IIMs, again

• The question often asked with regard to the IIM controversy is why industry doesn’t petition the gov...

• The question often asked with regard to the IIM controversy is why industry doesn’t petition the government on the substantive damage being done to the image of such institutions. The news item in the Express of April 7, perhaps, provides a clue to a possible answer. The IIM Kolkata board chairman has favoured not only a fee cut, but has also reposed faith in the government’s ability to always take the right decisions. Earlier, too, a well known and articulate industrial leader had resiled somewhat from his initial opposition to the fee cut and taken shelter behind studied ambivalence. The readers of this paper will eagerly await the government’s future announcements regarding the filling up of Rajya Sabha vacancies, ambassadorships and appointments to high powered commissions.

— Ajit Kumar Delhi

• Let me express my two cents worth of observations regarding the IIM fracas (‘Centres of control’, IE, April 7). First of all, I am exasperated at the amount of resistance being put up against a fee cut. Hello, this is not a fee increase. I cannot imagine people protesting against a fee cut of this magnitude by Harvard. Agreed, almost anyone with an admission to Harvard can get a loan at competitive rates and can pay it off too, but I still can’t imagine people not rejoicing over a decision of this kind. Imagine graduating minus the headache of paying huge loans for years on end. If we consider IIMs the Harvard of India, why are we not happy with the fee-cut? To me it stinks of elitism.
I think, those who are raising the most hue and cry want to maintain the exclusivity of these institutions. There is nothing wrong with that as long as the exclusivity is measured in terms of output. Maybe they are worried that if anyone with a few thousand rupees can afford an IIM education, standards will fall. A similar argument was offered recently when Delhi schools were asked to take in poor students. Poor students will feel out of place, standards will fall, etc.
We have somehow come to equate MBAs and BTechs with academic excellence. Which is right to a certain extent, but the real test is academic research. The conspiracy theory is that government wants to take control of IIMs. Didn’t the enlightened say a government’s job is to regulate? By overcharging and offering little value, IIMs were long due for a correction. I only wish the government had done a better job of communicating its aims to put the controversy to rest.

— Manish Gupta On e-mail

Moditva

• This is nothing unusual for Narendra Modi, the indirect spokesman for BJP (‘Hurl at Sonia was no ball, will change line, length: Modi’, IE, April 5). Everything he utters has the stamp of approval from the Centre. One may think that he shoots off his mouth but the captain always directs the type of bowling. His no-ball is not an unintentional one but is intended to harm the opposition. His mouth has no bridle and he is a venomous character causing degradation to India’s cause, both outside it and within it, by encouraging communal violence. With BJP in power no justice system can stop Modi from accomplishing his goals of deepening the wedge between Hindus and Minorities. Only a wise electorate can make a difference.

— Jayakar Dalavai On e-mail

EAM Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Rubio hold bilateral discussions in New York

India1 hr ago

Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar and US Senator Rubio met in New York to discuss the 25% tariff on Indian oil imposed by Trump. This was their first in-person meeting since the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting. India and the US also began talks for a trade agreement, with positive discussions during a recent visit by US trade officials to India.

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