As the Veerappa Moily committee works on its roadmap to expand access to Central institutions of excellence in the wake of 27% OBC quotas, it could look at the most recent “expansion experience” of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, to identify bottlenecks it faces in the long road ahead.The IIM-A took 20 years to get land, two years to plan and five years to implement its most recent expansion plan. The institute shared this experience with the Oversight Committee’s sub-group on management institutions at meetings in Bangalore and Chennai. The sub-group is expected to finalise its report by June 30.Between 2000 and 2002, it took two years for the IIM-A to plan its expansion and get necessary approvals, before the work actually started in late 2002.And the five-year expansion plan—which started in 2002—will witness doubling of students by 2007.‘‘It was a well thought-out and comprehensive expansion, which was done by the IIM, that too on its own. There were no directions from the government to expand,’’ IIM-A’s director Bakul Dholakia told The Indian Express.In 2002, the institute had only a two-year post-graduate MBA programme (of 180 students in a batch), and a five-year PhD programme (5 students every year). The entire student strength was about 400 students.By the end of the five-year expansion period in 2007, the institute will have about 800 students—with an increased strength in the two-year MBA programme (250 students), a separate 2-year MBA programme in Agricultural management (30 students per batch), one-year MBA programme for executives (120 students), one-year MBA programme in public management and policy (for 50 bureaucrats per batch) and increased strength in PhD programme (25 students per batch).‘‘The rollout of the programmes has been a gradual process, where specific faculty members were selected, hostels were built and a new campus was developed over a period of time,’’ a senior IIM-A faculty member said.Consider the roadblocks:• The institute, originally, had only 65 acres, while it was supposed to be built on 100 acres. Remaining 35 acres was locked in dispute since late 70s. In early 80s, institute got 25 acres but crucial ‘‘access portion’’ of 10 acres was still in dispute.Finally, the institute got possession of the remaining 10 acres in 2000 and the process of expansion started. ‘‘The 35 acres was across the arterial Ring Road in Ahmedabad, so we even had to build an underpass to connect the old and new campuses,’’ an IIM-A official said, underlining the fact that it took ‘‘20 years’’ for IIM to get the entire piece of land.• Hardly had the project architect been identified when the Gujarat High Court stopped construction within 1,000 m of large water-bodies in April 2001. Being in close vicinity of Vastrapur lake (considered a large water-body), the work was halted. ‘‘The institute appealed for exemption as a special case, but decision was kept pending. Finally, the stay was removed in August 2002,’’ said Dholakia, who was then dean of IIM-A.• The state government put stringent controls and regulations— post-earthquake in Jan 2001—and the municipal corporation of Ahmedabad took time to give approvals. ‘‘Although we got in-principle approvals from the municipal body, but the paperwork took time,’’ Dholakia said. So, the actual approvals came through in October 2002, coinciding with Dholakia’s ascent to the director’s post.‘‘Although I knew that we were cutting it too fine, but still we decided to start our first expansion from June 2003 batch,’’ he said.• So, in eight months, Dholakia describes it as a record-time, the IIM managed to build two hostels of 40-seats each on the new campus, while another 20 seats were added in existing hostels on the old campus. ‘‘We admitted 100 students more for the 2-year MBA programme in the first year of expansion, where we also started a separate MBA programme in agricultural management,’’ he said.• The faculty strength, in 2002, stood at 74. At present, there are 82 faculty members. ‘‘While the student strength has increased from about 400 to 700 this year, there has been a 10 per cent increase in the faculy,’’ Dholakia admitted. Ideally, there should be 100 faculty members for 700 students, to maintain a 1:7 ratio.• One of the main reasons, IIM-A officials say, for faculty shortage is lack of experienced and trained facukty member. ‘‘Faculty resource is a scare commodity, not just in India but also abroad. But, unlike abroad, IIM cannot attract them with hefty pay packets,’’ the official said.The HRD ministry, sources said, doesn’t allow the IIM to pay their faculty members more than what a Secretary-rank official draws. So, the IIM director gets about 50,000, an IIM professor gets somewhere between Rs 35,000 to 42,000, an associate professor gets anywhere between Rs 31-38,000 and an assistant professor gets somewhere between Rs 23-34K per month.
