The Hindu : Narayana Murthy terms cut in IIMs fees retrograde

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Sunday, Feb 08, 2004

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Narayana Murthy terms cut in IIMs fees retrograde

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, FEB. 7. Reacting to the reduction in fees at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), N.R. Narayana Murthy, chief mentor of Infosys Technologies, who heads the Governing Board of IIM-Ahmedabad, said here on Saturday that he felt it was a retrograde step and ill-advised and not based on data, facts, reason, or logic.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an award function, he said the Government should not be subsidising higher education. Instead it should fund basic education because there were 40 to 50 million children without access to schools. "There are 350 million illiterate people in our country, and in 50 per cent of rural schools there is only one teacher for two classes. It is better to focus more on basic education," he said.

Answering a question, Mr. Murthy said: "I know the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Murli Manohar Joshi, well and have a lot of respect for him; he is very good man... we should not think he has any hidden agenda. I don't think he has that; it is just that somebody has advised him wrongly. I hope he will come to the right conclusion."

Asked if reducing fees would affect the quality of education at IIMs, Mr. Murthy said: "In today's world, it costs money to attract good faculty and create good infrastructure and upgrade technology. Quality is bound to suffer due to the reduction in fees."

He met Mr. Joshi on January 18 and again on January 29 and during long meetings, presented all facts and data and explained why there should be no subsidy for higher education. "For some reason, he has ignored all that, but I am sure he will look at it again,'' he said.

Mr. Murthy said the Governing Board of IIM-Ahmedabad would meet on April 3. "We will discuss and debate, look at all the data, and come out with an argument as to why higher education should not be subsidised... based on that we hope some conclusion will be arrived at,'' he said.

Asked whether autonomy was an option, he said: "Let us be very clear; Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard are rated world class because they have autonomy. They have the independence to take decisions in the best interests of the students and the faculty... there is no doubt about it.''

The Government did not appear to have looked at all the data before deciding on fee reduction, he added.

He was later given the Most Admired Business Leader Award by Brand-comm, a brand consulting, advertising, and public relations firm headquartered in Bangalore.

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