IIM Kolkata puts off decision

IIM-K falls in line

The board of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata, will consider at its meeting on April 3 a resolution that will reflect the concerns of all the stakeholders, chairman Y C Deveshwar said after the institute's board met at the Joka campus yesterday.

Sources close to the development said the board had informally agreed to accept the instruction of the Union human resources ministry to reduce tuition fees to Rs 30,000 subject to the concerns of autonomy raised by the faculty and students being addressed, as well as the observations of the Supreme Court in the case being heard on the issue.

The IIM, Kozhikode, board, however, unanimously decided to reduce its fee from the existing Rs 1 lakh to Rs 30,000 in line with the Union human resources development ministry directive.

Asked if the meeting, presided by IIM, Kozhikode, Chairman A C Muthiah, discussed the autonomy issue, a source in the institute said the board had nothing to do with it as the public interest litigation that had come up before the Supreme Court related only to IIM, Ahmedabad.

Some members of the IIM, Kolkata, board insisted that the state government be also consulted on the issues. They sought an assurance that the Centre would reimburse the loss suffered by the institute on account of the reduction in fees.

The IIM, Bangalore, board meets tomorrow.

While the reduction in fees will be at variance with the sentiments of the IIM's faculty and students, the delay in passing the necessary resolution and making it subject to the autonomy issue was a victory for the non-government viewpoint, said observers.