Admission Row: IIMs set a new date for announcing list. Will HRD Ministry budge?

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
July 26, 2016
The six Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have decided to defer the announcement of the final admissions list of their two-year post-graduate management programme till April 21.

Arjun Singh led Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry may see this as an act of defiance. However, worst hit are thousands of bright students who are waiting for this tug-of-war to end at the earliest. 

The Directors of all six IIMs had detailed teleconference in last few days, and reached this consensus. Subsequently IIM-Ahmedabad director Dr Bakul Dholakia spoke to members of the press to inform their stand. IIM-Bangalore’s Dr Prakash Apte is believed to have formally written to HRD Ministry to communicate their stand.

IIMs are concerned that if the admission process gets delayed any further, both students and IIMs will lose out. As some top-tier private management institutes like XLRI and MDI get ready to announce their admission lists, students may get tempted to join these next rung of institutes to hedge their bets. If they subsequently choose any of the IIMs, they will have to forfeit substantial admission fees. IIMs too may lose out some quality students in the process.

Speaking on behalf of the six IIMs, Bakul Dholakia, Director, IIM-Ahmedabad, yesterday said, "Till April 21is the maximum stretch we can give to the Government without disrupting the beginning of the next academic year." If no further communication was received from the Ministry or the Supreme Court's stay on the implementation of the OBC reservation quota was not vacated till April 21, IIMs would go ahead with admissions "as per the last year's capacity" without implementing the OBC reservation and increasing their intake.

Prof. Dholakia said the decision was taken "unanimously" by the six directors after several rounds of teleconferencing. On April 6, the Ministry had asked the IIMs to defer admissions "till further communication."

IIM-Bangalore Director Prakash G Apte commented on similar lines: "They (Union Human Resource Development Ministry) said put on hold the admissions. We can't wait indefinitely."