The government has hardened its stand on having the proposed IIM in Gaya only.


 


Several factors, including the chief minister's wish to have an IIM in his home district, seemed to have gone in favour of the south Bihar town with air connectivity.


 


A senior official of the education department said on condition of anonymity that barring the interest of chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, his village Mahakar is 35km northwest of Gaya town, the religious town also has vast tracts of land in and around it. The refusal of Magadh University to give land for the establishment of the prestigious IIM has left the government in a lurch though.


 


'We will search for another alternative arrangement if the university maintains its status quo,' said the official.


 


The official added that the Magadh University administration is not the sole authorising agency, which can decide whether land could be given or not. 'We will approach the chancellor (Raj Bhavan) for an amicable solution to the issue so that the university land can be handed over for the IIM campus,' he said, insisting that Gaya fits perfectly well in the criteria laid by the Union human resource development ministry.


 


However, neither education minister Brishen Patel nor his department principal secretary R.K. Mahajan could be contacted despite several calls to them.


 


On the other hand, academicians of Gaya feel the Magadh University's decision as a setback to their hometown. One of them said Gaya could be developed into an educational hub within the state as Central University of Bihar (CUB) has already started functioning here. The IIM also might bring about a big change in the existing management institutes, which have not changed their syllabus for long. Students have been studying the syllabus that is not of industry compliance and is hardly of help to them for a good placement, the teacher said.


 


SN Nandkeoliyar, former head, Gaya College management studies department, said once the IIM is set up, students would get more exposure as well as job opportunity besides, national and international-level interaction with good faculties and best knowledge of the management. Students of the management courses here would be benefited with wider information and functioning of classes. Admission in general management courses is made on the basis of score in management aptitude test (MAT), while in IIM admission it is made on the basis of a national-level common admission test (CAT). 'By setting up the IIM here, local students would be inspired to prepare for the CAT-level competitions. It may invite leading entrepreneurs to establish industry that will be a boost to the economy of the state. Leading industries will also come here for placement of students who will be getting good job on handsome perks,' Nandkeoliyar said.


 


Gaya College MBA faculty member Sushant Mukherjee said: 'We need to build infrastructure to stop students migrating outside for studies where they have to face immense problems. There is no dearth of talent here and if an institution like IIM is established here it would be a great opportunity to students in terms of knowledge and placement.'


 


Gaya College MCA faculty Deepak Mitra said an IIM offers industry standard courses, which is far different from the general management courses in other institutes.


 


'The IIM has collaboration with foreign or other national institutes, which the institutes in Bihar are lacking. After the IIM is set up here, there would be good placement opportunity for the students. As good industries will be here in Gaya for placement on the IIM campus, other institutions also might get the benefit. Magadh University might also get benefit of the faculty exchange programme and interaction,' he added.


 


On the other hand, IIM Construction Struggling Committee has threatened to launch an agitation in support of setting up the IIM in Gaya.


 


Its convener, Vijay Kumar Mithu, said in the first phase a dharna will be organised near Gaya collectorate in support of their demand to provide defence land near Panchananpur on Gaya-Tekari road, around 15km west of Gaya town or the golf course land on Gaya-Dobhi road. In the next phase, agitation would be launched in Patna and even in Delhi, Mithu added.