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No going back on fee hike: IIMA

Special Correspondent

OBC quota to be implemented from this academic year

Fee structure provides relief to economically weaker sections
General admission list by May 1

AHMEDABAD: The board of governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, stands by its March 29 decision on fee hike for PGP (Postgraduate Programme in Management) courses. It will implement reservation for the Other Backward Classes from the June 2008 academic year.

In spite of the missives from the Central government-appointed R.C. Bhargava review committee asking the institution to freeze the fee hike until after the panel has submitted its final report, the board on Saturday decided to go ahead with the fee revision: from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5.5 lakh per annum in the first year and to Rs 6 lakh in the second year of the two-year PGP course.

Most scientific method

After the board meeting here, IIMA director Samir Barua said only “time will tell” how the Union Human Resource Development Ministry would “react” to the decision, but claimed that his institution had drawn up the most scientific method to decide on the fee structure providing relief to students from economically weaker sections, instead of charging a flat rate for all irrespective of their financial background.

Some board members earlier indicated that the two Central government representatives on the IIMA board had strongly opposed the free hike, but Mr Barua refused to be drawn into any controversy. “Each member may have his own stand, but ultimately the collective decision was that there was no reconsideration of fee hike,” Mr Barua said.

He also refused to join issue with Ajit Balakrishnan, Chairman, IIM, Calcutta, who is also a member of the Bhargava committee. To his remark on Friday that the IIMC could generate surplus even at a per annum fee of Rs 3 lakh, Mr Barua said each IIM had its own financial structure and there could be no comparison between the two institutions.

Easy loans

The IIMA had entered into arrangements with five public and private sector banks to provide students easy loans at low interest. They would have to clear the loans only after they found gainful employment. The banks would not demand any collateral and the students themselves could stand guarantee for one another.

Despite charging a “maximum” fee of Rs 5.5 lakh from students having a family income of over Rs 6 lakh, the average collection for the institution would work out to only about Rs 3.95 lakh a student considering the subsidy and free scholarships it was providing to those from an economically weaker background, Mr. Barua said. With the implementation of the quota for the OBC students, most of them coming from poorer backgrounds, the financial burden on the IIMA would be more than what was estimated at the March 29 meeting. “Still we decided to stick to the same level.”

About admissions for the June 2008 batch, he said the IIMA was expected to release the general list by May 1. The OBC list could take two more weeks as it had to work out exclusion of the creamy layer as directed by the Supreme Court. The guiding principles to decide on the creamy layer would be the same as contained in the 1993 circular of the Centre for public sector jobs for the OBCs, Mr. Barua said.

The 27 per cent quota for the OBCs would be implemented in three phases — 6 per cent reservation in June 2008, 15 per cent in 2009 and 27 per cent in the third year.

Against a total of 280 seats in the PGP and the PG programme in agricultural management, 17 seats would be reserved for the OBCs in the first year in the two courses, while compensatory 17 seats would have to be added to enrol 314 students this year.

CAT online may be delayed

Mr Barua said holding of the Common Admission Test (CAT) online was likely to be delayed by seven or eight months as the service providers were still undertaking tests to make it foolproof. When implemented, it would also reduce the IIMA’s income. The fees charged on the companies during placements also did not show any appreciable increase.

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