IIM managing society seats to be sold?

A proposal by a government panel to allow the Indian Institutes of Management to sell seats on their managing society is threatening to explode into a battle both within the IIMs and with the government.

A proposal by a government panel to allow the Indian Institutes of Management to sell seats on their managing society is threatening to explode into a battle both within the IIMs and with the government.

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The faculty councils of IIMs Bangalore and Calcutta are against giving corporate entities entry into the managing society for five years in exchange for Rs20 crore. Bangalore held a meeting in this regard on Tuesday and Calcutta is expected to do so on Friday, sources said.

The proposal was made by a panel headed by Maruti Udyog chairman RC Bhargava with IIM Bangalore, Calcutta and Kozhikode directors on the team.

"This is an attempt at backdoor privatisation of IIMs. We want more autonomy but you can’t sell IIM society membership like cricketers in the IPL," a senior professor said.

The panel has said this membership would give companies preference in placement dates, discounts in executive training programmes and enable them to get new hostels, blocks or centres named after them. Critics argue it could place corporate houses in a position to influence IIM policies.

IIM professors may also voice their concern over two other proposals — the first about making it mandatory for faculty to teach 160 hours a year; the second, that the proposed reforms, while withdrawing some of the government’s powers, would give too many academic powers to the IIM Boards.