The Hindu : The IIMs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 18, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

The IIMs

Sir, — It has been reported that the highest salary offered to a student of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, by a multinational during this year's placement is close to Rs. 42 lakhs per annum. This is truly an astronomical figure for a fresh graduate.

If IIM graduates are considered exceptionally brilliant and given such fabulous salaries, why can we not amend our Constitution to make passing out from an IIM a necessary condition for becoming a Member of Parliament?

V.S. Venkatavaradan,

Salem

* * *

Sir, — It comes as no surprise that the NDA Government is now trampling on the autonomy of the only two groups of institutions of excellence left in the land — the IITs and the IIMs. Having wreaked havoc in the State universities by making them offer courses in astrology and vedic mathematics, it was only to be expected that the Government's attention would be drawn to these institutions, for they are affluent, efficient and independent.

The Union Minister for Human Resource Development recently taunted the faculty of the IITs that they were not doing cutting-edge research and that they were evading periodic assessment when even politicians were "assessed" every five years by the masses.

The mandate of the faculty of the IITs is not to do world class research or turn out young scientists but to do "quality" undergraduate teaching. Their performance is periodically assessed by those best qualified: their students. The IITs and the IIMs have done India proud.

The vigilance of our much-maligned media alone can help the cause of education in India.

M.K. Chandrashekaran,

Bangalore

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