There they go again

The human resource development ministry has returned to its old equilibrium. A few weeks ago, when the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, appeared to have won the endorsement of HRD Minister Arjun Singh for a calibrated fee hike, it seemed winds of reform were blowing through the ministry. It was, evidently, an illusion. The ministry8217;s review committee has asked IIMA to put on hold the new fee structure. IIMA8217;s governing council has been called for an emergency meeting on April 26. The institute has so comprehensively won the argument on the revised fee structure that any move by the Centre to stall it would show the situation for what it is: government8217;s intolerance of any reform that would undermine its control.

Consider the facts of the case. The fee hike has been by all evidence rather steep, taking the cost of enrolment for the two-year post-graduate programme from about Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 11.5 lakh. This increase has, however, been accompanied by a substantial increment in financial assistance. The ceiling on annual family income for a student to be eligible for aid has been raised from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 6 lakh. Overall, the package amounts to a 20-fold increase in scholarships. This makes eminent sense. MBA programmes, especially from premier business schools, come with a guarantee of good job placements. There is no reason why subsidy should be properly targeted to only students in need of financial assistance. Especially when the IIMs are facing a resource crunch in upgrading facilities and attracting and retaining faculty. Each time an institution is stopped from prudent reform, it reinforces the sentiment that it be given functional autonomy and that direct regulation be taken away from the ministry.

Besides, the discourse has changed in the past month. With the Supreme Court clearing 27 per cent reservations for socially and educationally backward classes in higher education, a new terminology has come into currency. By the court8217;s order, the 8220;creamy layer8221; among the OBCs has been excluded from the benefits of quotas. This creamy layer is determined by a roster of professional and economic criteria. These criteria are the subject of much debate. The point, however, is that discussion has been begun in this country for the first time on the entitlements to state assistance on the basis of economic considerations. If the government paused for a sober consideration, it would find that the IIMs are already in tune with the changed discourse.