IIM start delayed ?
an the new IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) do justice to brand IIM? Interesting question, one that we will have to wait a few years to find the answer to. Seven new IIMs, the gold standard of management education in India, are to be established by the end of 2012. Certainly, this move by the government will allow the increasing number of hopefuls — 240,000 candidates contested for around 2,400 IIM seats in the 2009 version of the common admission test (CAT) — a better chance of getting into an IIM. But the question remains: will they dilute the IIM shine?
Initial signals from the new IIMs cut both ways. On the one hand, IIM-Shillong, which started functioning in 2008 before the seven new IIMs were conceptualised, has done well in its first placements, which is particularly heartening given that it is located in a remote corner of the country. And IIM-Ranchi and IIM-Rohtak, which begin their academic sessions this year, have had encouraging numbers of students applying. On the other hand, IIM-Tiruchirapalli and IIM-Raipur, which were scheduled to open this year, are unable to do so because of the lack of adequate infrastructural support in Trichy and the delay caused by the government of Chhattisgarh in registering IIM-Raipur, which has thereby postponed the process of setting up the necessary temporary campus.
Like the mentorship programme decreed for the eight new IITs, which became operational from 2008-09, each of the upcoming IIMs will be mentored by an established IIM during the initial years. This doesn’t sound very reassuring because the IIT model of growth has been disappointing. The sharing of physical and intellectual resources has taken a heavy toll on both sides. However, unlike the new IITs, which have started within existing campuses, the new IIMs have been provided separate temporary campuses by the respective state governments. They will move into permanent campuses within a couple of years, but students are still applying to them in good numbers, albeit not without concerns.
Initial signals from the new IIMs cut both ways. On the one hand, IIM-Shillong, which started functioning in 2008 before the seven new IIMs were conceptualised, has done well in its first placements, which is particularly heartening given that it is located in a remote corner of the country. And IIM-Ranchi and IIM-Rohtak, which begin their academic sessions this year, have had encouraging numbers of students applying. On the other hand, IIM-Tiruchirapalli and IIM-Raipur, which were scheduled to open this year, are unable to do so because of the lack of adequate infrastructural support in Trichy and the delay caused by the government of Chhattisgarh in registering IIM-Raipur, which has thereby postponed the process of setting up the necessary temporary campus.
Like the mentorship programme decreed for the eight new IITs, which became operational from 2008-09, each of the upcoming IIMs will be mentored by an established IIM during the initial years. This doesn’t sound very reassuring because the IIT model of growth has been disappointing. The sharing of physical and intellectual resources has taken a heavy toll on both sides. However, unlike the new IITs, which have started within existing campuses, the new IIMs have been provided separate temporary campuses by the respective state governments. They will move into permanent campuses within a couple of years, but students are still applying to them in good numbers, albeit not without concerns.
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