Sibal: Autonomy cry

Bangalore, Jan. 12: The human resource development ministry’s decision to stop the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, from opening a campus in Singapore has failed to convince everybody in the government.

Science and technology minister Kapil Sibal today criticised the move and demanded that higher education be freed from government control ? a promise contained in the ruling coalition’s common minimum programme.

“A lot of my people in government differ with that (HRD ministry’s) stand,’’ the minister, known for his strong and liberal views, said at an event organised here by Microsoft Research India. Sibal added that he was not passing a “qualitative judgment”.

“I think the challenge ahead for our government, and for any government of the future, is to release the genius of the Indian people,” he said. “It is very important to release higher educational institutions from government control.’’

Sibal added that this did not mean opening up the education sector to exploitation.

The HRD ministry’s refusal to let IIM Bangalore decide its own course of development is being seen as a blow to the IIMs’ autonomy.

Following the invitation from the Singapore government, the Bangalore institute had selected a site there and begun its admissions procedure when it was suddenly told to drop the plan and, instead, focus on expansion within India.

The institute’s director looked clearly upset today but declined to comment. Prof. Prakash Apte, who had had a series of meetings on the issue on the campus on Bannerghatta Road, said: “I do not want to react to it (the ministry decision). I have no reaction at all.’’

Asked if he would pursue the proposal with the ministry, as everything was in place at the Singapore campus, he reiterated: “Right now, I do not want to say anything about it.”

Sources said the B-school’s board of governors, headed by industrialist Mukesh Ambani, would meet on January 20 to discuss the matter.

They said Ambani, on his first visit to the city as IIM Bangalore board chairman two months ago, had lauded the institute’s initiative to open a centre in Singapore at a time when foreign universities were looking to set up shop in India.

The plan was to send faculty from Bangalore for short periods. “It would not have disturbed the existing programmes here. We would still have been able to meet the domestic demand,’’ an IIM source said.

IIM Bangalore had decided to open its centre on the Bhavan’s India International School campus in Mei Chin, Singapore. It had also organised a special preview to showcase the various courses it would offer.

It had plans for part-time programmes for middle-level executives, MBA programmes for senior-level executives and short-duration executive education programmes for managers in Southeast Asia.