IIMC faculty on chief: he sold us out

‘‘Deveshwar has taken care of one stakeholder only and that is the MHRD,’’ the faculty’s resolution said, referring to the Union HRD Ministry which sparked off the current crisis by directing IIMs to slash their fees 80% and threatening them with action if they didn’t.

It was a day of high drama. After Tuesday’s shock of Deveshwar’s resolution, the faculty went into a huddle this morning and decided to go public in the afternoon.

Deveshwar, who is also chairman of ITC Ltd, reacted fast, calling in the media to his boardroom for a noon briefing.

Handing out fresh copies of the resolution, Deveshwar said: ‘‘Nothing is cast in stone. If the faculty is aggrieved, I would like to assuage their feeling. If one is to assume that I have erred, one can always go back after discussions. It’s part of the democratic process we follow.’’

At the same time, he argued that the resolution has tried to be fair to all stakeholders.

He pointed out that although the IIMs are diverse in nature and composition, some issues have to be coordinated by one authority. In this case, the authority is the MHRD.

‘‘One has to also accept the fact that one has to work in partnership with the government,’’ he said.

Deveshwar also underlined the need for ‘‘charging market prices’’ from the companies that come each year to the campus to scour for the best talent.

The money thus collected can wipe out the need for government subsidy, making the IIMs financially more independent.

But few were buying this.

Said Asish Bhattacharya, dean of planning and administration: ‘‘We are not expecting anything from the chairman.’’

‘‘The faculty is shocked and agitated,’’ he said. Adding that the resolution was not only based on certain assumptions but it violated the ‘‘healthy convention’’ of a close interaction between the chairman and the faculty.

‘‘It has created an environment of distrust and mistrust,’’ he said, flanked by IIM-C director Shekhar Chaudhury.

Asked if the IIM-C faculty would join the other IIMs at Ahmedabad and Bangalore since there is convergence of opinion, Bhattacharya said: ‘‘Informal talks are on and there is absolutely no hurdle in joining hands but until now, no final decision has been taken.’’

The manner in which the resolution was faxed to all board members on Tuesday made it appear as if the IIM-C faculty has accepted the fee cut order.

But the faculty wanted to make it clear that it is not only opposed to fee cut, but that the resolution is just a ‘‘draft.’’ The faculty said that it was open to discussions with the board of governors and probably not with the chairman alone.

It would also like all faculty members to be heard instead of a representative body for any future discussion on the issue.