The HRD Ministry’s hopes of a split in the IIM fraternity over the issue of its fee cut have begun to unravel with the youngest and the most financially dependent IIM located at Indore refusing to come out in support of the controversial fee cut.Incidentally, HRD Ministry officials had given a spin yesterday that IIM Indore had fallen in line. Far from it.Deviating from the draft proposed by Government representatives, the Board of Governors passed a resolution stating that IIM Indore would implement the Government order ‘‘subject to the Supreme Court’s decision on fee cut and other matters.’’This despite the insistence of three Government representatives led by HRD Ministry’s joint secretary, V S Pandey—the same official who threatened the IIM Ahmedabad Society members of dissolution and takeover—that IIM Indore should ditto its Lucknow counterpart’s resolution of February 29 accepting the fee cut decision without any qualification. Pandey, when contacted tonight by The Indian Express, declined to comment on what happened at the Indore meeting.Thus, of the three IIMs that have had board meetings since the Government slashed the fee by 80% on Feb 5, only Lucknow has backed the fee cut.The Board of IIM Kozhikode, which met on February 15, deferred taking any decision on the matter. The boards of the older and more established IIMs at Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata are due to meet in quick succession over the next 10 days.Sources said that what set the tone at yesterday’s board meeting in Indore was a forthright critique of the Government move it received from the institute’s faculty.On March 19, the faculty of IIM Indore resolved as follows: ‘‘While we recognise as a developing institution of excellence in management, our dependence on Government funds for our sustenance and growth, we would also like to submit that as an academic institution we would like to retain our academic and administrative freedom.’’ The board meeting, chaired by industrialist Baba Kalyani, was marked by a heated discussion on the fee issue for over two hours. Out of the 15 members present at the meeting, 12 expressed reservations over the fee cut while the three who wanted it to be endorsed were all Government representatives. Kalyani, when contacted, said that the resolution subjecting the Government’s fee cut to the Supreme Court decision was passed ‘‘unanimously.’’ Asked about the differences that arose during the meeting, Kalyani said: ‘‘Everybody expressed his view. It’s after all a sensitive subject which is in the public domain and pending before the Supreme Court.’’Former CII chief Subodh Bhargava, who is a board member, was more forthcoming. The Government’s suggestion that IIM Indore came out in support of the fee cut, he said, was ‘‘totally incorrect.’’ On the contrary, ‘‘the majority in the board felt accessibility to IIMs and affordability of their fee was not the issue,’’ he said. ‘‘The real issue is governance, whether IIMs should be dependent on Government grants for all times.’’
