IIM Arjun

Top B-schools devise a pragmatic solution. But HRD8217;s original sin still needs strong interrogation

Confronted with an HRD ministry that continues to think 8216;social justice8217; is a cover for all manner of fiats, IIMs have been both principled and pragmatic. Ideally, IIM admissions should have continued as per schedule, with 27 per cent of seats kept aside, to be filled following the Supreme Court8217;s ruling on the government petition contesting the stay on the OBC quota. A second-best solution has been found by IIMs 8212; defer admissions by 10 days or so, and keep 27 per cent seats vacant till the legal position becomes clear. Hopefully with this decision, students who have cleared the fearsomely competitive entrance test for IIMs, will be a little less uncertain about their

immediate future.

But the broader question will not go away. What was the HRD minister doing, passing an order of its own accord, without consulting any of the institutions and delaying the entire admissions process? Arjun Singh should be interrogated on two grounds. First, any reasonable interpretation of autonomy required that admissions should have been left to the respective institutions and their boards to decide. Second, and far more dangerously, this order appeared to be an attempt to blackmail the court. The HRD ministry, it seemed, was keen to put on hold the entire admissions process in order to create an image that chaos would ensue as a result of the court8217;s stay on implementing the OBC quota. It is hard to see how this cannot be read as a pressure tactic.

Given that perfectly reasonable responses to the court8217;s stay were available 8212; the first best solution we have advocated or the second-best that IIMs have devised to try and keep the minister in good humour 8212; and given also that such responses would have been compatible with the objective of reservations, the ministry8217;s oneupmanship can only be interpreted as another example of holding education ransom to politics of the worst kind. This has nothing at all to do with social justice, fighting for the disadvantaged or any other rhetorical chestnut the HRD minister favours. This is proof again that the future of students is the last thing on the minister8217;s mind. And this is another reminder for the most crucial short-term reform in education: institutions of proven excellence should be made completely autonomous from the HRD ministry.