'Govt should stay off pvt institutes'

CAPTAINSPEAK

Dr Anup Singh, director of Nirma Institute of Management (NIM), is in charge of the institute, a dreamchild of industrialist Karsanbhai Patel of Nirma, since its inception.

Today the institute is among the best in the country. A Ph.D from the University of Allahabad and a fellow of the University of Michigan, Singh is also a visiting scholar at J L Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Evanston.

Singh tells Piyush Pandey that the government should stay away from managing B-schools.

What do you feel about the controversy involving the Ministry of Human Resource Development (M-HRD) controversy and IIMs over fees? Is there any threat to the private institutes?

I feel that the government should not interfere in the management of the institutes for higher education. As far as private institutes are concerned, government bodies like the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) are there to regulate them.

What role can the private sector play in the field of education?

The government has limited resources and, therefore, must concentrate on primary and secondary education.

Higher education is expensive as it needs huge infrastructure and other facilities. The role of the private sector is crucial here.

How was placement record of Nirma Institute of Management this year?

We have a 100 per cent placement record "" all the 120 students of the MBA programme have been well placed. The average salary has risen to Rs 3.3 lakh per annum from Rs 2.3 lakh last year.

The highest salary this year went up to Rs 6.5 lakh. Most of the students were absorbed in the insurance, banking and telecom sectors.

Where does Gujarat compare with other states in technical education?

Gujarat is blessed with world class institutes in almost every field "" from management to information technology, engineering to fashion technology, and from designing to advertisement and communication.

The state has premier management institutes like the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, the Institute of Rural Management, Anand, and the Nirma Institute of Management. For quality engineering studies, it has the Nirma Institute of Technology (NIT) and the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information Communication Technology for IT education.

The state also has the National Institute of Fashion Technology and National Institute of Design (NID). The Mundra Institute for Communication and Advertisement (MICA) is for students aspiring for careers in advertising and communication.

Perhaps no other state in the country has so many quality educational institutes.

How does Nirma Institute compare with other institutes in the field?

In Gujarat, the Nirma Institute of Management is second to none but the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

At the national level, we were ranked 22nd in the recent Business World rankings. However, among business schools set up after 1990, we are in the top ten.

Nirma Institute of Technology was ranked the best engineering college in the country in the year 2003 by Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE).

In spite of these world class institutes, why is the literacy rate in Gujarat poor compared to other states?

The government needs to focus on primary and secondary education in the state. With the recent initiatives taken by the state government, the literacy rate in the state is expected to improve.

What is Nirma's contribution to Gujarat?

Recently we have introduced an education scheme for executives in the state. We have trained executives from corporates like Indian Pertochemicals Corporation Ltd (IPCL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd (CPL) and Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd (TPL).

Gujarat is known for entrepreneurs and we have launched a course 'Master of Business Administration in Family Business Entrepreneurship' for budding entrepreneurs.