MBAUniverse.com series on IIM Review Committee Report (Part 1): "IIMs have not expanded their Admission capacity adequately"

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
July 26, 2016
IIM Review Committee, in its report submitted in September 2008, revealed that the intake to PGP courses has seen slow growth over the years.

The report, a copy of which is available with MBAUniverse.com, has recommended substantial increase in number of seats at each IIMs. The report also acknowledges the severe faculty shortage at IIMs.

The Government of India appointed the review committee on October 17, 2007, which was chaired by Shri RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suziki India Ltd., included Shri Ajit Balakrishnan, chairman and CEO of Rediff.Com India Ltd, Smt Anusua Basu, former deputy C&AG cum chairperson of audit board, Shri Ram S Taneja, former managing director of the Times of India Group, and Shri Ashok Thakur, additional secretary in department of higher education of ministry of HRD, Government of India.  This is seventh such committee set up to review the functioning of IIMs.

The review committee's report titled 'Negotiating the big leap; IIMs: From Great Teaching Institutions to Thought Leadership Centers' said, "The admissions to PGP courses has not seen considerable growth and not kept pace with the growing needs of the economy. The capacity of intake to PGP courses must be increased to meet objectives of setting institutes like the IIMs."

According to the review report, the annual admission capacity of an IIM should be as high as 750 candidates a year; and if the infrastructural level of the existing IIMs does not support the expansion of the admission plan due to a lack of infrastructure, then a thought can be given to open a new campus. One more factor that plays big role in expanding intake to PGP courses is the availability of adequate faculty members, the report said.

While sharing the data regarding the intake to the PGP courses, the report said that more established IIMs have increased the total number of seats by only 20-25% in the five year period starting 2004-05 academic year. Surprising younger IIMs have increased their admission capacity more rapidly.

The total intake was 266 at IIM Ahmedabad in the year 2004-05 and it rose to 318 in 2008-09. The total intake to PGP courses at IIM Bangalore was 187 in 2004-05 and reached 271 in 2008-09. The data indicated a slight rise in the number of students seeking admission to PGP courses at IIM Kolkata, where the intake was 263 in the year 2004-2005 and 304 in 2008-09. Similarly, other three IIMs have also seen marginal growth of intake to PGP courses in the last five years.  In 2004-05, the total intake to PGP courses at IIM Lucknow was 287 and it increased to 326 in 2008-09. The number rose to 340 in 2008-09 from 117 in 2004-05 in the case of IIM Indore. While, at IIM Kozhikode the number of intake to PGP course was 133 in 2004-05 and managed to touch 261 in 2008-09.

The shortage of faculty members is one of the problems that the IIMs are facing in its expansion drive, the report said.

In this report, suggestions for overcoming certain limitations related to admissions to PGP courses were also mentioned. The report further said: "The board members at all IIMs should propose the scheme of expansion plan to increase the number of admissions and, later on, ensure the implementation of the expansion programme. Subsequently, the scheme should be approved by the Pan-IIM Board."

The report further stressed on separating administration and academic activities to tackle the issue related to the shortage of faculty members. It was said in this report that it would ensure better functioning of different mechanism and enable every individual to perform the requisite tasks in his/her own specialized field to increase productivity and quality of output.