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Our Bureau

Awaits Ministry's directive on OBCs' admission

Ahmedabad March 31 The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) on Saturday announced an increase in fees for its one- and two-year programmes. It also decided to go ahead with admission for 2007. It will publish the list of students selected for various courses on April 12, unless it gets fresh directives from the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development on the issue of admission of OBC candidates, in the wake of the Supreme Court's recent stay on 27 per cent reservation granted to them by the Centre.

The fees for the two-year post-graduate programmes has been increased from the existing Rs 1.77 lakh to Rs two lakh, while that of one-year Post-Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPX) has been raised from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 14 lakh. The total cost for the two-year graduation programme is about Rs 4 lakh, half of which would be met by the fees and the remaining would be financed by IIM-A's internal resources.

More scholarships

The IIM-A also has a fund of Rs 1 crore to offer need-based scholarships to the deserving students. With the fees going up, these scholarships would also be increased correspondingly.

These decisions were taken by the IIM-A's Board of Governors along with Dr Vijaypat Singhania, newly-appointed Chairman, presiding over the meeting in which 12 of 25 members were present.

Replying to questions during a press briefing, Mr Singhania and the IIM-A Director, Dr Bakul Dholakia, said if the IIMs admitted the OBC candidates at this juncture, it would amount to "violation of the Supreme Court's stay". However, if the Court vacated the stay or the IIMs get a clear directive from the Human Resources Ministry in time, the issue can be resolved.

"The only clarity for now is that their admissions have been stayed by the apex court and we are back to the 2006 position," said Dr Dholakia.

`Complex' issues

Dr Singhania said the issues pertaining to the reservation were "complex".

They justified the fee hike saying it was still way lower than the Indian Business School's Rs 16 lakh for a one-year programme and the equivalent programmes offered abroad.

Meanwhile, in a 2006 international rating, the London-based Economists' Intelligence Unit (EIU) has adjudged the IIM-A as the best business school in Asia and 12th among the top global schools for its management development programmes. The Delhi-based institution, SCOTCH, has also awarded the IIM-A for academic excellence with focus on social responsibility.

In another first, the Department of Posts, issued a permanent pictorial cancellation stamp and special cover on the IIM-A on Saturday. Normally, such stamps are issued when an institution completes at least 100 years. But the IIM-A got this distinction only in its 42nd year of existence, Dr Dholakia and postal officials informed.

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