The Hindu : IIMs MUST STAND UP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 15, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

IIMs MUST STAND UP

HOPES THAT THE Indian Institute of Management fee controversy had been settled, with the Government promising the Supreme Court that it would meet any shortfall in funds and would not interfere in the functioning of these educational institutions of excellence, have been quickly dashed. The issue is back in the Supreme Court and the Government has been given a week's time to clarify its position on guaranteeing autonomy of the IIM. The threats the representatives of the Ministry of Human Resource Development held out at last week's meeting of the IIM-Ahmedabad Society will convince nobody that the Government is committed to guaranteeing the autonomy that the six institutes have enjoyed all these years. The aggressive methods of officialdom have catalysed a fresh bout of litigation that threatens to keep the fee controversy alive for months, which will surely affect the functioning of the IIMs in the academic year beginning June.

The Supreme Court dismissed a public interest litigation that questioned the HRD Ministry's directive to reduce fees from an annual Rs.1.50 lakhs to Rs.30,000, after the Government made its twin commitments on funding and non-interference. With the original petitioners now asking that the Court record the Government's assurances, an opportunity has presented itself to define autonomy clearly. The attitude of the HRD representatives at the IIM-A Society meeting leaves no ambiguity about what the tussle is about — the right of the centres of excellence to function without government interference in the face of an attempt by the Ministry to dictate terms. It is outrageous that government officials resorted to bullying tactics when they learnt that the Society was considering going to court to get the fee order reversed. The Government of India and the Gujarat Government set up the IIM-A; however, since it was established under the Societies Act of 1861, it does have the right to discuss and decide the fee issue. For government representatives to describe the Society's past approval of fee revision as illegal, to claim that the Institute can be asked to refund the higher fees that have been collected, and to threaten dissolution should the courts be approached can signify only one thing: the Government will not tolerate anybody questioning its decisions. Such a crude display of authority bodes ill for the future when issues involving autonomy will keep cropping up. It was always known that the Government's decision to issue a diktat on fees to the IIMs had more to do with exercising control than with making post-graduate management education accessible to non-privileged sections of society.

While a public debate has raged on the HRD Ministry's order to slash fees by 80 per cent and an IIM alumnus was among the public interest litigants, the faculty and governing boards of the IIMs have been strangely silent. This has provoked accusations that the institutes themselves lack the courage of their convictions. This is set to change thanks to the crude anti-intellectualism of the Government's intervention. The faculty of IIM-A has decided to explore a number of options, including approaching the court to question the HRD Ministry's diktat. This could set off a chain reaction among the faculty at the other IIMs and perhaps even among the governing boards. How the courts will respond to such petitions can only be a matter of speculation. However, the locus standi of these petitioners will not be in question, unlike the case of those who went to the Supreme Court with the PIL. With their autonomy and future at stake, the IIMs must gear up for a determined campaign against an overbearing Ministry with a retrogressive agenda.

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