The Hindu : IIM-A for dialogue with Ministry

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Saturday, Apr 03, 2004

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IIM-A for dialogue with Ministry

By Manas Dasgupta

AHMEDABAD, APRIL 2. On the eve of a crucial meeting tomorrow of the board of governors to decide on the fee cut issue, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Society has adopted a middle course of "dialogue" with the Union Human Resource Development Ministry to avoid a confrontation.

Without taking any specific stand on the Centre's fiat to reduce the fees from Rs 1.50 lakhs to Rs. 30,000 per annum, which it left to the board of governors to decide, the Society at its meeting here today has left the option of seeking legal remedies to the dispute open if the dialogue with the HRD Ministry failed to arrive at a "mutually acceptable solution."

The Society, one of the three founding pillars of the IIMA along with the Central and the Gujarat Governments, stuck to its stand that the authority to decide the fee structure lie with its board of governors and not the HRD Ministry as claimed by the Government. But in appreciation of the Government's desire to ensure that the students from the poorer sections of the society were not deprived of admission in the IIMs only on financial grounds, the Society also authorised the board of governors to "design and implement" a scholarships grant programme for the economically disadvantaged students.

The Society met here today in continuation of the adjourned meeting on March 9 which was marred by acrimonious debate following the "threatening postures" adopted by the two HRD Ministry representatives, V.S. Pandey, Joint Secretary, and V. Piparsania, financial adviser, warning the Society of "dire consequences" to the extent of superceding the Society and in effect the board of governors if it pursued the option of seeking legal remedies to the centre's fiat on fees cut. The two representatives, however, stayed away from today's meeting and it is not clear whether they would attend the board of governors' meeting tomorrow. The State Government representatives also did not attend the meeting. In the absence of the Government representatives, the meeting was held in an harmonious atmosphere and two resolutions, one on the fee cut and the other on need-based scholarship scheme, were adopted unanimously, the IIMA chairman and industrialist, N.R. Narayana Murthy, told mediapersons.

Mr. Murthy, who chaired the meeting attended by 40 of the 153 members, declined to reply to "controversial" questions and insisted that he was for creating a congenial atmosphere for a dialogue to resolve the dispute amicably with solutions acceptable to all. He declined to comment on the absence of the Government representatives or guess whether the HRD Ministry was "retreating" from its stand on fees cut. The IIMA Society's decision for dialogue "obviously reflect a similar desire" on the part of the HRD Ministry also, he said.

"Let us not dig into the past, let us not re-open the wounds. We want to create a positive environment and stay away from all bickering. We want to extend a hand of friendship with everybody concerned and arrive at an amicable solution to the controversy." The IIMA would set up a small committee soon to initiate a dialogue with the HRD Ministry. He hoped that the issue would be resolved within the next couple of months ahead of the next academic year scheduled to start in June.

Asked whether the other five IIMs in the country would participate in the dialogue between the IIMA and the HRD Ministry, Mr. Murthy said it would be a "great privilege" to have the other IIMs together on the dialogue but it was up to the five IIMs to decide. "It is too early to comment,'' he said when asked whether the IIMA would approach other IIMs to join the discussions.

He also refused to comment whether the IIMA would join the three petitioners before the Supreme Court in the case challenging the Ministry's authority to issue the fiat.

He said the board would decide at its meeting tomorrow what would be the fee structure for the IIMA for the next academic year but refrained from giving any indication whether any cut as directed by the Centre would be acceptable to it. The Society's resolution on the "Enhanced Need-Based Scholarship Scheme," however, was indicative that the IIMA may not agree to toe the Government's line immediately pending the proposed "dialogue."

Besides Mr. Murthy, the Director of IIMA, Bakul Dholakia, dean, Indira Parikh, and donor member of the Society, Prafull Anubhai, were present.

To a question, Mr. Dholakia reiterated that though the IIMA had revised its fee structure several times in the past through resolutions adopted by the board of governors, there was not a single case of any student having refused the admission offer only on financial grounds. Bank loans were easily available once the IIMA admission was cleared and the institution had its own scholarship schemes to held the needy students, he said.

Expressing "concern" over the controversy created by the Government's fiat on fees cut, the Society in its resolution authorised the board of governors to "initiate the process of dialogue and discussions with the Union HRD Ministry to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution." In the event of failure of the dialogue, the Society "authorised the chairman of the Society or his nominees to take all necessary actions in this including appropriate legal recourse at any stage to protect the autonomy of IIMA including its right to determine the fees and other charges for the post graduate programmes."

Under the "Need-Based Scholarships Scheme," the Admission and Financial Aid Committee (A&FAC) of the IIMA would encourage all admitted students having indicated the gross family income of less than Rs. 1.50 lakhs per annum, to apply for scholarships which could ranged from full fee scholarships to partial scholarships depending on the financial conditions of the students. Even those students having a family income of more than Rs 1.50 lakhs per annum but needed bank loans would also be given the option to apply for the IIMA's need-based scholarships. All the scholarships granted would be intimated to the students by June 10, 2004, to avoid inadequate financial resources adversely affecting their decision to join the IIMA. "The A&FAC feels that this proposal will help the admitted candidates in their decision making since their current financial status will not come in the way of their decision to accept or reject IIMA's admission offer," it said.

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