned or lose marks?
Most returns are procedural rather than academic. The Programme Guide is explicit that a dissertation received without the declaration, supervisor certificate, approved proposal and identification details is liable to be rejected or returned for compliance. The recurring patterns:
- The approved proposal is left out of the binding. It is treated as a preliminary document and filed separately. It is meant to sit inside the dissertation.
- The final title drifts from the approved title. The proposal bound inside then contradicts the cover page.
- The document falls short of 100 pages. Usually because a thin literature review and a small sample were not caught at proposal stage.
- Objectives and findings do not line up. Three or four objectives were stated and the concluding chapter answers two of them.
- A management-programme template is used. Company-analysis structures do not fit a rural field study, and their certificate wording does not match what a MARD supervisor signs.
- The scan is incomplete or split. The online guidelines call for the original report scanned into a single PDF. Multi-file uploads create processing problems at the Regional Centre.
- The evaluation fee was never paid. It is paid with the term-end examination form, not at upload, so it is easy to forget.
A learner entering MARD after the Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Development should note that the project course does not transfer, as set out in the PGDRD to MARD credit transfer guide. MRDP-001 is done in full regardless of an earlier project.
Questions
Frequently asked questions about the IGNOU MARD project
Is MRDP-001 the same as MRDP-1, MRDP-01 and MRDP 001?
Yes. MRDP-001 is the canonical form used in the MARD Programme Guide. MRDP-1, MRDP-01, MRDP1 and MRDP 001 are informal variants that learners and coaching sites type, and all of them refer to the same 12-credit Dissertation course in the Master of Arts (Rural Development) programme. Use the canonical form on the cover page and on the examination form.
How many pages should the IGNOU MARD project be?
Not less than 100 pages, typed in double space on A-4 size paper of 29 x 20 cm, and bound. That is the figure the MARD Programme Guide gives in its section on submission of dissertation. No upper limit is published, and no official word count is published either, so page count rather than word count is the requirement to plan against.
Does the MARD project proposal need approval from IGNOU headquarters?
No. Approval rests with the supervisor or academic counsellor assigned by the study centre. The MARD Programme Guide states that approved proposals need not be sent to the faculty at IGNOU, and the Project Work Handbook tells learners not to send the proposal to headquarters or to a Regional Centre. The approved proposal is instead bound into the finished dissertation.
How many credits is MRDP-001, and what does that mean in study hours?
Twelve credits, against six for every other MARD course. IGNOU’s credit system treats one credit as 30 hours of study, so twelve credits corresponds to 360 notional hours. That figure is a planning aid drawn from the Programme Guide’s own definition, not a rule that anyone measures.
What is the minimum grade required in the MARD dissertation?
Grade C. The MARD Programme Guide states that the minimum grade which must be obtained in the dissertation is C, matching the floor required in each of the ten MARD courses for the degree. Re-evaluation is not available for projects, so the dissertation cannot be re-marked on request.
Is there a project evaluation fee for MRDP-001, and how much?
Yes, and it is paid with the term-end examination form rather than at the time of upload. IGNOU’s published project evaluation slab is Rs 300 per course up to 4 credits and Rs 500 per course above 4 credits. MRDP-001 at twelve credits falls in the higher band. Confirm the current amount on the IGNOU examination portal before paying, since fee slabs are revised by notification.
Can a PGDRD project be reused for the MARD dissertation?
No. The project work course is the single exclusion from the credit transfer a Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Development holder receives on entering MARD. Every other diploma course carries across. MRDP-001, at twelve credits, is also twice the size of the diploma project and has to be completed as fresh work.
Verify before you act. Course structure, credits and dissertation requirements should be checked in the MARD Programme Guide and the Project Work Handbook on ignou.ac.in, and the course material for MRDP-001 and MRD-004 is on egyankosh.ac.in. Session-bound items, meaning submission last dates, fee slabs and the active portal link, change by notification. Confirm them with your Regional Centre or Study Centre before you bind or upload.
Disclosure: ignouproject.shop is an independent study-help publication. It is not the official website of Indira Gandhi National Open University and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the university. Official notifications, forms and results are published only on ignou.ac.in. Content on this page is for guidance and should be verified against current IGNOU documents before it is acted on.
ignouproject.shop is an independent study-help publication of Shri Chakradhar Publication Pvt. Ltd. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Indira Gandhi National Open University. Guidance published here supports a learner’s own work and does not replace the official programme guide, project work handbook or any instruction issued by a Regional Centre or Study Centre.
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