By people, for people

Union HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi wants the IIMs to downgrade their fees. Speaking at a meeting of education secretaries from the state...

Union HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi wants the IIMs to downgrade their fees. Speaking at a meeting of education secretaries from the states at Vigyan Bhawan today morning, he said that IIMs were charging nearly Rs 1.5 lakh annually.

The Minister felt, ‘‘If institutes running with the help of public money charge such a hefty fee, it is natural that other self-financed institutes will imitate them. Government organisations should set an example and try not to be bracketed in the same category as self-financed institutes.’’

Of late, Joshi has been speaking on the need to provide technical and management education to the poor and economically weaker sections. But in the past, the IIMs were asked to generate their own resources and survive with as little funds from the Centre as possible.

Story continues below this ad

A closer look at the tuition fee structure of the 160 business schools in the country would suggest that Joshi should first focus on the kind of fees demanded by the private institutions and not the IIMs.

For example, the costliest of the IIMs — IIM Bangalore — charges Rs 3.23 lakh for its entire two-year course compared to the privately managed, Infinity Business School in the Capital which takes Rs 4.78 lakh for a course from every enrolled student — the highest in the country. Going by the tuition fee structure of these 160 schools, IIM Ahmedabad stands seventh, IIM Bangalore 11th, IIM Indore 14th, IIM Lucknow 22nd and IIM Calcutta 30th.

It appeared that Joshi was provoking a discussion on the fees charged by management institutions in the country. His government is empowered to monitor the course curriculum and facilities offered by these institutions. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) does that on a regular basis. But it has little say in financial matters.