State government chases IIM-Mumbai dream, again
Four years ago, IIM-A pulled out after Maharashtra insisted on quota. Govt then approached Centre, minister to take it up this week
Mumbai, January 23: WHEN the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, (IIM-A) approached the state government with its plans of setting up an extension campus on 25 acres of land at Navi Mumbai in 2002, it was rebuffed.
The State insisted on 15-per cent reservations for domicile students and IIM-A refused to toe that line.
After this plan fell through, the state government sent a proposal to the Central Government, asking for permission to start an IIM in Mumbai.
Four years and two reminders later, the State might rekindle its demand for an IIM when Higher and Technical Education Minister Dilip Walse-Patil meets officials from the Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry in Delhi on January 27.
‘‘While discussing other issues, he might touch upon the IIM issue,’’ said Principal Secretary for Higher and Technical Education Joyce Sankaran.
Walse-Patil could not be contacted.
The 2003 proposal to the HRD Ministry was preliminary, said Sankaran. ‘‘There will definitely be some give-and-take,’’ she said, when asked about the state government’s role.
IIM-A Director Bakul Dholakia said they had ‘‘seriously pursued’’ the proposal to set up a campus in Mumbai.
‘‘Our plan was to start a one-year, post-graduate programme for executives,’’ he said. ‘‘But the condition of reservation for local students was against the very principle of IIM.’’
According to IIM-A sources, the government had agreed to drop its reservation demand to 5 per cent.
But the institute did not change its decision and pointed out that it could have done the same for Gujarati students in Ahmedabad, but had not.
‘‘The talks were on till early 2003. However, after that, there was ‘dead silence’. Absolutely no correspondence took place between the government and IIM-A... it’s a closed chapter,’’ Dholakia added.
Maharashtra’s loss was Gujarat’s gain. With a Rs 75-crore investment, the IIM-A developed a sprawling new campus in Ahmedabad itself.
‘‘The same campus would have been in Mumbai if the government did not stick to its reservation demand,’’ said an IIM-A source.
The institute was also looking at opening a campus in Noida, but the Delhi government had already agreed to let IIM-Lucknow start a campus there.
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