Govt to IIM: Fee cut political agenda, keep off or else

At the Tuesday meeting, not only did Pandey threaten to supersede or dismiss the society, he warned: ‘‘The Government has the power to take over the management of the institution. Do you want that? You are forcing us to do so.

‘‘Newspaper reports die after 10-15 days. Nobody is bothered about it,’’ he said. ‘‘Let me tell you, we are not bothered about your public opinion. What public opinion is this? Do you ever read any Hindi newspaper? Let me tell you, public is hailing the decision of the Government. This is a political agenda. Do you want us to withdraw that?’’

Pandey himself was not available for comment tonight despite repeated attempts to contact him. But several members present at the Tuesday meeting independently corroborated to The Indian Express that Pandey used these exact words.

The tenor of Pandey’s threat echoed this morning, too, when he spoke to the media responding to yesterday’s IIM Ahmedabad faculty resolution denouncing his threats and asserting the institute’s right to go to court.

Pandey even went to the extent of questioning the IIMs’ process of selecting society members. He claimed that without bylaws, which stipulated the criteria for eligiblity, any or everybody could become a member in lieu of money. ‘‘Even a Dawood can become a member of the IIM society,’’ he said.

When asked if he could name a single IIM Ahmedabad society member with dubious credentials, Pandey tried to evade the question.

Pandey also insisted that the same practice of amending bylaws should have been followed whenever fees were hiked. And over the years the government was never officially informed or its views were sought on the fee hikes.

Pandey glossed over the fact that it was the Kurien Committee report, accepted by the Government, that formed the basis of the fee hike.