Can’t offer MBA, PGDM from same building: AICTE

Management institutes that also offer postgraduate diplomas in management (PGDM) will now have to run the two courses from separate institutes, according to the

Management institutes that also offer postgraduate diplomas in management (PGDM) will now have to run the two courses from separate institutes, according to the All India Council for Technical Education’s (AICTE) recently-released Approval Handbook 2020-21. The new rules will be applicable from the next academic year (2020-21).

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AICTE said the new rule requiring separate infrastructure and resources for diplomas and PG degrees is in response to complaints from local inquiry committees (LICs), which inspect institutes when the latter apply for affiliation. Students have complained that they were confused and even misled on occasion about the demarcation of faculty, fees and infrastructure between PGDM and Masters in business administration (MBA) courses in some colleges.

“While MBA institutes are affiliated to a particular university, PGDM courses need no affiliation but need AICTE approval to run classes. We have increasingly noticed how the LICs are fooled by the institutes about infrastructure and faculty which might be registered for an MBA school, but are highlighted as that of a PGDM course,” said Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman, AICTE.

Senior council officials said the process of affiliation regularly gets delayed due to such problems, and the new rules are meant to prevent such delays.

In some cases, colleges that run both PGDM and MBA courses have also proposed the same fees for both courses to the respective state fee regulating authorities.

“Despite sharing the infrastructure as well as the faculty in some cases, many of these institutes claim that their professors for both courses are equally qualified and deserve the same salary. Therefore, they demand the same fees for both courses,” said a senior AICTE official.

However, among business schools, there is concern that the changes may force many to stop PGDM courses.

“Separating the courses into two different institutes means starting one of the courses from scratch, which is a challenge most institutes will not be open to,” said the spokesperson of a city-based management institute, on condition of anonymity.

Representatives of the institutes plan to discuss their concerns with AICTE.