AHMEDABAD, KOLKATA, APR 22: IIM aspirants, already under tremendous pressure, may be in for a rude shock in days to come because many educators feel the AICTE directive —asking private B-schools to refund fees to those getting admission in an IIM — is not legally tenable.
Nearly 3,000 students have appeared for interviews for a total of 1,350 seats at six IIMs. But, many who do not want to take chances, have also applied elsewhere. If they pay fees and get admission in other B-schools and then decide to switch over to an IIM after results are declared, they may have to forfeit the entire fee. Further, the fact that admissions to most of the private B-schools are either over or would be over in the next week or so makes the government action a classis case of “locking the stable after the horse has bolted”, said an IIM chief.
Government sources said though AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) was a regulatory body, it had no teeth to ensure institutes strictly adhered to its diktat.
AICTE has been able to do precious little to improve the quality of technical education in the country, control the fees charged, standardise the course content or student selection at these private institutes, they said.
“That’s because apart from issuing show cause notices to those who do not adhere to stipulated guidelines or threaten them with de-recognition, the AICTE can do almost nothing,” said an IIM faculty member. Also, there are premier institutes like the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad that does not even fall under the AICTE ambit. “If a student opts for ISB, the first semester fees is roughly Rs 1.5-2 lakh. What can the AICTE do to get ISB refund the money?” questioned an IIM source.
For instance, Meghan Agarwal from Kolkata, who has got interview calls from two IIMs, did not take the risk of waiting for the final IIM list. She paid Rs 2 lakh and took admission at XLRI, Jamshedpur. Hopefully, XLRI will refund her fees if her name figures in the final IIM list and she decides to join one of the IIMs.
Her brother Mehul Agarwal, who stood first in IIM Calcutta CAT test, however is awaiting the final IIM list. He had interview calls from five of the six IIMs and is quite sure he will make it to one of them. But many are not fortunate as Mehul.
“Already IIMs have said that due to the delay in the admission procedure, there would be no three weeks prepatory course work. I believe graduate students like us will suffer most as the course work is one of the ways to create an uniformity of standards for students coming from various disciplines,” said Aayush Killa, again from Kolkata, who has got calls from four IIMs.
Vatsal Desai, another IIM aspirant from Delhi said, “If the IIMs don't announce the list till April 30, it will be a major concern not only for me but also for many others. Finance is a major issue. If I take admission somewhere else and pay the fee and later I get a call from the IIMs and want to go there, my parents will not able to pay the fee again. This will be a major blow.”
There are colleges where after certain days major chunk of the money are not returned, Desai added. Things are not better for those who are already working. Consider the case of Avik Mittal currently working in Tata Consultancy Services in Mumbai. He had received calls from four IIMs.
Mittal has to serve a notice period of three months before he can leave the organisation. “Since the results are being delayed, I will not be able to serve the required notice period. This quota issue is creating a major problem,” says Mittal
Source Financial Express
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