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Journalism of Courage
You can change the incumbent, but you cannot find a human resource development minister without the zeal to control. And clearly nothing enrages an HRD chief as much as an educational institution that acts to enhance its reputation for excellence. Therefore, where Murli Manohar Joshi once walked, so does Arjun Singh now. His officials have asked the chairman of the governing council of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad to account for its act of 8220;unwarranted tripling8221; of fee 8212; from Rs 4 lakh for the two-year management course to Rs 11.5 lakh. It is a chilling reminder of Joshi8217;s attempts four years ago to slash the Rs 1.5 lakh annual fee then to Rs 30,000. For the ministry there are two issues here. One, to show commitment to equity in higher education. Two, to keep the network of institutions very much in its control.
The IIMs 8212; the rest too have increased their fee by varying amounts 8212; argue that the costs of upgrading and even maintaining standards demand a higher fee. The institutes, like many other centres of learning, are finding it particularly difficult to attract and keep good faculty on the pay-scales mandated by the University Grants Commission. Budget surpluses would give them 8212; world-class by any standard 8212; ways to compensate professors. And if this raises costs, one is certainly entitled to ask, will this put the IIMs beyond the reach of a vast majority? An answer to this has been factored into the revised fee structure. For a student to be eligible for financial assistance at IIM-A, for instance, the income limit for his family has been raised from Rs 2 lakh annually to Rs 6 lakh. Why should the state subsidise richer students, especially for a programme that assures them the highest starting salaries in the market?
