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Down but not out

As teachers, administrators and the students at the IIM, Bangalore, grapple with the fallout, there is concern that it should never happen again. A.A. Harichandan reports.

AT THE IIM, Bangalore, it was business as usual. The students did not want to think about it till their work was done. And it seemed as though there was no evident impact of the CAT paper leak.

However, one thing was obvious. As teachers, administrators and the students grappled with the fallout, there was concern that something like this should never happen again, and a determination to brave the present crisis.

On the question paper leak, Prakash G. Apte, Director IIMB, said, "we were shocked but since the printing of the papers was through an extra-IIM agency, the possibility existed". As for the repeat test on February 15, "the CAT committee will not even tell the directors where the printing will be done... we have agreed it is for the best."

Unperturbed, the students displayed the let-us-be-realistic attitude in addition to their normal appetite during the lunch break. "The CAT is not necessarily the IIM's core competence... the institutes are known for their academic excellence" said Sanjeeb Surin, a second year PGP student.

E. Sushma and Ishwar, first year students, felt the leak would not hurt their prospects. "Summer placements were excellent and we are looking forward to our assignments", they said. "Cheating on the CAT won't help", said Ankit Gupta, another first year, as "the group discussions and the interviews will still take care of them". In any case, "surviving here for two years is another matter". What was on every student's mind though was that the incident should not be allowed to tarnish the "global brand image" of the IIMs. "The IIMs have made it to the Wall Street Journal", they said. IIM, Ahmedabad, had recently announced that it wanted to be among the top 20 B-Schools in the world. These "bigger issues worry us more".

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