Govt does not have the right to set fees: IIM-B

Giving a new twist to IIM fee cut controversy, the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore has said the government does not have the right to set fees since this responsibility lies with the IIM Society.

Dr Prakash G Apte, director, IIM-Bangalore, has said the institute is not objecting just to the fee cut but also the manner in which it has been sought to be imposed by the ministry.

Speaking to the Business Standard, Apte said, "The government does not have the right to set the fees. It is the IIM Society, which decides on fees. If the government wants a change in the fees, it should take up the issue with the IIM boards, which represent the Society."

Apte said the government could have simply brought it to the board meeting. Had it been able to convince enough number of board members of its views, the whole controversy would not have erupted."

On whether he had the mandate of the board for filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court, Apte said the board had authorised the director with such powers in a meeting that was held on August 3, 2001.

When asked about the outcome of the March 27 board meeting, Apte said, "Five or six members were appointed to the board just a few weeks before the last meeting. Some of them said if the government gave us a written guarantee, we might think about accepting the fee cut. That does not amount to accepting the fee cut."

The members said the board was unable to come to a conclusion and authorised the chairman to write a resolution. No time limit was fixed and he was given the freedom to write the resolution any way he wanted, Apte said.

"I do not know what the Society will decide. I had to go to the court and take a position on the fee cut. I cannot tell the court I have no views on it. So, I used my own judgment as well as the strong views expressed by the faculty "" 68 faculty members opposed the fee cut, out of a total of 75. After all, we have been here longer than some of the board members who have been here for just about two months. We know the implications of this issue much better than them. I do not want to speculate on what the Society will do."

Apte reiterated that one could not interpret the deliberations of the Board meeting as being decisive.

"The human resources development the finance ministry should give us a written guarantee that any financial shortfall will be made good by them. However, in a television interview, the finance minister said he had no discussions so far with the HRD ministry on the matter. In the light of all this, how do you interpret it? Unless those guarantees were forthcoming, some members were not willing to accept it (fee cut) at the Board meeting."